Jane Withers
Jane Withers | |
---|---|
![]() 20th Century Fox studio portrait, 1930s | |
Born | April 12, 1926 Atlanta, Georgia,U.S. |
Died | August 7, 2021 Burbank, California,U.S. | (aged 95)
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1929–2002 |
Spouses | William P. Moss Jr.
(m.1947;div.1954)Kenneth Errair
(m.1955; died 1968) |
Children | 5 |
Awards | Young Artist Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award |
Jane Withers(April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show hostess. She became one of the most popularchild starsinHollywoodin the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for box-office gross in 1937 and 1938.
She began her entertainment career at the age of three and, during theGolden Age of Radio,hosted her own children's radio program in her home city ofAtlanta,Georgia. In 1932, she and her mother moved to Hollywood, where she appeared as an extra in many films until landing her breakthrough role as the spoiled, obnoxious Joy Smythe oppositeShirley Temple's angelic orphan Shirley Blake in the 1934 filmBright Eyes.She made 38 films before retiring at age 21 in 1947.[1]She returned to film and television as acharacter actorin the 1950s. From 1963 to 1974, she portrayed the character Josephine the Plumber in a series of television commercials forComet cleanser.In the 1990s and early 2000s, she did voice work for Disney animated films. She was interviewed in numerous documentary retrospectives of theGolden Age of Hollywood.She was also known for her philanthropy and her extensive doll collection.
Early life
[edit]Jane Withers was born on April 12, 1926, inAtlanta,Georgia, the only child of Walter Edward Withers and Lavinia Ruth (née Elble) Withers.[1][2]Ruth had had her own aspirations to be an actress nixed by her parents.[3]She determined before Jane was born that she would have one daughter who would go into show business, and chose the name Jane so that "even with a long last name like Withers, it would fit on a marquee".[4][5][6]Ruth taught Sunday school and Walter taught Bible classes in their localPresbyterian church.[4]The family recited blessings at mealtime and devoted themselves to charitable works, which stood with Jane her entire life.[7]Both in Atlanta and in Hollywood, the family would invite "six busloads of orphan children" to come to their home after church and Sunday school for lunch and afternoon entertainment.[8]
When Jane was two, Ruth enrolled her in atap danceschool,[6]and also taught her to sing.[9]Jane launched her entertainment career at the age of three[4]after winning a local amateur contest calledDixie's Dainty Dewdrop.[10]She was cast onAunt Sally's Kiddie Revue,a Saturday-morning children's program broadcast onWGSTradio in Atlanta, in which she sang, danced, and didimpersonationsof film stars such asW. C. Fields,ZaSu Pitts,Maurice Chevalier,Fanny Brice,Eddie Cantor,andGreta Garbo.[11][1]At age 3½ she had her own radio show calledDixie's Dainty Dewdrop,where she also interviewed celebrities who were visiting Atlanta.[10][5]
Move to Hollywood
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Jane_Withers_portrait_with_ball%2C_1930s_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Jane_Withers_portrait_with_ball%2C_1930s_%28cropped%29.jpg)
After two years of her radio work, Ruth took Jane to Hollywood before her sixth birthday in 1932 to explore opportunities in film.[12]Walter remained in Atlanta, sending them $100 a month on which to live.[9]In Los Angeles, Jane performed on children's shows onKFWBradio,[12]did cartoon voice-overs, and also modeled.[13][4][1]She got her first film role as an extra when their neighbor invited her to come along for her daughter's interview forHandle with Care(1932). Withers stood to the side while the other children interviewed with directorDavid Butler.The assistant director came over and asked her why she was not standing with the others. "Sir, I was not invited to the interview. I came with our friends", she replied. The assistant director told her that Butler had seen her and wanted her to interview as well.Handle with Carewas Withers's first film appearance, though she and all the children were photographed with their backs to the camera.[14]
Withers subsequently appeared in many films as an uncredited extra, though occasionally she had a line of dialogue.[15]She stood out from the other girls at auditions because of her appearance: she had a Dutchboy bob and preferred tailored clothes to frilly dresses.[16]"Every interview I ever went on I was the only one with a tailored dress, with straight bangs and straight haircut, and no curls and no frills", she recalled.[16]Butler was the first to notice this about her. He told her, "You're different than any other kid that I've ever seen in Hollywood. You've got a special quality and someday you are going to be a famous little star".[14]
