
Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien (born January 15, 1937) is an American film and stage actress. Although her film career as a leading character was brief, she was one of the most popular child actors in cinema history. In her later career, she appeared on stage and in supporting film roles.
She was born Angela Maxine O'Brien; (she later changed her name to Margaret following the success of the film Journey for Margaret, in which she played the title role). Her father Lawrence O'Brien, a circus performer, died before she was born.[1]; Margaret's mother, Gladys Flores, was a well-known flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, also a dancer. Margaret is of half-Irish and half-Spanish ancestry.
She 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.
She played a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent, in Jane Eyre (1944). Arguably her most memorable role was as "Tootie" in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), opposite Judy Garland. O'Brien had by this time added singing and dancing to her achievements and was rewarded with an Academy Juvenile Award the following year as the "outstanding child actress of 1944." Her other successes included The Canterville Ghost (1944), Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), and the first sound version of The Secret Garden (1949), but she was unable to make the transition to adult roles.
A 1946 Looney Tunes short, Book Revue, placed a caricature of O'Brien in the role of Little Red Riding Hood.
Margaret later shed her child star image in 1958 by appearing on the cover of Life Magazine with the caption "The Girl's Grown", and was a mystery guest on the TV panel show What's My Line?. O'Brien's acting roles as an adult have been few and far between, mostly in small independent films. However, she does do occasional interviews, mostly for the Turner Classic Movies cable network. She played the role of Betsy Stauffer, a small town nurse, in "The Incident of the Town in Terror" on television's Rawhide. Another rare television outing was as a guest star on the popular Marcus Welby, M.D. in the early 1970s, reuniting Margaret with her Journey For Margaret and The Canterville Ghost co-star Robert Young.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Margaret O'Brien, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 4.981 |
Birthday | 1937-01-15 |
Place of Birth | San Diego, California, USA |
Also Known As | Angela Maxine O'Brien, Maxine O'Brien, |

1944

Meet Me in St. Louis
7/390
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
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Meet Me in St. Louis
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2018
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This Is Our Christmas
2/4
A sequel to the popular movie, Beverly Hills Christmas that was shown on UP TV during Christmas 2015 to more than 70 million viewers.
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This Is Our Christmas

1943
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Jane Eyre
6.9/134
After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she mee...
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Jane Eyre
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1960
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Heller in Pink Tights
5.673/26
Nineteenth century Wyoming: the wild West. Mild-mannered Tom Healy has a two-wagon theater troupe hounded by creditors because Angela, his leading lad...
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Heller in Pink Tights

1949
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Little Women
7.4/210
Louisa May Alcott's autobiographical account of her life with her three sisters in Concord Mass in the 1860s. With their father fighting in the civil...
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Little Women

1949

The Secret Garden
7.1/32
When Cholera takes the parents of Mary Lennox, she is shipped from India to England to live with her Uncle Craven. Mary changes the lives of those she...
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The Secret Garden
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1943
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Madame Curie
7.2/38
Poor physics student Marie is studying at the Sorbonne in 1890s Paris. One of the few women studying in her field, Marie encounters skepticism concern...
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Madame Curie
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1943
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Thousands Cheer
6.333/18
Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a fe...
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Thousands Cheer

1942

Journey for Margaret
6.6/17
An American newspaperman and his wife, end up in London after several retreats in the opening days of WWII. After a shrapnel wound and loss of her ba...
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Journey for Margaret
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2002
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The Craven Cove Murders
6/1
Lucas Swan, owner of a bed and breakfast, authored a book on a rash of murders a few years before. The murders begin anew, and when police refuse to l...
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The Craven Cove Murders

1944

The Canterville Ghost
6.69/42
The descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
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The Canterville Ghost
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1982

Showbiz Goes to War
10/1
While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the A...
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Showbiz Goes to War

1943

Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
5.5/4
In this 13th entry to the Dr. Kildare series, the medical staff of Blair General hospital are challenged with further dilemmas, not the least of which...
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Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case

1947
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The Unfinished Dance
6/5
A young dance student accidentally cripples a teacher she doesn't like.
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The Unfinished Dance

1945

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
6.9/17
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and A...
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Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

1948
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Tenth Avenue Angel
6.1/10
Flavia's been told that her Aunt Susan's fiancé, Steve, has been on a trip around the world, but in truth he's finished his prison term. Steve wonders...
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Tenth Avenue Angel

1994

The Story of Lassie
0/0
Documentary about canine superstar Lassie, combining film clips, still photographs, home movies, archival footage and on-camera interviews with many f...
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The Story of Lassie
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1943
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Lost Angel
7.5/6
Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest story for his paper. But when his interview prompts A...
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Lost Angel

1951
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Her First Romance
2/1
A teenager experiences her first crush while attending a summer camp. Director Seymour Friedman's 1951 film stars Margaret O'Brien, Allen Martin Jr.,...
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Her First Romance

1956
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Glory
5/2
A lovesick girl and her grandfather groom their filly for the Kentucky Derby.
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Glory

1946

Bad Bascomb
6.2/5
A western bandit is reformed by his love for a little girl.
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Bad Bascomb

1944
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Music for Millions
6/5
Six-year-old "Mike" goes to live with her pregnant older sister, Babs, who plays string bass in José Iturbi's orchestra. And the orchestra is rapidly...
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Music for Millions

1943
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You, John Jones!
6/6
John Jones contemplates how fortunate he and his family are in America, where no wartime bombing occurs.
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You, John Jones!

