Marilyn Knowlden
In 1931, a one-day effort by Marilyn Knowlden's attorney father led to an interview, a next-day screen test and a large part for four-year-old Marilyn in one of the early "talkies", Women Love Once (1931). A ten-year movie career followed, where she played the daughter of such stars as Claudette Colbert, Katharine Hepburn, Allan Jones and Norma Shearer.
She appeared in some of the screen's great classics, including Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), David Copperfield (1935) and Les Misérables (1935), in which she played the child Cosette. She appeared in six films nominated by the Academy for Best Production of the Year and performed with such distinguished actors as Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Greta Garbo and Bette Davis.
College, marriage and four children followed. A composer and playwright as well as an actress, she wrote the music and lyrics for ten produced musicals, including three for which she also wrote the scripts. The latter included her musical, "I'm Gonna Get You in the Movies!" for which she drew heavily on her own early experience.
After a 50-year hiatus, Marilyn returned to acting in 1994. She appeared in over 20 plays and musicals in San Diego County, including the role of Aunt Abby in "Arsenic and Old Lace," the leads in "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "Quilters," and Prof. Higgins' mother in "My Fair Lady." In 2011 Bear Manor published Marilyn Knowlden's autobiography "Little Girl in Big Pictures."
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.925 |
Birthday | 1923-05-12 |
Place of Birth | Oakland, California, USA |
Also Known As |
1936
Show Boat
6.7/38
Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.
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Show Boat
1931
Husband's Holiday
0/0
A stuffy family man cheats on his wife but she refuses him a divorce at first. Meanwhile his mistress resents her second class status.
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Husband's Holiday
1939
Hidden Power
0/0
Dr. Garfield gets so involved in his research for an antitoxin for severe burns that he completely neglects his wife, Virginian, and their young son,...
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Hidden Power
1938
Just Around the Corner
5.5/10
Penny helps her idealistic architect father get his dream of a slum clearance project; The little miss dances with Corporal Jones.
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Just Around the Corner
1938
Marie Antoinette
6.2/25
The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the riv...
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Marie Antoinette
1935
Les Misérables
7.2/49
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both me...
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Les Misérables
1938
Barefoot Boy
5.8/4
A spoiled boy sent to the country to grow-up. He has to deal with life, friends and crooks.
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Barefoot Boy
1933
Little Women
6.7/127
Little Women is a coming-of-age drama tracing the lives of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. During the American Civil War, the girls father is awa...
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Little Women
1944
Broadway Rhythm
5.5/2
Broadway producer Johnny Demming is only interested in big-name talent and scoffs that his sister, father and other small-time talent could be used in...
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Broadway Rhythm
1932
The Conquerors
5.7/3
A newlywed couple journeys west to make their fortune, and begins a banking empire.
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The Conquerors
1934
As the Earth Turns
5.3/7
Love happens between the son of Polish immigrants settled in Maine and the daughter of a neighboring farm family.
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As the Earth Turns
1935
Condemned to Live
5.2/13
After a series of murders, a man finds out that his mother was bitten by a vampire bat during her pregnancy, and he believes that he may be the vampir...
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Condemned to Live
1938
An Evening with Edgar Guest
0/0
The Household Finance Corporation presents An Evening with Edgar A. Guest produced by the Jam Handy Organization. A schoolboy is trying to memorize a...
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An Evening with Edgar Guest
1937
Slave Ship
5.3/5
Action-filled drama about a ship captain, ashamed of his background in the slave trade, forced against his will to again transport human cargo.
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Slave Ship
1931
The Cisco Kid
5.9/6
The Cisco Kid rides again! This time, he robs a bank to save pretty widow Sally Benton and her ranch. After developing a good relationship with Sally’...
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The Cisco Kid
1938
Angels with Dirty Faces
7.6/310
Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes...
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Angels with Dirty Faces
1936
A Woman Rebels
5.8/14
A Victorian-era woman struggles to break free of the moral codes established by society and enforced by her father.
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A Woman Rebels
1936
Rainbow on the River
9/1
A young boy is forced to leave his family in the South and move in with relatives he doesn't know in New York.
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Rainbow on the River
1940
All This, and Heaven Too
7.3/46
When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philip...
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All This, and Heaven Too
1935
David Copperfield
6.5/62
Charles Dickens' timeless tale of an ordinary young man who lives an extraordinary life, filled with people who help and hinder him.
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David Copperfield
1940
The Way of All Flesh
4/6
Paul Kriza is a cashier of a bank in a small town, and the happy husband of Anna and the father of four children. He is sent to New York to deliver so...
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The Way of All Flesh
1936
Anthony Adverse
5.7/27
Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by...
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Anthony Adverse
1936
Easy to Take
0/0
To boost the ratings of a kiddie show, the host agrees to take guardianship of of a bratty boy who has a lovely older sister.
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Easy to Take
1934
Imitation of Life
6.981/81
A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face fami...
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Imitation of Life
1932
Call Her Savage
5.6/14
A high-spirited, short-tempered, young woman hates her father and loves to rebel against him. She marries a man whom her father hates but her marriage...
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