Jane Darwell
- Birthday
- Oct 15, 1879
- Birthplace
- Palmyra, Missouri, USA
Bio: American actress Jane Darwell was the daughter of a Missouri railroad executive. Despite her father's disapproval, she spent most of her youth acting in circuses, opera troupes and stock companies, making her film debut in 1912. Even in her early thirties, Darwell specialized in formidable "grande dame" roles, usually society matrons or strict maiden aunts. Making… More Bio: American actress Jane Darwell was the daughter of a Missouri railroad executive. Despite her father's disapproval, she spent most of her youth acting in circuses, opera troupes and stock companies, making her film debut in 1912. Even in her early thirties, Darwell specialized in formidable "grande dame" roles, usually society matrons or strict maiden aunts. Making an easy transition to talking pictures, Darwell worked primarily in small character parts (notably as governesses and housekeepers in the films of Shirley Temple) until 1939, when her role as the James Brothers' mother in Jesse James began a new career direction--now she was most often cast as indomitable frontierswomen, unbending in the face of hardship and adversity. It was this quality that led Darwell to be cast in her favorite role as Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), for which she won an Oscar. Darwell continued to work until illness crept upon her in the late 1950s. Even so, Darwell managed to essay a handful of memorable parts on TV and in movies into the 1960s; her last film role was as the "Bird Woman" in Disney's Mary Poppins (1964). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Jane Darwell Pictures
Jane Darwell Videos
The Last Hurrah
Excuse My Dust
The Grapes Of Wrath
Hit The Deck
We're Not Married
Filmography
-
Mary Poppins (1964)
- Bird Woman
- 100%
-
The Last Hurrah (1958)
- Delia Boylan
- 86%
-
There's Always Tomorrow (1956)
- Mrs. Rogers
-
Girls in Prison (1956)
- Matron Jamieson
-
Hit The Deck (1955)
- Jenny
- See all 65 films
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