Marcia Mae Jones
Acting • Born 1924-08-01 – Died 2007-09-02
Biography
Marcia Mae Jones was born on August 1, 1924, to an acting family. Her mother, Freda Jones, was an actress, and all three of her siblings - Margaret Jones, Macon Jones, and Marvin Jones - were child actors. But Marcia Mae had the most successful career, and she was the only one of her siblings to become a child star. She made her acting debut when just six months old, when director James Cruze saw her in her baby carriage and immediately cast her as the baby in his film Mannequin (1926). Her first major role was in Night Nurse (1931), in which she played a sick child that a sinister hospital staff was trying to murder. By age 10, Marcia Mae had appeared in several dramatic films. In 1936, she played a terrified victim of school bullying in These Three (1936), a role that brought her much attention. In 1937, she played the crippled Klara in Heidi (1937). The film starred two other child actors, Delmar Watson and Shirley Temple. Despite a four-year age difference, Marcia Mae and Shirley acted well with each other, and they appeared together again in The Little Princess (1939). Besides Shirley Temple and Delmar Watson, Marcia Mae worked with several other child stars of the 1930s, including Jane Withers, Bonita Granville, Jackie Moran, Sybil Jason, and her favorite, Jackie Cooper. Marcia Mae's film career began to slow down in the early 1950s, after which she largely appeared in television roles. Her adult life was marred by the suicide of her second husband, Bill Davenport, and problems with alcohol. She eventually conquered her alcohol dependency and became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Marcia Mae Jones died on 2 September 2007 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
68 credits
The Way We Were
Movie • 1973
Peggy Vanderbilt
The Little Princess
Movie • 1939
Lavinia
The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe
Movie • 1974
Sarah
Live a Little, Love a Little
Movie • 1968
Woman #1 (uncredited)
Chicago Calling
Movie • 1951
Peggy (as Marsha Jones)
The Old Swimmin' Hole
Movie • 1940
Betty Elliott
First Love
Movie • 1939
Marcia Parker
Mad About Music
Movie • 1938
Olga
Barefoot Boy
Movie • 1938
Pige Blaine
Lady in the Death House
Movie • 1944
Suzy Kirk Logan
Arson, Inc.
Movie • 1949
Betty - Fender's Secretary
These Three
Movie • 1936
Rosalie Wells
Street Corner
Movie • 1948
Lois Marsh
Hi-Jacked
Movie • 1950
Jean Harper (as Marsha Jones)
The Youngest Profession
Movie • 1943
Vera Bailey
Anne of Windy Poplars
Movie • 1940
Jen Pringle
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Movie • 1950
Katie O'Grady
Mush and Milk
Movie • 1933
The Fabulous Fraud
Movie • 1948
Blind Girl
Tomboy
Movie • 1940
Pat Kelly
Mannequin
Movie • 1926
Joan Herrick as a baby (uncredited)
The Gang's All Here
Movie • 1941
Patsy Wallace
Lady Behave!
Movie • 1937
Patricia Cormack
A Great American Tragedy
Movie • 1972
Claire
Mountain Justice
Movie • 1937
Bethie Harkins
Night Nurse
Movie • 1931
Nanny Ritchey (uncredited)
The Flying Irishman
Movie • 1939
Teenager
Let's Go Collegiate
Movie • 1941
Bess Martin
Heidi
Movie • 1937
Klara Sesemann
Snafu
Movie • 1945
Martha
Haunted House
Movie • 1940
Millie Henshaw
The Bishop Murder Case
Movie • 1929
Hungry Child in Park (uncredited)
Meet Dr. Christian
Movie • 1939
Marilee
A Dog of Flanders
Movie • 1935
Little Girl at Party (uncredited)
King of Jazz
Movie • 1930
Child ('Bridal Veil') (uncredited)
Employees' Entrance
Movie • 1933
Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
This Is the Life
Movie • 1935
Child
Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling
Movie • 1993
Self
Secrets of a Co-Ed
Movie • 1942
Blonde Co-Ed in Black Outfit [Script Name: Laura Wright]
Nobody's Darling
Movie • 1943
Lois
Life with Buster Keaton
Movie • 1951
Tucson
Movie • 1949
Polly Johnson
Two Wise Maids
Movie • 1937
Geraldine 'Jerry ' Karns
The Yellow Haired Kid
Movie • 1952
Amy
The Champ
Movie • 1931
Mary Lou Carleton
The Star
Movie • 1952
Waitress (uncredited)
Doctor Bull
Movie • 1933
Ruth
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Movie • 1938
Mary Sawyer
Birthday Blues
Movie • 1932
Girl with Whistle
Nice Girl?
Movie • 1941
Jane's Friend at Benefit
Nine Girls
Movie • 1944
Shirley Berke
Top Man
Movie • 1943
Erna Lane
Imitation of Life
Movie • 1934
Peola's Frontrow Classmate (uncredited)
The Life of Emile Zola
Movie • 1937
Helen Richards
Street Scene
Movie • 1931
Trouble Preferred
Movie • 1948
Virginia Evans
What Price Hollywood?
Movie • 1932
Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
Shirley Temple: The Biggest Little Star
Movie • 1996
Self
Meet the Family
Movie • 1954
Candy
Mister Ed
TV • 1961
Family Affair
TV • 1966
My Three Sons
TV • 1960
Simon & Simon
TV • 1981
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
TV • 1964
Waitress
The Streets of San Francisco
TV • 1972
Cannon
TV • 1971
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Racket Squad
TV • 1951