Withers was working as an extra onIt's a Gift(1934), whenW. C. Fieldsselected her from a group of juvenile extras to do apantomimehopscotchscene with him. Afterwards, he praised her timing and called over her mother to compliment her on Jane's talent and predict that she would go far.[17]
Withers's big break came two years after she started working as an extra,[18]when she landed a supporting role in theShirley TemplefilmBright Eyes(also 1934), also directed by Butler.[4]On her interview, Butler asked her if she could imitate amachine gun,and she gave it a try.[4][19]She also charmed the casting director with her impersonations.[18]Her character, Joy Smythe, is spoiled and obnoxious, a perfect foil for Temple's sweet personality.[20][21]Withers was concerned that filmgoers would hate her for being so mean to Temple, but the film was a box-office hit.[16]Withers said that director Butler confided to her, "You stole the picture".[22]
After filming wrapped, Withers signed a seven-year contract withFox Film Corporation.[16]Included in her contract was the right to choose the crew members who would work on her productions. Her crew, dubbed the "Withers Family", worked on all her subsequent films.[1][23][24]
After Withers signed her contract with Fox, her mother invested $10,000 into developing additional skills to improve her versatility as an actress, with the intention of spending $20,000 over an eight-year period.[25]This included "ice skating lessons, voice training, horsemanship, dancing, French, Spanish, and swimming lessons".[25]
Child stardom
[edit]I never had a [acting] lesson in my life. All you have to do is read and think and do. You read the script, think about it, make notes if you're not sure, try it different ways until it feels natural. I don't know any other way ".
–Jane Withers, 2013[24]
Withers began filming her first starring vehicle,Ginger(1935), on her ninth birthday.[26]She received two baskets of flowers on the set that day—one from Fields, to whom she had written about her casting inBright Eyes,and one from PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt,who had seen her impersonate him on a newsreel.[1][26]The same year, she appeared in a brief role inThe Farmer Takes a Wifeand then starred inThis Is the Life.Her day of filming inThe Farmer Takes a Wifecoincided withHenry Fonda's screen debut, and noticing his nervousness, she encouraged him and offered a prayer for his success.[27]
Throughout the remainder of the 1930s, Withers appeared in three to five films per year.[28]In 1936, she starred inPaddy O'Day,Gentle Julia,Little Miss Nobody,andPepper.[29]In 1937, she performed in comedies, dramas, and a Western with lead roles inThe Holy Terror,Angel's Holiday,Wild and Woolly,Can This Be Dixie?,45 Fathers,andCheckers.[30]In 1938, she filmed three comedies for Fox:Rascals,Keep Smiling,andAlways in Trouble.[31]In 1939 she appeared in four more comedy roles:The Arizona Wildcat,Boy Friend,Chicken Wagon Family,andPack Up Your Troubles.[31]Withers often received top billing even over other established stars.[28]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Paddy-O%27Day-Cansino-Withers.jpg/250px-Paddy-O%27Day-Cansino-Withers.jpg)
Withers did not memorize her lines verbatim, but tried to think about them and draw out the "sense" from them; she oftenad-libbedwhen she lost her way in a scene.[32]A natural mimic, she did impersonations of film celebrities both on and off the set.[19][33]Twentieth Century Fox studio headDarryl Zanuckreportedly forbade her from doing her Shirley Temple impersonation in public.[34]
Withers freely gave her input to screenwriters and directors. From a young age, she sat in on writers' conferences to suggest changes in dialogue that would be more appropriate for a child to say.[35]She also suggested the casting of other actors for her films, includingJackie Searl,whom she had met at auditions, and 16-year-old Rita Cansino (later renamedRita Hayworth), whom she had observed dancing on an adjoining sound stage and recommended for a supporting role inPaddy O'Day.[36]At age 13, she took the initiative to make a film withGene Autryby acting as a go-between between 20th Century Fox studio headJoseph M. SchenckandRepublic PicturesheadHerbert J. Yates.[37]Though neither studio was willing to loan their star player to the other, Withers suggested that Fox send three other contract players to Republic Pictures in exchange for Autry, who was paid $25,000 to co-star with Withers inShooting High(1940).[37][38]
