Dead Celebrity Alert

September 7, 2007 — Marcia Mae Jones, who launched her career in Hollywood as a child actress and appeared in films of the 1930s such as “The Champ,” “Heidi” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” has died. She was 83.

Jones died of complications of pneumonia Sunday at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, said her son, Tim Chic.

Born Aug. 1, 1924, in Los Angeles, Jones grew up in the movies. Her mother, Freda Jones, became an extra and actress. Her two brothers, Macon and Marvin, got into the business as stuntmen and actors when they were teenagers. None, however, were as successful as the wholesome, auburn-haired Marcia Mae, who made her screen debut as an infant in the 1926 silent melodrama “Mannequin” and appeared in nearly 50 movies over the next two decades.

Throughout the ’30s, she worked with child stars such as Jackie Cooper (”The Champ”), Jane Withers (”Gentle Julia”), Bonita Granville (”These Three” and “The Garden of Allah”) and Tommy Kelly and Jackie Moran (”The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”).

With Shirley Temple, Jones played the disabled girl Klara in “Heidi” and Lavinia in “The Little Princess.” … Read full obituary

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