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Marilyn Knowlden

Actor

Marilyn Knowlden

Born May 12, 1926 in Oakland, California, USADied September 15, 202527 films

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.

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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".

Knowlden died on September 15, 2025 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Eagle, Idaho.

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Angels with Dirty Faces posterFirst watchAngels with Dirty Faces19387.5as Laury - as a ChildChildhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his…View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Little Women poster6.8Little Women1933Imitation of Life poster7.0Imitation of Life1934All This, and Heaven Too poster7.2All This, and Heaven Too1940David Copperfield poster6.7David Copperfield1935Les Misérables poster7.1Les Misérables1935Show Boat poster6.7Show Boat1936

Filmography

27 films as actor
  1. 1944Broadway RhythmCo-ed in Drugstore (uncredited)
  2. 1940All This, and Heaven TooMarianna Van Horn (uncredited)
  3. 1940The Way of All FleshJulie Kriza
  4. 1939Hidden PowerImogene
  5. 1938Angels with Dirty FacesLaury - as a Child
  6. 1938Just Around the CornerGwendolyn (uncredited)
  7. 1938Marie AntoinettePrincesse Therese
  8. 1938Barefoot BoyJulia Blaine
  9. 1938An Evening with Edgar GuestAnn
  10. 1937Slave ShipGirl
  11. 1936Rainbow on the RiverLucille Layton
  12. 1936A Woman RebelsFlora at Age 9 (uncredited)
  13. 1936Easy to TakeGwen Ferry
  14. 1936Anthony AdverseFlorence Udney
  15. 1936Show BoatKim as a Child
  16. 1935Condemned to LiveMaria
  17. 1935Les MisérablesLittle Cosette (as Marilynne Knowlden)
  18. 1935David CopperfieldAgnes Wickfield as a Girl
  19. 1934Imitation of LifeJessie Pullman, Age 8 (uncredited)
  20. 1934As the Earth TurnsEsther
  21. 1933The World ChangesYoung Selma (uncredited)
  22. 1933Little WomenMeg’s Charge (uncredited)
  23. 1932Call Her SavageRuth as a Girl (Uncredited)
  24. 1932The ConquerorsFrances Standish, as a child
  25. 1931Husband's HolidayAnne Boyd
  26. 1931The Cisco KidAnnie Benton
  27. 1931Women Love OnceJanet Fields