Marilyn Knowlden, the bright-eyed child actress who captivated audiences during the Depression era, appearing in numerous films alongside iconic stars such as Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, and even performing a piano duet with Chico Marx and dancing with Charles Laughton, passed away on September 15 in Eagle, Idaho, at the age of 99.
Her daughter, Carolyn Goates, confirmed that she died peacefully at an assisted-living facility.
Knowlden’s enchanting career began unexpectedly at just four years old. A spontaneous screen test during a family trip to Hollywood launched her into a world where she frequently portrayed verbally precocious or impeccably well-mannered children. Her filmography boasts over 30 titles, spanning both dramatic and whimsical genres, with an impressive six nominations for Best Picture Oscars.
Among her notable works were the 1933 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic, ‘Little Women,’ co-starring Ms. Hepburn; ‘Imitation of Life’ (1934), a groundbreaking drama exploring family bonds and race featuring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers; ‘Les Misérables’ (1935), where she charmed as the young Cosette alongside Fredric March and Charles Laughton; and the star-studded 1935 rendition of Charles Dickens’s ‘David Copperfield,’ portraying the earnest young Agnes (played as an adult by Madge Evans). She also appeared in ‘Anthony Adverse’ (1936), a historical adventure with Mr. March and Olivia de Havilland, and ‘All This, and Heaven Too’ (1940), a romance led by Ms. Davis and Charles Boyer.
Playing the daughter of Ms. Hepburn’s character in the historical drama ‘A Woman Rebels’ (1936), Knowlden tried to master the bow and arrow for a scene. She humorously recalled Ms. Hepburn promising her a dollar if she could hit the bull’s-eye. “I never did get my dollar,” she told interviewer Nick Thomas in 2015. “But I did get a nice autograph: ‘Dear Marilyn, hoping your archery will improve, affectionately, Katharine Hepburn.’ I still have that cherished memento.”
(Image: Marilyn Knowlden as Agnes in the 1935 screen version of “David Copperfield.” She was frequently cast in brief supporting roles as articulate or well-behaved children. Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, via De Carvalho Collection/Getty Images)
Beyond the camera, her experiences were just as colorful. In 1931, she met the legendary Marx Brothers on an adjacent set where they were filming the zany comedy ‘Monkey Business.’ Chico Marx famously sat her down at the piano, teaching her a few notes and even playing a duet together.
Four years later, on the set of ‘Les Misérables,’ she playfully instructed Mr. Laughton, who was portraying Inspector Javert, how to do a few dance steps. “He was wearing his hip-length boots, and I was wearing wooden shoes, and I taught him a little wooden shoe dance,” she fondly remembered.
Although Knowlden never achieved the superstar status of Shirley Temple, the era’s dominant child actress, their paths often intertwined. They appeared together in ‘As the Earth Turns’ (1934), a drama about an immigrant farm family in Maine, where Temple made an uncredited appearance just before her meteoric rise to fame. Later, in ‘Just Around the Corner’ (1938), Knowlden observed firsthand the intense pressures that accompanied Temple’s level of stardom.
“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. “She didn’t even get to eat with the other kids, which felt isolating.”
In stark contrast, Knowlden’s parents intentionally kept her grounded, never even taking her to see her own films to prevent any potential ego inflation. Her father, who guided her career, deliberately avoided binding her to a restrictive studio contract.
This decision meant she was a “freelance actor,” enjoying complete freedom to select her roles. As she explained, “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.”
Marilyn Knowlden was born on May 12, 1926, in Oakland, California, the only child of Robert E. Knowlden Jr., a lawyer, and Bertha (McKenzie) Knowlden.
Her unexpected entry into film came in 1931. While on a business trip to Los Angeles, her father impulsively contacted Paramount Pictures about a screen test for Marilyn. She secured one the very next day and soon landed a small speaking role as the daughter of Paul Lukas and Eleanor Boardman in ‘Women Love Once.’ That year alone, sometimes uncredited, she appeared in at least four more movies for various studios.
Her father later moved the family to Los Angeles and established himself as a talent agent with an office on the iconic corner of Hollywood and Vine.
Other memorable films in Knowlden’s career include the 1936 adaptation of the stage musical ‘Show Boat,’ featuring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, and Paul Robeson; the opulent biopic ‘Marie Antoinette’ (1938), starring Norma Shearer; and ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’ (1938), the classic gangster film with James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and Humphrey Bogart.
(Image: Ms. Knowlden with Katharine Hepburn in “A Woman Rebels” (1936). She once recounted that Ms. Hepburn offered her a dollar if she could master archery on set, an amount she never received. Instead, she cherished a handwritten note from Hepburn: ‘Dear Marilyn, hoping your archery will improve, affectionately, Katharine Hepburn.’ Credit: Twentieth Century Fox, via Photofest)
As with many child actors, her career naturally slowed as she reached adolescence. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School, she pursued music for three years at Mills College in Oakland. In 1946, she left school to marry Richard Goates, a World War II veteran who served with Merrill’s Marauders, a jungle-warfare combat unit that later inspired a 1962 film.
In Fallbrook, California, a town in San Diego County, Knowlden channeled her creative spirit into music and theater, writing plays and composing songs for local productions. In 2011, she shared her life story in her autobiography, ‘Little Girl in Big Pictures.’
(Image: Ms. Knowlden’s memoir, ‘Little Girl in Big Pictures’, was published in 2016. Credit: BearManor Media)
She is survived by her daughter Carolyn, two sons, Brian and Kevin, a foster daughter, Liz, three grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. She and Mr. Goates divorced in 1978. Her second husband, Eliseo Busnardo, whom she married in 1978, passed away in 2010.
Knowlden once humorously recalled a rare disappointment in her otherwise fulfilling childhood film career: her scenes in ‘Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise),’ a 1931 melodrama starring Greta Garbo as Knowlden’s governess, ended up on the cutting room floor. Following this, she shared a profound piece of advice from Ms. Garbo: “In Hollywood, don’t count on anything!” — a wisdom she carried throughout her life.