Withers was the only child star to complete a seven-year contract.[39]Studio contracts generally included a series of six-month option periods when the studio could terminate the agreement should the actor's films stop making money.[39]Since all but one of her films were low-budgetB movies,[21][40]the studio held Withers to a lower standard than an A-movie actor whose films would cost the studio much more money.[39]Additionally, the lower rental fees for Withers's B movies allowed her films to be screened in many more small theaters, expanding Withers's popularity.[41]In 1937 and 1938, Withers's films made the top 10 list in box-office gross receipts.[21]In addition to her studio contract, Withers made personal appearance tours for which she received $5,000 a week.[32]
Teen years
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Jane_Withers_glamor_portrait.jpg/220px-Jane_Withers_glamor_portrait.jpg)
In 1938–1939, Withers shed her childhood pudginess through healthy eating and stretching exercises, slimming down to 100 lb (45 kg) and a size-12 dress.[42]She had her firstscreen kissin the 1939 filmBoy Friend.[43]In 1940 she filmedShooting Highwith co-starGene Autry,and starred in the teen filmsHigh School,The Girl from Avenue A,andYouth Will Be Served.[31]But she and her fans grew dissatisfied with the juvenile roles being offered her as she matured.[1]Under the pseudonymJerrie Walters,Withers wrote the screenplay forSmall Town Deb(1941), in which she also starred.[1]Withers explained in a 2003 interview that "her own experiences of not being allowed by the studio to grow up were translated into the story of a teenage girl whose 'mother isn't allowing her to grow up, to be herself and to find herself'".[1]As payment for the script, Withers requested that the studio provide fifteen $1,500 scholarships for children to study music and acting, and two upright pianos, for her Sunday school groups.[44]
In 1941, Withers signed her second seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox. She was set to earn $2,750 a week in the first year of the contract and $3,000 per week in the second year.[45]Her other films this year for 20th Century Fox were comedies:Golden HoofsandA Very Young Lady.[31]Her last films for Fox were the war dramaYoung Americaand the comedy filmThe Mad Martindales,both in 1942.[31]She also madeHer First Beau(1941) forColumbia Pictures.[31][45]
In 1942, Withers signed a three-year, $225,000 contract withRepublic Pictures.[46]Her Republic films wereJohnny Doughboy(1942),My Best GalandFaces in the Fog(both 1944), andAffairs of Geraldine(1946).[31]Her other films in the 1940s wereThe North Star(1943) forRKO PicturesandDanger Street(1947) forParamount Pictures.[31]
Screen persona
[edit]She endeared herself to audiences with her seemingly limitless energy and impish charm.
Withers and Shirley Temple were the two most popular child stars signed to 20th Century Fox in the 1930s.[47]In contrast to Temple's cute and charming characters, Withers was usually cast as a mischievous little girl or "a tomboy rascal", leading to her being described as "America's favorite problem child".[21][48]Zierold noted that Withers's characters are "often in trouble, or 'fixes', and prone to brawls".[21]Hollywood gossip columnistLouella Parsonsdescribed Withers as "a natural clown".[49]As a child, Withers's "stocky and sturdy" build and straight black hair also contrasted with Temple's "pudgy but delicate" figure and blonde ringlets.[21]Both Withers and Temple usually played orphans and had a transformative effect on those around them.[21]But while Temple was cared for by father figures, Withers was usually under the protection of uncles, both real and imaginary; according to Pamela Wojcik, author ofFantasies of Neglect: Imagining the Urban Child in American Film and Fiction,this introduced the narrative ofqueernessthrough alternative family structures.[50][51]
Withers's bratty screen persona continued into her teens. According toFarley Granger,Withers was "cast as the obnoxious, smart-aleck teen as opposed toDeanna Durbin's orJudy Garland's plucky and adorable adolescent ".[52]
Parents and home life
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Jane_Withers_and_mother_in_1939_-_front_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Jane_Withers_and_mother_in_1939_-_front_%28cropped%29.jpg)
While Withers typically played a brat onscreen, off-screen she was said to be "one of Hollywood's most charming and well-behaved juveniles".[53]Her parents closely supervised her upbringing to make sure she did not grow up spoiled or entitled. In a 1942 newspaper article, Ruth described how she and her husband encouraged Jane to develop a generous personality and avoid the egoism and self-centeredness that a child star might accrue as the object of adoring fans and studio "sycophants".[54]
