We are very excited to hear the news that screen legend Margaret O’Brien will be joining us for SHOWCASE 2022. Not only does Margaret have an incredible resume of appearances in some of the very best and well known classic Hollywood movies, she was practically a regular on radio during the Golden Age.
Born Angela Maxine O’Brien; January 15, 1937) she was to become an accomplished American film, radio, television, and stage actress. She began her prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of four, O’Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was honored with a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944.
O’Brien made her first film appearance in Babes on Broadway (1941) at the age of four, but it was the following year that her first major role brought her widespread attention. As a five-year-old in Journey for Margaret (1942), O’Brien won wide praise for her convincing acting style. By 1943, she was considered a big enough star to have a cameo appearance in the all-star military show finale of Thousands Cheer. Also In 1943, at the age of seven, Margaret co-starred in, “You, John Jones,” a “War Bond/Effort,” short film, with James Cagney and Ann Sothern, (playing their daughter), in which she dramatically recited President Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.”
She also played Adèle, a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent in Jane Eyre (1943). Arguably her most memorable role was as “Tootie” in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), opposite Judy Garland. For several years in the mid 1940s, Margaret O’Brien was voted by exhibitors as among the most popular stars in the country.
Among her Film credits include:
Lost Angel (1943)
Jane Eyre (1944)
The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Music for Millions (1944)
Little Women (1949)
Radio was a second home for Margaret O’Brien. She was regularly making appearances often reprising her role in radio adaptions of films she appeared in or as a requested guest star on a popular comedy variety program.
Selected Radio Credits:
Screen Guild Theater “Journey for Margaret”(April 5, 1943)
Lux Radio Theater “The Canterville Ghost”(June 18, 1945)
Lux Radio Theater”Meet Me in St. Louis” (Dec 2, 1946)
Philco Radio Time with Bing Crosby (May 28, 1947)
The Jimmy Durante Show (Dec 24, 1947)
Philco Radio Time with Bing Crosby (March 17, 1948)
Suspense “The Screaming Woman” (Nov 25,1948)
Lux Radio Theater “Little Women” (March 13, 1950)
The Big Show (Dec 24, 1950)
