Marilyn Knowlden: Almost Shirley Temple
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A 1934 headline in the San Fransisco Examiner reported: “Kiddies Invade Hollywood: Success of Shirley Temple Starts Rush . . . . The small number of clever children seen consistently includes . . . Marilyn Knowlden and possibly two or three others.”
Although she never reached such a height of popularity as the iconic Shirley Temple, Knowlden did prove herself a fine actress.
Born in 1926, Knowlden started out in dance school at the age of three. After a successful screen test and moving into pictures, she starred in six films nominated for best picture.
With Claudette Colbert in Imitation of Life (1934)
With Katherine Hepburn in A Woman Rebels (1936)
Although Greta Garbo warned her “not to count on anything” in Hollywood, Knowlden acted from 1931 to 1944, often in roles as the child version of the main character. Titles she starred in include Little Women (1933), David Copperfield (1934), Show Boat (1935), Marie Antoinette (1937), and All This, and Heaven Too (1940). She confirms that she was also considered for a tiny part, that of one of the O’ Hara daughters, in Gone with the Wind.
When eighteen, she retired from her career to marry a serviceman. In 2011, her autobiography, Little Girl in Big Pictures, debuted. Today Knowlden lives in California, still responding to fan mail.
Signing autographs for Charles Bickford, Charles Laughton and Herbert Marshall
INTERVIEW
We were able to obtain the following exclusive interview with Marilyn Knowlden (April 2024):
Q: Describe life as a child star in Hollywood.
KNOWLDEN: Many highs and lows.
Q: How did you first realize that you were a celebrity?
KNOWLDEN: Fan mail.
Q: How did you get the part of Agnes Wickfield in David Copperfield?
KNOWLDEN: They sent me to the MGM music department. My mother had taught me to play the piano!
Q: You worked with Olivia de Havilland in Anthony Adverse. Any memories of the actress?
KNOWLDEN: Just of the scene when the mob came after us with raised clubs!
Q: Talk about working with Tyrone Power in Marie Antoinette.
KNOWLDEN: So handsome! We had to shoot all his scenes first!
Q: Share your memories from the set of Angels with Dirty Faces.
KNOWLDEN: Frankie Burke [the actor who played the young version of her adult character’s eventual love interest] was too old for me!
Q: Is it true that you were considered for the part of Carreen O’ Hara in Gone with the Wind?
KNOWLDEN: Yes! And Ann Rutherford apologized to me. She said I would have been perfect!
Q: Talk about All This, and Heaven Too.
KNOWLDEN: I met a lot of my young actress friends!
Q: What is life like for you now?
KNOWLDEN: I have four children, four grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. I will soon be publishing an album of original holiday songs on Amazon.
Photo credits: cinephiled, Pinterest, lanternmedia.hist, Marilynknowlden.com.
A collection of forty-four stunning photographs, one for each year of Tyrone Power’s life.