Jackie Moran

Jackie Moran
Moran at center in The Old Swimmin' Hole, 1940
Born	John E. Moran (1923-01-26)January 26, 1923 Mattoon, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 20, 1990(1990-09-20) (aged 67) Greenfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Years active	1936-1946 (secured)

Jackie Moran (January 26, 1923 – September 20, 1990) was an American movie actor who, between 1936 and 1946, appeared in over thirty films, primarily in teenage roles.

A native of Mattoon, Illinois, John E. Moran first sung in a church choir. He was discovered by Mary Pickford who convinced his mother to take him to Hollywood for a screen test in 1935. Renamed Jackie Moran, he was subsequently cast in a number of substantial supporting roles. He became well-known with the 1938 release of David O. Selznick's production The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The 93-minute big-budget Technicolor film presented Moran as Huckleberry Finn to Tommy Kelly's Tom Sawyer. Jackie Moran received critical praise for his natural acting style.

Jackie Moran went on to star in several youth-oriented films for low-budget and poverty-row studios, such as Republic and Monogram. His most frequent co-star was the one-year-younger Marcia Mae Jones, who appeared with him in eleven films, also including Tom Sawyer, where Jones had the relatively minor part of Tom Sawyer's cousin Mary. They also played supporting roles in the Deanna Durbin vehicle Mad About Music. They subsequently played in four Monogram tributes to life in idealized pre-World War II rural America, 1938's Barefoot Boy and, in 1940, Tomboy, Haunted House and The Old Swimmin' Hole. The trio of 1940 films were directed by Robert F. McGowan, the former director of Our Gang in his final directorial assignment. Most of Jackie and Marcia Mae's remaining five films cast them in major supporting roles. Their final entry, after a two-year break, was the 1943 Republic musical Nobody's Darling, one of the first films helmed by Anthony Mann.