Madge Evans (born Margherita Evans; July 1, 1909 – April 26, 1981) was an American stage and film actress.Obituary ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', April 29, 1981. She began her career as a child performer and model.

Biography

Child model and stage actress

Born in Manhattan, Madge Evans was featured in print ads as the " Fairy Soap girl" when she was two years old. She made her professional debut at the age of six months, posing as an artist's model. As a youth, her playmates included

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien, October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

Holbrook Blinn Holbrook Blinn was an American stage and film actor. Early years Blinn was the son of Civil War veteran Col. Charles Blinn and actress Nellie Holbrook-Blinn. He was born in San Francisco and attended Stanford University before he began a career ...

, and

Henry Hull Henry Watterson Hull (October 3, 1890 – March 8, 1977) was an American character actor perhaps best known for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's '' Werewolf of London'' (1935). For most of his career, he was a lead actor on stage and a c ...

. When she was four years old, Evans was featured in a series of child plays produced by William A. Brady. She worked at the old movie studio in Long Island, New York. Her success was immediate, so much so that her mother loaned her daughter's name to a hat company. Evans posed in a mother and child tableau with

Anita Stewart Anita Stewart (born Anna Marie Stewart; February 7, 1895 – May 4, 1961) was an American actress and film producer of the early silent film era. Early years Anita Stewart was born in Brooklyn, New York as Anna Marie Stewart on February 7, 18 ...

, then 16, for an

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

Brewing Company calendar, and as the little mountain girl in ''Heidi of the Alps''. Peter-Ibbetson-1917

At the age of 8 in 1917, Evans appeared in the Broadway production of '' Peter Ibbetson'' with

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

, Constance Collier and

Laura Hope Crews Laura Hope Crews (December 12, 1879 – November 12, 1942) was an American actress who is best remembered today for her later work as a character actress in motion pictures of the 1930s. Her best-known film role was Aunt Pittypat in ''Gone ...

. At 17, she returned to the stage and appeared as the ingenue in ''Daisy Mayme''. Some of her better work in plays came in productions of ''Dread'', ''The Marquis'', and ''The Conquering Male''. Her last appearance was in ''Philip Goes Forth'' produced by George Kelley. Evans' mother took her to England and Europe when she was 15.

Film career

As a child, Evans debuted in '' The Sign of the Cross'' (1914). She appeared in dozens of films, including with

Marguerite Clark Helen Marguerite Clark (February 22, 1883 – September 25, 1940) was an American stage and silent film actress. As a movie actress, at one time, Clark was second only to Mary Pickford in popularity. All but five of her films are considere ...

in '' The Seven Sisters'' (1915). She was featured with

in '' Alias Jimmy Valentine'' (1915). At 14, she was the star of

J. Stuart Blackton James Stuart Blackton (January 5, 1875 – August 13, 1941) was a British-American film producer and director of the silent era. One of the pioneers of motion pictures, he founded Vitagraph Studios in 1897. He was one of the first filmmakers to ...

's rural melodrama '' On the Banks of the Wabash'' (1923). She co-starred with

Richard Barthelmess Richard Semler Barthelmess (May 9, 1895 – August 17, 1963) was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's ''Broken Blossoms'' (1919) and ''Way Down East'' (1920) and w ...

in ''

Classmates A classmate is a student who is member of the same class, in any of its meanings (a course, a lesson, a graduating year). Classmate(s) may also refer to: * ''Classmates'' (1914 film), a 1914 silent film produced by the Biograph Company * ''Clas ...

'' (1924). She was working on stage when she signed with Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1927. As with theater, she continued to play ingenue parts, often as the fiancé of the leading man. She played the love interest to both

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...

and Frank Morgan in the 1933 film ''

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" (Roud 7992) is an American folk song, that responds with humorous sarcasm to unhelpful moralizing about the circumstance of being a hobo. "Hallelujah! I'm A Bum" Was the Marching Song of the IWW. (Harry McClintock song ...

''. Working for MGM in the 1930s, she appeared in '' Dinner at Eight'' (1933), ''

Broadway to Hollywood ''Broadway to Hollywood'' is an American television program broadcast on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network. While the daytime version was mainly a talk show with news, celebrity gossip, and home-viewer quizzes, the quiz portion became a ...

'' (1933), ''

Hell Below ''Hell Below'' (aka ''Pigboats'') is a 1933 American MGM pre-Code film set in the Adriatic Sea during World War I about submarine warfare based on Commander Edward Ellsberg's novel ''Pigboats''. The film stars Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston ...

'' (1933), and ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'' (1935). In 1933, she starred with

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

in the melodrama '' The Mayor of Hell''. Other notable movies in which she appeared are '' Beauty for Sale'' (1933), ''

Grand Canary Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

'' (1934), '' What Every Woman Knows'' (1934), and '' Pennies From Heaven'' (1936). In 1960, for Evans' contribution to the motion picture industry, she was honored with a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

located at 1752 Vine Street.

Marriage

In York Village, Maine on July 25, 1939, she married playwright Sidney Kingsley, best known for his plays '' Dead End'' and ''

Detective Story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

''. The couple owned a estate in Oakland, New Jersey. Following her marriage to Kingsley, Evans left Hollywood and moved to this home in New Jersey.

Radio and television

Later, she worked in radio and television in New York City. Evans performed on the '' Philco Television Playhouse'' (1949–1950), '' Studio One'' (1954), '' Matinee Theater'' (1955), and ''

The Alcoa Hour ''The Alcoa Hour'' is an American anthology television series that was aired live on NBC from 1955 to 1957. The series was sponsored by Alcoa. Overview Like the ''Philco Television Playhouse'' and ''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' that had prece ...

'' (1956). She was also a panelist on the 1950s version of '' Masquerade Party''.

Death

Evans died at her home in Oakland, New Jersey from cancer in 1981, aged 71.

Filmography

Articles

*''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', ''Marriages In Hollywood Exceed Divorces In 1939'', January 2, 1940, Page A1. *''Los Angeles Times'', ''Child Film Star, Ingenue Madge Evans Dies at 71'', April 27, 1981, Page A1. *''

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

Tribune'', ''Two Wise Young Maidens'', January 10, 1937, Page 80. *''San Mateo Times'', ''A Defence of Youth'', January 18, 1936, Page 15. *''Syracuse Herald'', ''Madge Evans,

Joan Marsh Joan Marsh (July 10, 1914 – August 10, 2000) was an American child actress in silent films between 1915 and 1921. Later, during the sound era, she resumed her acting career and performed in a variety of films during the 1930s and 1940s. Ear ...

, and

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic '' The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in t ...

head Sextet Surviving'', Sunday Morning, July 19, 1931, Section 3, Page 11. *''

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...

Signal'', ''Madge Evans Has Role With James Cagney'', July 16, 1933, Page 12.

References

External links

* *
Pictures at SilentLadies.com

Photos at Virtual-History.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Madge 1909 births 1981 deaths American film actresses American child actresses American silent film actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players 20th-century American actresses People from Oakland, New Jersey