For example, as Withers began to receive gifts of dolls from fans to add to her collection, her parents insisted that for every two dolls she received, she give away one to a needy child. When she began to purchase dolls to build the collection further, her parents mandated that she should use her allowance money to buy duplicate dolls for less fortunate children.[54]Her earnings from film roles were invested intrust fundsandannuities;Withers had to use her allowance money to buy things she wanted for herself, which often meant saving up for weeks.[53][54]In 1938, her allowance was reported as $5 a week;[32][55]this was raised to $10 a week in 1941.[53]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Home_of_Jane_Withers%2C_Westwood%2C_California_%28cropped%29.jpg/250px-Home_of_Jane_Withers%2C_Westwood%2C_California_%28cropped%29.jpg)
To ease the pressured life of a child star, Withers' parents made sure she also had fun, but kept her activities supervised and close to home. Withers joined theGirl Scoutsand her parents hosted the meeting in their home.[7]The Withers' home, a 4-acre (1.6 ha)[56]model homeat 10731Sunset Boulevardthey bought in 1936,[57]was equipped with a swimming pool, badminton court, and a 78 ft (24 m)-long playroom that saw frequent use by Withers and her fellow Hollywood child actors.[8][58]Her afternoon swim parties continued into her teens and were the subject of many a fan magazine.[52]When she became a teenager, her parents built a second-floor addition that included abeauty salonandsoda fountainwhere Withers could entertain her friends.[53][59]As a child, she also accumulated a menagerie of two horses, three kittens, "eight turtles, three baby alligators, 24 white Leghorn chickens, 12 turkeys, 2 Chinese hens", a rooster, sixbantams,two ducks, seven frogs, and six dogs.[56]At the family's cabin inLake Arrowhead,where they vacationed on weekends and holidays, Withers had two motorbikes and a boat.[56][32]
Withers' birthday parties, described as "the social event of the season for movietown's small fry", were annually covered by the media.[59]For her twelfth birthday, her parents hired a 21-seatcargo planefor $18,000 to give party guests a low-altitude ride.[58]Withers' thirteenth birthday party saw 60 young guests come in costume and participate in a balloon dance andjitterbugcontest; this party earned a two-page pictorial spread inLifemagazine.[60][61]Withers's "sweet sixteen"party in 1942, with 150 invited guests and a hayride and barn dance on the program,[62]was filmed byParamount Picturesfor theHedda Hopper's Hollywoodseries.[63]The short was transferred to16 mm filmfor viewing by U.S. troops overseas duringWorld War II.[63]Withers had her eighteenth birthday party atMadison Square Gardenwith a circus theme and invited U.S. servicemen and their dates to be her guests.[64]Her twenty-first birthday party was planned for a nightclub with 200 guests, but after she came down with theflu,Withers instead served cake and ice cream and watched movies in her personal suite at home with 12 close friends.[59]
Withers was allowed to go on chaperoned dates with boys of her age in her early teens;[53]by age 16 she was permitted to go on solo dates.[65]After a 1936 kidnapping threat, she was always accompanied by round-the-clock bodyguards.[66][67]
During Withers' first 15 years in film, Ruth "handled all negotiations with producers, supervised publicity, [and] completely managed Jane's off-screen life".[3]However, Ruth was not a typicalstage mother.She was usually present on the sound stage but did not watch Jane film her scenes; nor did she ever issue instructions or objections to studio personnel.[68][69][70]Walter Withers did not involve himself in the movie business at all, but worked as a representative for a California wholesale furniture company.[68]
Product licensing
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Jane_Withers_Cut-Out_Dolls_book_cover.jpg/220px-Jane_Withers_Cut-Out_Dolls_book_cover.jpg)
Withers' parents licensed her name and image to numerous product lines.[1]As early as 1936, her name was affixed to a line of "Jane Withers Dresses" for girls,[71][72]and girls' handbags and jewelry were also branded with her name.[73][74]She was the star of best-sellingpaper dollbooks issued byWhitman Publishing,Saalfield Publishing,andDellin the late 1930s and 1940s,[75][76]which later became popularcollectables.[77][78]She was also featured in severalBig Little Bookspublished by Whitman Publishing.[79]Numerous dolls were made in her likeness,[5]including fourMadame Alexander dollsin 1937 ranging in height from 13.5–20 in (340–510 mm).[80][81]
In the 1940s, Withers was featured as the heroine of three mystery novels published by Whitman Publishing, which produced 16 authorized editions featuring notable film actresses of that era.[82]The booksJane Withers and the Hidden Room(1942) by Eleanor Packer andJane Withers and the Phantom Violin(1943) byRoy J. Snell[82]"featured a character who looked like Jane Withers and was named Jane Withers but was not Jane Withers".[83]Jane Withers and the Swamp Wizard(1944) by Kathryn Heisenfelt[82]was said to "star some version of the real Jane Withers".[83]The books were reprinted by Literary Licensing in the 21st century.
