Mary Ann Jackson
Mary Ann Jackson | |
---|---|
Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
Died | December 17, 2003 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 80)
Occupation | Child actor |
Years active | 1925–1941 |
Mary Ann Jackson (January 14, 1923 – December 17, 2003) was an American
Career
Mary Ann Jackson's film career began under the shadow of her actor relatives, mother Charlotte Jackson (1891–1992) and older sister,
Her first big break came in the short-subject series The Smith Family. These 20-minute Mack Sennett comedies co-starred Raymond McKee and Ruth Hiatt as a young married couple, and Mary Ann Jackson as their wide-eyed daughter Bubbles. The premise of each short had Smith experiencing some new enterprise (Smith's New Home, Smith's Candy Shop), or embarking on a family outing (Smith's Picnic, Smith's Holiday), usually with disastrous consequences. Jackson stole scene after scene as Bubbles, reacting—often directly at the camera—to the wild goings-on.
Although the series ceased production in 1928, producer Sennett had stockpiled enough Smith shorts to release well into 1929, taking care to remove the "Smith" identification from the titles (Smith's Burglar became The Burglar; Smith's Rodeo became The Rodeo, etc.).
Our Gang
Mary Ann Jackson joined the
Jackson left the
In 1933, longtime Our Gang director Robert McGowan wrote in a Los Angeles Times feature that they normally preferred to cast children who had no previous acting experience, but Jackson was a rare exception: "Mary Ann proved a real find and was my ideal little gang leading lady. She wasn't pretty, but she was intelligent and willing and had just a touch of pathos in her makeup. She proved a rare find for me."[1]
Later life
Jackson eventually took a job at the May Company department store in downtown Los Angeles, and made only a few brief forays into acting. In 1941, she doubled for Edith Fellows.
Mary Ann Jackson married at age 20, but was widowed. She married again, and spent many years with her second husband and her two children in the
Upon recounting her Our Gang years, she laughed at the many women who laid false claim to being Mary Ann Jackson. They often cited their Louise Brooks-style bangs, which she loathed and had chopped off as soon as she left her acting career.
In 1990, she was delighted and amused to learn that during their stint with Our Gang, Jackie Cooper had been "desperately in love with her". She did have fond regard for her days at the Hal Roach Studios and was impressed with her large fan following. Asked to recall her thoughts on the gang, she responded, "Everything I have to say about [Hal] Roach and the gang is 'nice'. There's not one bad thing I can think of. It was just fun and fun and fun."[1]
Death
Mary Ann Jackson died of a heart attack at her home in Los Angeles on December 17, 2003.
References
- ^ ISBN 0-517-58325-9.
Further reading
- Maude Robinson Toombs (June 1927). "She Walked Through Custard to Fame; Being the complete life-history of Mary Ann Jackson, the pug-nosed little four-year-old star of the 'Jimmy Smiths' comedy series". Cinema Art. VI: 25, 48.
External links
- Mary Ann Jackson at IMDb
- Mary Ann Jackson at AllMovie