1981
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Amy
7.3/15
A woman leaves her husband after the death of her child to teach deaf children how to speak. Her own child was deaf and although she has no formal tra...
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Amy

1946

Three Wise Fools
5/2
An orphan girl melts the hearts of three crusty old men.
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Three Wise Fools

1948
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Big City
7.2/6
A young orphan in New York's Lower East Side is collectively adopted by three neighborhood men--a minister, a cantor, and a cop.
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Big City
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1998
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Creaturealm: From the Dead
0/0
Two-part anthology featuring resurrected zombie actors and a young woman whose murderous dreams may become reality.
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Creaturealm: From the Dead

2002
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Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
6.6/8
In this documentary on the life of Joan Crawford, we learn why she should be remembered as the great actress she was, and not only as "mommie dearest....
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Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star

1973
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The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
0/0
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The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli

1952
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The Eyes of Two People
0/0
Futari no hitomi (二人の瞳, Futari no hitomi, The Eyes of Two People) a.k.a. Girls Hand in Hand (USA title) is a 1952 black-and-white Japanese film di...
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The Eyes of Two People

1994

Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic
0/0
Documentary about the making of "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944).
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Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic

1998
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Hollywood Mortuary
1/1
Framed by interviews with real life celebrities, Hollywood Mortuary tells the tale of a horror make-up artist who, in 1941 Hollywood, uses voodoo to r...
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Hollywood Mortuary

1971

The Pledge of Allegiance
0/0
Teaches about the American pledge of allegiance.
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The Pledge of Allegiance

1974
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That's Entertainment!
7.3/61
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
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That's Entertainment!


Love Is in Bel Air
0/0
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Love Is in Bel Air

2011
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A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas!
8.1/7
A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas! is a tinsel-filled journey through the most iconic holiday films of all time, including perennial favorites It...
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A Night at the Movies: Merry Christmas!

2023
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Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story
0/0
A documentary chronicle of one of our greatest directors.
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Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story

1996
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Sunset After Dark
3/1
A struggling screenwriter finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.
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Sunset After Dark

1971

Anabelle Lee
0/0
In an English village in the early 20th century, Elizabeth, a tavern singer, lies about her engagement to a man named James. The villagers identify th...
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Anabelle Lee

2017
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
4.2/6
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is really just as much the story of Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and good friend of Dr. Henry Jekyll. M...
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
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1998
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Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's
7.3/3
In 1995, Chasen's closed its doors after 60 years of serving chili to movie stars and visiting dignitaries, Presidents and the Pope. During its two fi...
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Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's

2010
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Frankenstein Rising
9.5/2
A modern day descendent of Frankenstein becomes obsessed with his ancestor's work and seeks to replicate them and create a living man from lifeless ti...
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Frankenstein Rising

2017
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Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!
5/27
On Halloween, an all girl rock-n-roll band called “Kill Pussy Kill” ventures out to play their biggest show to date. However, before hitting the road...
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Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill!
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1974
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Death in Space
0/0
The commander of a spaceship orbiting 250 miles above Earth disappears through the airlock and is ejected into space. Although at first it appears to...
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Death in Space
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1944
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Twenty Years After
6/1
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.
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Twenty Years After

1941
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Babes on Broadway
6.4/21
Penny Morris and Tommy Williams are both starstruck young teens but nobody seems to give them any chance to perform. Instead, they decide to put up th...
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Babes on Broadway
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2018
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Impact Event
7/2
A slow burn into insanity as a small band of survivors find themselves spending a post-meteoric apocalypse in a fun house converted into a bomb shelte...
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Impact Event
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1968
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Split Second to an Epitaph
0/0
In the second "Ironside" movie, the Chief has his spine jolted during a hospital encounter with a narcotics pusher, not only raising the possibility f...
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Split Second to an Epitaph
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1982
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Hollywood’s Children
0/0
A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell).
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Hollywood’s Children

2015
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Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
0/0
In 1935, 17-year-old aspiring actress Marsha Hunt was discovered in Hollywood. She signed with Paramount Pictures and went on to a flourishing career...
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Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
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2018
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Prepper's Grove
0/0
The film focuses on the disappearance of a teenager, who over the years has become a cold case.
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Prepper's Grove

2004
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AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
8/1
The top 100 songs of the past 100 years chosen by the American Film Institute are presented by host-actor John Travolta.
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