Retirement at age 21
[edit]In the early 1940s, Hollywood's child-star genre that had catapulted Withers to fame was on the decline.[1]Her popularity in comedy films also hindered her acceptance as a dramatic actress in films such asThe North Star(1943).[1]Withers retired from film at age 21 in 1947, shortly after completingDanger Streetand nine days before her marriage to William Moss, a Texas entrepreneur and film producer.[1][84]She had starred in 38 films.[1]
A month after Jane's twenty-first birthday, her mother Ruth appeared in aCalifornia Superior Courtand listed her daughter's assets as $40,401.85 (equivalent to $550,000 in 2023). The judge turned the property over to Jane's control.[85]The same month, her parents turned over to her the deed to their home, valued at $250,000 (equivalent to $3,400,000 in 2023), and other real estate worth $75,000, plus annuities totaling $10,000, all purchased from Withers's earnings.[86]
Her father died the following year.[2][87]Ruth remarried to Louis D. Boonshaft, a physician.[88][89]
Return to the screen and television work
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Press_photo_of_Jane_Withers_in_Giant_%28front%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Press_photo_of_Jane_Withers_in_Giant_%28front%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In 1955, a year after her divorce, Withers returned toLos Angelesand enrolled in theUniversity of Southern Californiafilm school with the intention of becoming a director.[1]She returned to the screen whenGeorge Stevensasked her to take a supporting role in his 1956 filmGiant.[1][40]In 2006, Withers participated in a 50th-anniversary screening of the film for 700 attendees inMarfa, Texas,where location shooting had taken place.[5][90]
Her performance inGiantled to more work as a character actor in both film and television.[1]She appeared in television episodes ofPete and Gladys;[91]General Electric Theater;[92]The Alfred Hitchcock Hour;The Love Boat;andMurder, She Wrote.[1]Though she received "dozens of offers" to do television series as well as stage musicals such asMame;Hello, Dolly!;andNo, No, Nanette,Withers was financially comfortable and chose to spend most of her time raising her children.[10][93]
Josephine the Plumber fame
[edit]I put a lot of myself into Josephine. I felt that any lady who was going to become a plumber cared an awful lot about her fellow man because when you need a plumber you need help.
–Jane Withers, 1979[94]
In the mid-1960s, Withers gained new popularity as Josephine the Plumber, a character in a series of television commercials forComet cleanser.[1][21]Dressed in white work overalls and positioned near a sink, "Josephine" touted Comet's stain-removing ability as superior to other cleansers.[95]The one-minute spots, which ran from 1963 to 1974,[95]involved Withers in up to 30 storylines per year.[93][96]
Withers invested much of her own personality into the character of Josephine, making her friendly, caring, and helpful.[94]She also selected the type of work clothes a woman plumber would wear based on what she herself wore at home.[94]She took a course inplumbingto play her part realistically.[96]Her earnings from the long-running commercial helped her pay for a college education for all five of her children.[96]
Withers retired as Josephine after her mother Ruth was diagnosed with a brain tumor.[97]She cared for her mother for eight years until Ruth's death in 1983.[88][97]The character of Josephine was described by theLos Angeles Timesas being "one of the longest-running continuing characters in TV."[94]Before retiring, Withers filmed two installments of the commercial introducing a young girl who had learned everything she knew about plumbing from "my aunt Josephine".[97]
Stage work
[edit]In late 1944, Withers made her stage debut in the musical comedyGlad To See Youdirected byBusby Berkeley.The show, intended forBroadway,closed after seven weeks of tryouts in Philadelphia and Boston. Withers sang theJule Styne-Sammy Cahntorch song "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry"written for the play; this was soon after covered byFrank SinatraandKate Smithand became a jazz and pop standard.[98]
In 1971, Withers co-starred in the Broadway musical comedySure, Sure, Shirleywhich also brought Shirley Temple Black out of retirement. The performance, which featured a tap dancing sequence with 50 chorus dancers, was staged as an opening-night benefit fordiabetics.[99]
