Margaret O'Brien
Date of birth: 1937-01-15
Place of birth: San Diego, California, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Angela Maxine O'Brien, Maxine O'Brien
Biography
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.
Movie Credits
Meet Me in St. Louis
1944-11-28
A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 19
This Is Our Christmas
2018-11-08
A sequel to the popular movie, Beverly Hills Christmas that was shown on UP TV during Christmas 2015
Jane Eyre
1943-12-24
After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happi
Heller in Pink Tights
1960-03-01
Nineteenth century Wyoming: the wild West. Mild-mannered Tom Healy has a two-wagon theater troupe ho
The Secret Garden
1949-04-30
When Cholera takes the parents of Mary Lennox, she is shipped from India to England to live with her
Little Women
1949-03-10
Louisa May Alcott's autobiographical account of her life with her three sisters in Concord Mass in t
Madame Curie
1943-12-16
Poor physics student Marie is studying at the Sorbonne in 1890s Paris. One of the few women studying
Journey for Margaret
1942-12-17
An American newspaperman and his wife, end up in London after several retreats in the opening days
Thousands Cheer
1943-09-13
Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the
The Craven Cove Murders
2002-10-11
Lucas Swan, owner of a bed and breakfast, authored a book on a rash of murders a few years before. T
The Canterville Ghost
1944-07-20
The descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage wh
Showbiz Goes to War
1982-12-31
While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
1943-05-08
In this 13th entry to the Dr. Kildare series, the medical staff of Blair General hospital are challe
The Unfinished Dance
1947-09-19
Meg, a young ballet student, idolizes the school's top ballerina, the shallow Ariane Bouchet. Meg is
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
1945-09-06
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we
Tenth Avenue Angel
1948-02-20
Flavia's been told that her Aunt Susan's fiancé, Steve, has been on a trip around the world, but in
The Story of Lassie
1994-08-14
Documentary about canine superstar Lassie, combining film clips, still photographs, home movies, arc
Lost Angel
1943-12-23
Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest sto
Her First Romance
1951-05-04
A teenager experiences her first crush while attending a summer camp. Director Seymour Friedman's 19
Glory
1956-01-11
A lovesick girl and her grandfather groom their filly for the Kentucky Derby.
Bad Bascomb
1946-05-26
A western bandit is reformed by his love for a little girl.
Music for Millions
1944-12-18
Six-year-old "Mike" goes to live with her pregnant older sister, Babs, who plays string bass in José
You, John Jones!
1943-01-14
John Jones contemplates how fortunate he and his family are in America, where no wartime bombing occ
Amy
1981-03-20
A woman leaves her husband after the death of her child to teach deaf children how to speak. Her own
Three Wise Fools
1946-09-26
An orphan girl melts the hearts of three crusty old men.
Big City
1948-03-25
A young orphan in New York's Lower East Side is collectively adopted by three neighborhood men--a mi
Creaturealm: From the Dead
1998-01-01
Two-part anthology featuring resurrected zombie actors and a young woman whose murderous dreams may
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
2002-08-01
In this documentary on the life of Joan Crawford, we learn why she should be remembered as the great
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
1973-01-01
The Eyes of Two People
1952-10-23
Futari no hitomi (二人の瞳, Futari no hitomi, The Eyes of Two People) a.k.a. Girls Hand in Hand (USA tit
Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic
1994-01-01
Documentary about the making of "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944).
Hollywood Mortuary
1998-01-01
Framed by interviews with real life celebrities, Hollywood Mortuary tells the tale of a horror make-
The Pledge of Allegiance
1971-06-08
Teaches about the American pledge of allegiance.
That's Entertainment!
1974-06-21
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year hi
Love Is in Bel Air
A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas!
2011-12-06
A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! is a tinsel-filled journey through the most iconic holiday f
Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story
2023-04-09
A documentary chronicle of one of our greatest directors.
Sunset After Dark
1996-01-01
A struggling screenwriter finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.
Anabelle Lee
1971-12-17
In an English village in the early 20th century, Elizabeth, a tavern singer, lies about her engageme
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2017-01-31
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is really just as much the story of Gabriel John Utterso
Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's
1998-06-19
In 1995, Chasen's closed its doors after 60 years of serving chili to movie stars and visiting digni
Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!
2017-10-27
On Halloween, an all girl rock-n-roll band called “Kill Pussy Kill” ventures out to play their bigge
Death in Space
1974-06-17
The commander of a spaceship orbiting 250 miles above Earth disappears through the airlock and is ej
Frankenstein Rising
2010-04-20
A modern day descendent of Frankenstein becomes obsessed with his ancestor's work and seeks to repli
Twenty Years After
1944-01-01
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then
Babes on Broadway
1941-12-31
Penny Morris and Tommy Williams are both starstruck young teens but nobody seems to give them any ch
Impact Event
2018-04-07
A slow burn into insanity as a small band of survivors find themselves spending a post-meteoric apoc
Split Second to an Epitaph
1968-09-26
In the second "Ironside" movie, the Chief has his spine jolted during a hospital encounter with a na
Hollywood’s Children
1982-02-24
A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
2015-09-13
In 1935, 17-year-old aspiring actress Marsha Hunt was discovered in Hollywood. She signed with Param
Prepper's Grove
2018-10-01
The film focuses on the disappearance of a teenager, who over the years has become a cold case.
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
2004-06-22
The top 100 songs of the past 100 years chosen by the American Film Institute are presented by host-
When We Were Young: Growing Up on the Silver Screen
1989-12-02
A documentary about the careers of child stars of the '40s in Hollywood, featuring movie clips with