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Margaret O'Brien

Margaret O'Brien

Known For Acting
Birthday Jan 15, 1937 (88)
Birthplace San Diego, California, USA
Popularity 0.8 (history)
Updated Dec 19, 2024
Entry Date Apr 13, 2024
Links TMDb IMDb
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 Max ... ine 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.

Known For

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Filmography

Prepper's Grove

Prepper's Grove

2018

as Gigi

Impact Event

Impact Event

2018

as Amanda

This Is Our Christmas

This Is Our Christmas

2018

as Mrs. Foxworth

Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!

Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!

2017

as Bridgette's Grandmother

Sunset After Dark

Sunset After Dark

1996

as Betty Corman

Showbiz Goes to War

Showbiz Goes to War

1982

as (archive footage)

Amy

Amy

1981

as Hazel Johnson

Death in Space

Death in Space

1974

as Pam Rhodes

That's Entertainment!

That's Entertainment!

1974

as (archive footage)

Split Second to an Epitaph

Split Second to an Epitaph

1968

as Louise Prescott

Heller in Pink Tights

Heller in Pink Tights

1960

as Della Southby

Glory

Glory

1956

as Clarabel Tilbee

Her First Romance

Her First Romance

1951

as Betty Foster

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden

1949

as Mary Lennox

Little Women

Little Women

1949

as Beth

Tenth Avenue Angel

Tenth Avenue Angel

1948

as Flavia Mills

Big City

Big City

1948

as Midge

The Unfinished Dance

The Unfinished Dance

1947

as 'Meg' Merlin

Three Wise Fools

Three Wise Fools

1946

as Sheila O'Monahan

Bad Bascomb

Bad Bascomb

1946

as Emmy

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

1945

as Selma Jacobson

Music for Millions

Music for Millions

1944

as Mike

Meet Me in St. Louis

Meet Me in St. Louis

1944

as "Tootie" Smith

The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost

1944

as Lady Jessica de Canterville

Twenty Years After

Twenty Years After

1944

as (archive footage)

Lost Angel

Lost Angel

1943

as Alpha

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

1943

as Adele Varens

You, John Jones!

You, John Jones!

1943

as Daughter

Madame Curie

Madame Curie

1943

as Irene Curie - Age 5

Thousands Cheer

Thousands Cheer

1943

as Customer in Red Skelton Skit

Journey for Margaret

Journey for Margaret

1942

as Margaret

Babes on Broadway

Babes on Broadway

1941

as Maxine (uncredited)

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Organization Category Movie
Television Credits

Tales from the Darkside

as Mildred Webster

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 30, 1984

Perry Mason

as Virginia Trent

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1957

Combat!

as Marianne Fraisnet

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1962

General Electric Theater

as Sarah Trask

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Feb 01, 1953

Rawhide

as Betsy Stauffer

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 09, 1959

Lux Video Theatre

as Margaret

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1950

The Aquanauts

as Ellen Marstand

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 14, 1960

Climax!

as Kathy Fathian

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1954

Adventures in Paradise

as Phyllis Willoughby

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 05, 1959

Robert Montgomery Presents

as Ginny

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jan 30, 1950

Dr. Kildare

as Nurse Lori Palmer

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 27, 1961

The DuPont Show with June Allyson

as Jean

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1959

Adam-12

as Mrs. Pendleton

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 21, 1968

Lux Video Theatre

as Laura

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1950

Lux Video Theatre

as Elaine

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1950

Studio One

as Julie Denton

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Studio One

as Jenny Walker

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Ironside

as Louise Prescott

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 28, 1967

Climax!

as Chip

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1954

Climax!

as Angie Hawley

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 07, 1954

Murder, She Wrote

as Jane

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 30, 1984

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

as Anne Lipscott

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 04, 1963

Wagon Train

as Julie Revere

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 18, 1957

Hotel

as Martha Connelly

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Aug 21, 1982

Marcus Welby, M.D.

as Neva Phillips

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 23, 1969

Matinee Theater

Episodes: 3

First Aired: Oct 31, 1955

The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Jun 20, 1948

What's My Line?

as Self

Episodes: 2

First Aired: Feb 02, 1950

E! True Hollywood Story

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Aug 21, 1996

Studio One

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Nov 07, 1948

Hollywood Preview

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 14, 1955

The New Lassie

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 08, 1989

The Steve Allen Show

as Self - Singer

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Jun 24, 1956

The Oscars

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Mar 19, 1953

The Mike Douglas Show

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Dec 11, 1961

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 01, 1962

Kraft Television Theatre

Episodes: 1

First Aired: May 07, 1947

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

as Self

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Feb 05, 1967

Lux Video Theatre

as Self - Intermission Guest

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Oct 02, 1950

Love, American Style

Episodes: 1

First Aired: Sep 29, 1969

Popularity Metrics

Popularity History


Year Month Avg Max Min
2024 5 13 13 13
2024 6 14 19 9
2024 7 18 26 9
2024 8 13 25 8
2024 9 13 29 4
2024 10 11 22 7
2024 11 11 29 4
2024 12 18 29 10
2025 1 14 23 5
2025 2 8 17 1
2025 3 6 12 1
2025 4 1 1 1
2025 5 2 4 1
2025 6 1 2 1
2025 7 1 1 0
2025 8 1 2 0
2025 9 0 0 0
2025 10 0 1 0

Trending Rank


Year Month Avg Rank Max Rank
2024 5 991 991

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