From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jane Darwell
Jane Darwell
Jane Darwell
In The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Born Patti Woodard
October 15, 1879(1879-10-15)
Palmyra, Missouri, U.S.
Died August 13, 1967(1967-08-13) (aged 87)
Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1913–1964
Jane Darwell (October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was Darwell in the play A Doll’s House, 1945.
an American film and stage actress.[1] With appearances
in over 100 major motion pictures, Darwell is perhaps with a role in Tom Sawyer, and her career as a Hollywood
best-remembered for her portrayal of the matriarch and character actress began. Short, stout and plain-faced she
leader of the Joad family in the film adaptation of The was quickly cast in a succession of films usually as the
Grapes of Wrath, for which she received the Academy mother of one of the major characters. She was especial-
Award for Best Supporting Actress, and her role as the ly prevalent in Shirley Temple films; she appeared in five
Bird Woman in Mary Poppins. films with Temple, usually as the housekeeper or grand-
mother.[2]
Early life She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Ac-
tress as "Ma Joad" in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), a role she
Born Patti Woodard to William Robert Woodard, a rail- was given at the insistence of the film’s star, Henry Fon-
road president, and Ellen Booth in Palmyra, Missouri, she da. A contract player with 20th Century Fox, Darwell was
originally intended to become a circus rider, then lat- memorably cast in The Ox-Bow Incident, and occasionally
er an opera singer. Her father objected, however, and starred in "B" movies and played featured parts in scores
she compromised by becoming an actress, changing her of major films.
name to Darwell to avoid sullying the family name.[2] Darwell had noted appearances on the stage as well;
in 1944, she was popular in the stage comedy Suds in Your
Career Eye, in which she played an Irishwoman who had inherit-
ed a junkyard.[2]
She took up voice culture and the piano followed by a By the end of her career she had appeared in more
course in dramatics. At one point she decided to enter a than 170 films, including Huckleberry Finn (1931), Jesse
convent but instead changed her mind and became an ac- James (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Ox-Bow Incident
tress. Darwell began her acting career in theater produc- (1943), and My Darling Clementine (1946). Her final role as
tions in Chicago and made her first film appearance in the old woman feeding the birds in Mary Poppins (1964)
1913. She appeared in almost twenty films over the next was personally given to her by Walt Disney.[citation needed]
two years before returning to the stage. After a 15 year
absence from films, she resumed her film career in 1930
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jane Darwell
Darwell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at • The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
6735 Hollywood Boulevard. • We’re Not Married! (1952)
• The Sun Shines Bright (1953)
Death •
•
The Bigamist (1953)
A Life at Stake (1954)
Darwell died from a heart attack in Woodland Hills, Cali- • Hit the Deck (1955)
fornia, at the age of 87. She was buried in Glendale’s For- • Girls in Prison (1956)
est Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.[2] • The Last Hurrah (1958)
• Hound-Dog Man (1959)
Partial filmography • Mary Poppins (1964)
• The Master Mind (1914)
• The Only Son (1914) References
• The Man on the Box (1914) [1] Obituary Variety, August 16, 1967.
• Rose of the Rancho (1914) [2] ^ Associated Press (1967-08-15). "Jane Darwell, 87,
• After Five (1915) Actress, Is Dead" (PDF, fee required). The New York
• Tom Sawyer (1930) Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/
• Back Street (1932) abstract.html?res=F60A17FF345E137A93C7A81783D85F438685F9.
• Hot Saturday (1932) Retrieved 2008-05-14.
• Child of Manhattan (1933)
• Design for Living (1933)
• Heat Lightning (1934)
External links
• Once to Every Woman (1934) • Jane Darwell at the Internet Movie Database
• Change of Heart (1934) • Jane Darwell at the Internet Broadway Database
• The White Parade (1934) • Jane Darwell at Find a Grave
• Bright Eyes (1934) Persondata
• Tomorrow’s Youth (1935)
Name Darwell, Jane
• One More Spring (1935)
• Life Begins at Forty (1935) Alternative names Woodard, Patti
• Curly Top (1935) Short description Actress
• Captain January (1936) Date of birth October 15, 1879
• The Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
Place of birth Palmyra, Missouri, U.S.
• Craig’s Wife (1936)
• Ramona (1936) Date of death August 13, 1967
• Slave Ship (1937) Place of death Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
• Little Miss Broadway (1938)
• Up the River (1938)
• The Zero Hour (1939)
• The Rains Came (1939)
• Gone With the Wind (1939)
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
• All Through the Night (1941)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
• Music in Manhattan (1944)
• The Impatient Years (1944)
• Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944)
• I Live in Grosvenor Square (1945)
• Captain Tugboat Annie (1945)
• Three Wise Fools (1946)
• My Darling Clementine (1946)
• The Red Stallion (1947)
• 3 Godfathers (1948)
• Caged (1950)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jane_Darwell&oldid=462309257"
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jane Darwell
Categories:
• 1879 births
• 1967 deaths
• Actors from Missouri
• American film actors
• American stage actors
• Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners
• Cardiovascular disease deaths in California
• Deaths from myocardial infarction
• People from Marion County, Missouri
• Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
This page was last modified on 24 November 2011 at 20:40. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Mobile view
3