CineScope
Margaret O'Brien picture

Margaret O'Brien

Acting
Known For

88 Years Old

Margaret O'Brien (born January 15, 1937) is an American film and stage actress. Although her film career as a leading character was brief, she was one of the most popular child actors in cinema history. In her later career, she appeared on stage and in supporting film roles. She was born Angela Maxine O'Brien; (she later changed her name to Margaret following the success of the film Journey for Margaret, in which she played the title role). Her father Lawrence O'Brien, a circus performer, died before she was born.[1]; Margaret's mother, Gladys Flores, was a well-known flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, also a dancer. Margaret is of half-Irish and half-Spanish ancestry. She 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. She played a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent, in Jane Eyre (1944). Arguably her most memorable role was as "Tootie" in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), opposite Judy Garland. O'Brien had by this time added singing and dancing to her achievements and was rewarded with an Academy Juvenile Award the following year as the "outstanding child actress of 1944." Her other successes included The Canterville Ghost (1944), Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), and the first sound version of The Secret Garden (1949), but she was unable to make the transition to adult roles. A 1946 Looney Tunes short, Book Revue, placed a caricature of O'Brien in the role of Little Red Riding Hood. Margaret later shed her child star image in 1958 by appearing on the cover of Life Magazine with the caption "The Girl's Grown", and was a mystery guest on the TV panel show What's My Line?. O'Brien's acting roles as an adult have been few and far between, mostly in small independent films. However, she does do occasional interviews, mostly for the Turner Classic Movies cable network. She played the role of Betsy Stauffer, a small town nurse, in "The Incident of the Town in Terror" on television's Rawhide. Another rare television outing was as a guest star on the popular Marcus Welby, M.D. in the early 1970s, reuniting Margaret with her Journey For Margaret and The Canterville Ghost co-star Robert Young. Description above from the Wikipedia article Margaret O'Brien, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Born

San Diego, California, USA on 15th January 1937

All Credits

Matinee Theater Image
Matinee Theater
Love, American Style Image
Love, American Style
Dr. Kildare Image
Dr. Kildare
Nurse Lori Palmer
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Image
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Image
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
Self
Wagon Train Image
Wagon Train
Julie Revere
The Mike Douglas Show Image
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
Perry Mason Image
Perry Mason
Virginia Trent
Hotel Image
Hotel
Martha Connelly
Murder, She Wrote Image
Murder, She Wrote
Jane
The Steve Allen Show Image
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Singer
The DuPont Show with June Allyson Image
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Jean
Rawhide Image
Rawhide
Betsy Stauffer
Robert Montgomery Presents Image
Robert Montgomery Presents
Ginny
Studio One Image
Studio One
Jenny Walker
Studio One Image
Studio One
Julie Denton
Studio One Image
Studio One
Kraft Television Theatre Image
Kraft Television Theatre
Combat! Image
Combat!
Marianne Fraisnet
Marcus Welby, M.D. Image
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Neva Phillips
Adventures in Paradise Image
Adventures in Paradise
Phyllis Willoughby
The Aquanauts Image
The Aquanauts
Ellen Marstand
The Oscars Image
The Oscars
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show Image
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
No Image
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Anne Lipscott
Climax! Image
Climax!
Angie Hawley
Climax! Image
Climax!
Chip
Climax! Image
Climax!
Kathy Fathian
No Image
Lux Video Theatre
Self - Intermission Guest
No Image
Lux Video Theatre
Elaine
No Image
Lux Video Theatre
Laura
No Image
Lux Video Theatre
Margaret
Ironside Image
Ironside
Louise Prescott
Adam-12 Image
Adam-12
Mrs. Pendleton
What's My Line? Image
What's My Line?
Self
Tales from the Darkside Image
Tales from the Darkside
Mildred Webster
The New Lassie Image
The New Lassie
E! True Hollywood Story Image
E! True Hollywood Story
Testimony of Two Men Image
Testimony of Two Men
Flora Bumpstead Eaton
General Electric Theater Image
General Electric Theater
Sarah Trask
No Image
Hollywood Preview
Self
Meet Me in St. Louis Image
Meet Me in St. Louis
'Tootie' Smith
Little Women Image
Little Women
Beth
The Secret Garden Image
The Secret Garden
Mary Lennox
Jane Eyre Image
Jane Eyre
Adele Varens
Babes on Broadway Image
Babes on Broadway
Maxine (uncredited)
That's Entertainment! Image
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage)
Madame Curie Image
Madame Curie
Irene Curie - Age 5
Heller in Pink Tights Image
Heller in Pink Tights
Della Southby
The Canterville Ghost Image
The Canterville Ghost
Lady Jessica de Canterville
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity Image
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
Self
Thousands Cheer Image
Thousands Cheer
Customer in Red Skelton Skit
Tenth Avenue Angel Image
Tenth Avenue Angel
Flavia Mills
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes Image
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Selma Jacobson
Amy Image
Amy
Hazel Johnson
Twenty Years After Image
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's Image
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's
Self
Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! Image
Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!
Bridgette's Grandmother
Showbiz Goes to War Image
Showbiz Goes to War
(archive footage)
Journey for Margaret Image
Journey for Margaret
Margaret
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies Image
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Self
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case Image
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
Margaret
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Image
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Ms. Stevenson
Music for Millions Image
Music for Millions
Mike
A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! Image
A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas!
Self - Interviewee
Bad Bascomb Image
Bad Bascomb
Emmy
Big City Image
Big City
Midge
Lost Angel Image
Lost Angel
Alpha
The Story of Lassie Image
The Story of Lassie
Self
Hollywood’s Children Image
Hollywood’s Children
Self (archive footage)
Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story Image
Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story
Self
Glory Image
Glory
Clarabel Tilbee
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star Image
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
Self - Actress
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli Image
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Self (archive footage)
When We Were Young: Growing Up on the Silver Screen Image
When We Were Young: Growing Up on the Silver Screen
Self
Her First Romance Image
Her First Romance
Betty Foster
Three Wise Fools Image
Three Wise Fools
Sheila O'Monahan
The Craven Cove Murders Image
The Craven Cove Murders
Fan
This Is Our Christmas Image
This Is Our Christmas
Mrs. Foxworth
Death in Space Image
Death in Space
Pam Rhodes
The Eyes of Two People Image
The Eyes of Two People
Catherine McDermott
Split Second to an Epitaph Image
Split Second to an Epitaph
Louise Prescott
Love Is in Bel Air Image
Love Is in Bel Air
Vivienne
Creaturealm: From the Dead Image
Creaturealm: From the Dead
Herself
Frankenstein Rising Image
Frankenstein Rising
Anabelle Lee Image
Anabelle Lee
No Image
Sunset After Dark
Betty Corman
The Unfinished Dance Image
The Unfinished Dance
'Meg' Merlin
Impact Event Image
Impact Event
Amanda
You, John Jones! Image
You, John Jones!
Daughter
Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic Image
Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic
Self
Hollywood Mortuary Image
Hollywood Mortuary
Herself
No Image
Prepper's Grove
Gigi
The Pledge of Allegiance Image
The Pledge of Allegiance
Narrator