Marcia Mae Jones

Biography

Marcia Mae Jones was born on August 1, 1924, into 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 she was 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 one of two siblings targeted for murder for their inheritance by a sinister household retainer. By age 10, she 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 (as with Marcia Mae, all of Delmar's siblings were actors) and Shirley Temple. Despite Marcia Mae being four years older than Temple, the two girls acted well together and would appear together again, in The Little Princess (1939). Marcia Mae also 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 first husband was a merchant marine with whom she had two children. This union ended in divorce. Her film career began to slow down in the early 1950s, after which she largely appeared in television roles. By 1952, she was employed as a switchboard operator in the law firm of Greg Bautzer. 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.