Voice work
[edit]In the 1990s, Withers did voice acting for Disney animated films.[1][100]In 1995, she was asked to record several lines of dialogue in imitation of the vocal patterns ofMary Wickes,who had recorded the voice of Laverne thegargoyleinThe Hunchback of Notre Dame(1996) and had died during post-production.[101]Withers reprised the role inThe Hunchback of Notre Dame II(2002).[102]
Withers narratedaudiobooks,including a reading ofWhy Not Try God?byMary Pickfordwhich was distributed through a Southern California religious organization.[103]
In the 1990s, she was interviewed on numerous television documentary retrospectives of theGolden Age of Hollywood.She herself was profiled in a 45-minuteA&EBiography which aired in 2003.[104]
In 1990, Withers began experiencing symptoms oflupus.She suffered from the disease over ten years, after which she went into remission.[105]She began experiencingvertigoin 2007.[43]
Other activities
[edit]Doll collection
[edit]Withers began collecting dolls as a young child in Atlanta.[7]The collection, enlarged by contributions from her fans, grew into one of the largest in the world.[1][7]By the early 1940s, the collection was estimated at 3,500 dolls.[1]By the 1980s, the collection numbered more than 8,000 dolls and 2,500teddy bears.[6][106]Withers purchased some of the dolls herself and received presents from fans; President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent her one of his teddy bears and First LadyEleanor Rooseveltcontributed a French doll she had received as a child.[107][108]
In the 1980s, Withers announced plans to build a $1 million museum inBurbank, California,to display her collection, then stored in a 27,000 sq ft (2,500 m2) warehouse.[106]But the plans fell through and the dolls, along with crates of Hollywood film memorabilia that Withers had also collected during her film career or purchased at auction, continued to be warehoused.[108]In 2004, theLos Angeles Timesreported Withers had distributed more than 42,000 items for safekeeping among friends.[108]A small part of the doll collection was sold at auction, and Withers participated in tours of her collection held in conjunction with these auctions.[108]In 2013, she donated 6,000 of her dolls to a history museum in California.[109]
Philanthropy
[edit]Withers engaged in philanthropy throughout her life. As a child star, she visited orphanages and hospitals to perform for other children.[1]In 1937, she created 400 dolls using scraps she had recovered from the 20th Century Fox wardrobe department and gave them to needy children at Christmas.[106]During World War II, she participated in more than 100war bonddrives and soldiers' camp tours in the United States.[1][110]She also sent her personal doll collection—then numbering some 3,500 dolls—on a two-year tour which raised $2.5 million in funds for the U.S. war effort through 10-centwar savings stampadmissions.[106]She involved President Roosevelt in this initiative, requesting from him the loan of a train on which she had the dolls arranged in museum-like displays to be seen by children across the country.[109]
Withers donated 800 books from her personal library to start the Jane Withers Collection at theThousand Oaks LibraryinThousand Oaks, California.[111]
Affiliations
[edit]Withers was active in dozens of charities.[106]She served as a board member of the local branch of theAmerican Cancer Societyand theHollywood Chamber of Commerce,and was instrumental in the development of theHollywood Walk of Fame.[9][108]
Recognition
[edit]On November 6, 1939, Withers was invited to place her handprints and signature in the forecourt ofGrauman's Chinese Theatre.[112]On February 8, 1960, she was recognized for her contribution to film with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6119Hollywood Boulevard.[113][114]
In 1979, Withers was the first recipient of theYoung Artist Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Awardat the1st Youth in Film Awardsceremony.[115]
In 2003, she was the recipient of a Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center, a non-profit education and service organization.[1][116]
Personal life
