Margaret O'Brien

Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien in 1946
Born	Angela Maxine O'Brien (1937-01-15) January 15, 1937 (age 80) San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1941–present
Spouse(s)	Harold Allen, Jr. (1959–1968) (divorced) Roy Thorsen (1974–present) 1 daughter
Children	Mara Tolene Thorsen (b. 1977)

Margaret O'Brien (born Angela Maxine O'Brien, January 15, 1937) is an American film, radio, television, and stage actress. Beginning a prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of four, O'Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was honored with a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944. In her later career, she appeared on television, on stage, and in supporting film roles.

Margaret O'Brien was born Angela Maxine O'Brien; her name was later changed following the success of the film Journey for Margaret (1942), in which she played the title role. Her father, Lawrence O'Brien, a circus performer, died before she was born. O'Brien's mother, Gladys Flores, was a well-known flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, also a dancer. O'Brien is of half-Irish and half-Spanish ancestry.

O'Brien made her first film appearance in Babes on Broadway (1941) at the age of four, but it was the following year that her first major role brought her widespread attention. As a five-year-old in Journey for Margaret (1942), O'Brien won wide praise for her convincing acting style. By 1943, she was considered a big enough star to have a cameo appearance in the all-star military show finale of Thousands Cheer. Also In 1943, at the age of seven, Margaret co-starred in, "You, John Jones," a "War Bond/Effort," short film, with James Cagney and Ann Sothern, (playing their daughter), in which she dramatically recited President Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address."

She played Adèle, a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent in Jane Eyre (1943). Arguably her most memorable role was as "Tootie" in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), opposite Judy Garland. As she told the true story on a Turner Classic Movie special, Margaret was known as one of "the Best Cryers" on the MGM lot, but she was having a tough time crying, so to get Margaret to cry during a crucial emotional scene in the movie, her mother told her that "June Allyson, (another one of MGM's Best Cryers), is a better cryer than you!!" No surprise, she cried, and was wonderful in the role of "Tootie."