Marilyn Knowlden, a luminous child actress who graced the silver screen during the Great Depression, has passed away at the age of 99 in Eagle, Idaho, on September 15. Her remarkable career saw her share scenes with cinematic legends such as Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, perform a charming piano duet with Chico Marx, and even teach dance steps to Charles Laughton.
Her daughter, Carolyn Goates, confirmed that she died peacefully at an assisted-living facility.
Marilyn’s journey into film began spontaneously at age four, during a family visit to Hollywood. A spur-of-the-moment screen test quickly led to a bustling career. She became known for portraying articulate and well-behaved children in over 30 movies, encompassing both dramatic and lighter genres. Notably, six of these films received Best Picture Oscar nominations.
Her impressive filmography featured classics like “Little Women” (1933), an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel co-starring Katharine Hepburn; “Imitation of Life” (1934), a groundbreaking drama exploring family bonds and racial themes with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers; and “Les Misérables” (1935), where she played the youthful Cosette alongside Fredric March and Charles Laughton. She also graced the star-studded 1935 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” as the earnest young Agnes (Madge Evans played the adult role), the historical adventure “Anthony Adverse” (1936) with Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland, and the romantic drama “All This, and Heaven Too” (1940) opposite Bette Davis and Charles Boyer.
During the filming of the historical drama “A Woman Rebels” (1936), where she portrayed Katharine Hepburn’s daughter, Marilyn attempted to master the bow and arrow for a particular scene. She fondly recounted to interviewer Nick Thomas in 2015 that Hepburn promised her a dollar for hitting the bullseye. “I never did get my dollar,” Knowlden said, “But I did get a nice autograph: ‘Dear Marilyn, hoping your archery will improve, affectionately, Katharine Hepburn.’ I still have that.”
Marilyn Knowlden as Agnes in the 1935 screen version of “David Copperfield.” She was frequently cast in minor but memorable roles as verbally precocious or exceptionally well-behaved children.
Away from the cameras, Marilyn had an unforgettable encounter with the Marx Brothers in 1931. They were filming their chaotic comedy “Monkey Business” on an adjacent set when Chico Marx invited her to play piano. “He sat me down at the piano and taught me to play a few notes,” she shared with Mr. Thomas, “We even played a duet together.”
On the set of “Les Misérables” four years later, she found herself teaching Charles Laughton, who played the formidable Inspector Javert, a few dance moves. She vividly recalled, “He was wearing his hip-length boots, and I was wearing wooden shoes, and I taught him a little wooden shoe dance.”
While Marilyn Knowlden never reached the iconic stardom of Shirley Temple, the era’s undisputed child star, their professional paths did intersect. They appeared together in “As the Earth Turns,” a 1934 drama about an immigrant farm family in Maine. This was just before Temple’s uncredited appearance propelled her to become a beloved song-and-dance sensation.
Marilyn later worked with Shirley Temple again in “Just Around the Corner” (1938). By then, with Temple’s immense fame, Marilyn observed firsthand the intense pressures that came with being a major child star.
“It was a little hard on the rest of us because we wanted to play with her, but she was off in her own private bungalow,” Knowlden recounted to the film site Cinephiled. “She didn’t even get to eat with the other kids.”
Conversely, Marilyn’s parents deliberately kept her from seeing her own films, concerned it might inflate her ego. Her father, who managed her career, also ensured she never signed an exclusive studio contract.
A scene from the 1936 film musical “Show Boat,” featuring Ms. Knowlden alongside Irene Dunne and Allan Jones.
This unique upbringing meant, as she explained to Mr. Thomas, “I was always a freelance actor, so I had complete freedom to choose my roles.” She added, “If you were under contract like Judy Garland or Shirley Temple, you went to a studio school and really lost your ordinary life. I went to public school, had a very normal life, and then occasionally would go off and make a film.”
Born Marilyn Knowlden on May 12, 1926, in Oakland, California, she was the only child of Robert E. Knowlden Jr., a lawyer, and Bertha (McKenzie) Knowlden.
In 1931, during a family business trip to Los Angeles, her father impulsively contacted Paramount Pictures regarding a screen test for Marilyn. To their surprise, she was offered one the very next day. This swiftly led to her first speaking role as the daughter of Paul Lukas and Eleanor Boardman in “Women Love Once,” released that same year. She went on to appear in at least four more films across different studios in 1931, some uncredited.
Her father then relocated the family to Los Angeles, establishing himself as a talent agent with an office at the iconic intersection of Hollywood and Vine.
Among her other memorable films were the musical “Show Boat” (1936), featuring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, and Paul Robeson; the opulent biopic “Marie Antoinette” (1938) with Norma Shearer; and the classic gangster film “Angels With Dirty Faces” (1938), starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and Humphrey Bogart.
Marilyn Knowlden with Katharine Hepburn in “A Woman Rebels” (1936). Knowlden recounted Hepburn’s promise of a dollar if she could master archery on set, adding, “I never did get my dollar. But I did get a nice autograph: ‘Dear Marilyn, hoping your archery will improve, affectionately, Katharine Hepburn.’”
As often happens with child actors, her acting career slowed down during her teenage years. She graduated from Beverly Hills High School and then pursued music studies for three years at Mills College in Oakland. In 1946, she married Richard Goates, a veteran who served in the jungle-warfare combat unit known as Merrill’s Marauders during World War II, a unit later depicted in a 1962 film.
After settling in Fallbrook, California, a picturesque mountain town in San Diego County, Ms. Knowlden channeled her creativity into music and theater. She wrote plays and composed songs for local productions, and in 2011, she shared her life story in the autobiography, “Little Girl in Big Pictures.”
Marilyn Knowlden’s captivating memoir, “Little Girl in Big Pictures,” was published in 2016.
She is survived by her daughter Carolyn, two sons, Brian and Kevin, and a foster daughter, Liz. She also leaves behind three grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. Her marriage to Mr. Goates ended in divorce in 1978. Her second husband, Eliseo Busnardo, whom she married the same year, passed away in 2010.
Despite her generally successful childhood acting career, Ms. Knowlden did recall one notable disappointment: her scenes in the 1931 melodrama “Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise).” In this film, Greta Garbo played her governess, but Marilyn’s contributions unfortunately ended up on the cutting room floor.
Following this, she shared with Mr. Thomas that Greta Garbo offered her a piece of profound advice that she carried throughout her life: “In Hollywood, don’t count on anything!”