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Press_photo_of_Jane_Withers_and_Bill_Moss%2C_1947_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Press_photo_of_Jane_Withers_and_Bill_Moss%2C_1947_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Marriages and children
[edit]In May 1947, Withers announced her engagement to William (Bill) Moss, a Texas entrepreneur and film producer, after a two-year courtship.[117]They married on September 20, 1947.[118]The couple lived on ranches inMidland, Texas,andNew Mexico[40]with their three children.[103]They separated in April 1953 and Withers was granted adivorcein July 1954, citing her husband's "excessive drinking and gambling".[118]She received a $1 million property settlement, including monthly alimony and child support, trust fund and insurance fund for the children, and a half-interest in Texas oil fields owned by Moss, as well as full custody of the children.[118]Suffering from emotional strain over the impending divorce, Withers was hospitalized for five months in 1953 with severerheumatoid arthritisand developed completeparalysis.[119]She recovered with no lasting effects.[119]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Press_photo_of_Jane_Withers_and_Kenneth_Errair_on_1955_wedding_day_%28cropped%29.jpg/150px-Press_photo_of_Jane_Withers_and_Kenneth_Errair_on_1955_wedding_day_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In October 1955, Withers remarried, to singer Kenneth Errair ofThe Four Freshmen,with whom she had two more children.[1][120]In June 1968, Errair died in a plane crash nearBass Lake, California.[119][121]One of Withers's sons later died of cancer.[96][105]
Religion
[edit]Withers was a devout Christian.[5]Like her parents, she belonged to thePresbyterian Church.[106]She taught Sunday school at the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church together with the actressesEleanor PowellandGloria Stewart.[11]She was a trustee of the Church ofReligious Sciencein Los Angeles.[9]
Death
[edit]Withers died in Burbank,California,on August 7, 2021, at the age of 95.[122][123]
Filmography
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1932 | Handle with Care | Girl at puppet show | Uncredited[124] |
1933 | Cavalcade | Uncredited[15] | |
Zoo in Budapest | Little girl at zoo | Uncredited | |
1934 | Tailspin Tommy | Little girl at premiere | Uncredited |
Imitation of Life | Peola's front-row classmate | Uncredited | |
Kid Millions | Uncredited[15] | ||
It's a Gift | Girl playing hopscotch | Uncredited | |
Bright Eyes | Joy Smythe | ||
1935 | The Good Fairy | Child in orphanage | Uncredited |
Ginger | Ginger | ||
The Farmer Takes a Wife | Della | ||
Redheads on Parade | Young girl | Uncredited | |
This Is the Life | Geraldine Revier | ||
1936 | Paddy O'Day | Paddy O'Day | |
Gentle Julia | Florence Atwater | ||
Little Miss Nobody | Judy Devlin | ||
Pepper | Pepper Jolly | ||
1937 | The Holy Terror | Corky Wallace | |
Angel's Holiday | June "Angel" Everett | ||
Wild and Woolly | Arnette Flynn | ||
Can This Be Dixie? | Peg Gurgle | ||
45 Fathers | Judith Frazier | ||
Checkers | Checkers Judy | ||
1938 | Rascals | Gypsy | |
Keep Smiling | Jane Rand | ||
Always in Trouble | Jerry Darlington | ||
1939 | The Arizona Wildcat | Mary Jane Patterson | |
Boy Friend | Sally Murphy | ||
Chicken Wagon Family | Addie Fippany | ||
Pack Up Your Troubles | Colette | ||
1940 | High School | Jane Wallace | |
Shooting High | Jane Pritchard | ||
The Girl from Avenue A | Jane | ||
Youth Will Be Served | Edie May | ||
1941 | Golden Hoofs | Jane Drake | |
Her First Beau | Penny Wood | ||
A Very Young Lady | Kitty Russell | ||
Small Town Deb | Patricia Randall | Wrote screenplay under the pseudonym Jerrie Walters | |
1942 | Young America | Jane Campbell | |
The Mad Martindales | Kathy Martindale | ||
Johnny Doughboy | Ann / Penny | ||
1943 | The North Star | Claudia | |
1944 | My Best Gal | Kitty O'Hara | |
Faces in the Fog | Mary Elliott | ||
1946 | Affairs of Geraldine | Geraldine Cooper | |
1947 | Danger Street | Pat Marvin | |
1956 | Giant | Vashti Snythe | |
1958 | The Heart Is a Rebel | Grace | [125] |
1961 | The Right Approach | Liz | |
1963 | Captain Newman, M.D. | Lieutenant Grace Blodgett | |
1996 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Additional Laverne dialogue | Voice[102] |
2002 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame II | Laverne | Voice; final film role[102] |
Sources:[1][126][127] |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1939 | Hollywood Hobbies | [128] |
1940 | Meet the Stars: Chinese Garden Festival | [129][130] |
1941 | Meet the Stars: Stars at Play | [131][132] |
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2 | [133] | |
1942 | Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4 | [134] |
Picture People No. 6: Hollywood War Efforts | [135] | |
1945 | Screen Snapshots: Fashions and Rodeo | [136] |
1956 | Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Small Fry | [137] |
Year | Title | Role | Episode |
---|---|---|---|
1949 | The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre | Season 1 Episode 30: "Everybody Loves My Baby"[138] | |
1958 | Bachelor Father | Lucille Barlow | Season 2 Episode 6: "Bentley and the Wedding Bells" |
1959 | The United States Steel Hour | Aunt Jan | Season 6 Episode 22: "The Pink Burro"[138] |
1961 | Malibu Run | Season 1 Episode 26: "The Frankie Adventure"[138] | |
General Electric Theater | Sue Ann Baines | Season 9 Episode 21: "A Possibility of Oil"[139] | |
1962 | General Electric Theater | Betty Hamilton | Season 10 Episode 24: "A Very Special Friend"[92] |
Pete and Gladys | Wilma | Season 2 Episode 32: "Go Help Friends"[91] | |
Bachelor Father | Miss Sharkey | Season 5 Episode 40: "Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight"[138] | |
1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Edith Swinney | Season 2 Episode 11: "How to Get Rid of Your Wife"[138] |
Summer Playhouse | Billie | "The Apartment House"[140][138] | |
The Munsters | Fanny Pike | Season 1 Episode 5: "Pike's Pique"[138] | |
1966 | The Munsters | Pamela Thornton | Season 2 Episode 20: "Grandpa's Lost Wife"[138] |
1975 | All Together Now | Helen Drummond | TV movie[138][141] |
1980 | The Love Boat | Gladys | Season 3 Episode 27: "Peekaboo and September Song"[138] |
1981 | Hart to Hart | Roxy McGuane | Season 2 Episode 12: "Murder in the Saddle"[138] |
1982 | Whatever Became Of...? | Reality TV pilot[142] | |
1991 | Murder, She Wrote | Marge Allen | Season 7 Episode 14: "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?"[143] |
1993 | Murder, She Wrote | Alma Sobel | Season 9 Episode 20: "Ship of Thieves"[143] |
1995 | Amazing Grace | Esther Baker | Season 1 Episode 2: "Hallelujah"[143] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1974 | Mitzi: A Tribute to the American Housewife | [93] | |
1977 | The Winged Colt | Mrs. Minney | [144] |
1981 | Zack & the Magic Factory | Aunt Daisy | [144] |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1974 | Grammy Salutes Oscar | [145] |
1989 | When We Were Young... Growing Up on the Silver Screen | [146] |
1992 | Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling | [147] |
1995 | Betty Grable: Behind the Pin-Up | [148] |
1996 | Shirley Temple: The Biggest Little Star | [149] |
Alice Faye: The Star Next Door | [150] | |
1997 | 20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years | [151] |
2000 | Hollywood at Your Feet: The Story of the Chinese Theatre Footprints | [152] |
2003 | Biography | [104] |
2006 | Private Screenings:Child Stars | [153] |
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Bibliography
[edit]- Heisenfelt, Kathryn (1944).Jane Withers and the Swamp Wizard.Whitman Publishing.
- Packer, Eleanor (1935).Jane Withers in This Is the Life.Big Little Book series#1179. Whitman Publishing.
- Packer, Eleanor (1936).Jane Withers, Twentieth Century-Fox Star: Her Life Story.Whitman Publishing.
- Packer, Eleanor (1938).Jane Withers in Keep Smiling.Better-Little Book #1463. Whitman Publishing.
- Packer, Eleanor; Vallely, Henry E. (1942).Jane Withers and the Hidden Room.Whitman Publishing.
- Snell, Roy J.(1943).Jane Withers and the Phantom Violin.Whitman Publishing.
- Theriault, Florence (2004).Lovingly: The Childhood Doll Collection of Jane Withers.
Further reading
[edit]- Cary, Diana Sierra (1979).Hollywood's Children: An inside account of the child star era.Houghton Mifflin Co.
- Edelson, Edward (1979).Great Kids of the Movies.Doubleday.
- Maltin, Leonard(1978).Hollywood Kids.Popular Books.
- Parish, James Robert (1976).Great Child Stars.Ace Books.
- Best, Marc (1971).Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen.A. S. Barnes.ISBN9780498077296.
- Willson, Dixie (1935).Little Hollywood Stars.Saalfield Publishing.
- Zierold, Norman J. (1965).The Child Stars.Coward-McCann.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)