Marilyn Knowlden, a luminous child actress of the Depression era who lit up the screen in dozens of films alongside legends such as Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, 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 remarkable journey into filmmaking began spontaneously at just four years old. During a family visit to Hollywood, a whimsical screen test opened the door to a career that saw her frequently cast as a bright, well-mannered child in over 30 movies. Six of these cinematic works even garnered Best Picture Oscar nominations.
Her impressive filmography includes the 1933 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, “Little Women,” starring Katharine Hepburn; “Imitation of Life” (1934), a groundbreaking drama exploring family bonds and racial identity with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers; and “Les Misérables” (1935), where she captivated audiences as the young Cosette, appearing alongside Fredric March and Charles Laughton. She also featured in the star-studded 1935 rendition of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” as the earnest young Agnes (a role later played by Madge Evans as an adult), “Anthony Adverse” (1936), a historical adventure with Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland, and “All This, and Heaven Too” (1940), a romance co-starring Bette Davis and Charles Boyer.
In the historical drama “A Woman Rebels” (1936), Knowlden played Ms. Hepburn’s daughter and famously attempted to master the bow and arrow for a scene. She later recounted to interviewer Nick Thomas in 2015, “Katharine Hepburn would give me a dollar if I could hit the bull’s-eye. I never did get my dollar. But I did get a nice autograph: ‘Dear Marilyn, hoping your archery will improve, affectionately, Katharine Hepburn.’ I still have that.”
Beyond the camera, Knowlden’s youthful charm extended to some unforgettable encounters. In 1931, she met the legendary Marx Brothers on an adjacent set where they were filming “Monkey Business.” Chico Marx, she recalled, “sat me down at the piano and taught me to play a few notes. We even played a duet together.”
Four years later, on the set of “Les Misérables,” she even found herself teaching a few dance steps to Charles Laughton, who played Inspector Javert. “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 Marilyn Knowlden never reached the monumental fame of Shirley Temple, the era’s dominant child star, their paths did cross. They appeared together in “As the Earth Turns,” a 1934 drama about an immigrant farm family. Shirley Temple made an uncredited appearance in the movie just before her rise as a cheerful song-and-dance sensation.
Knowlden later worked with Ms. Temple again in “Just Around the Corner” (1938). By then, with Temple’s stardom firmly established, Knowlden witnessed firsthand the intense pressures that came with such widespread recognition. “It was a little hard on the rest of us because we wanted to play with her, but she was off in her own little bungalow,” Knowlden confided to the film site Cinephiled. “She didn’t even get to eat with the other kids.”
In stark contrast, Knowlden’s own parents deliberately shielded her from the potential pitfalls of early fame. They never even took her to see her own films, fearing she might develop an inflated ego. Her father, who managed her career, steadfastly refused to bind her to a studio contract.
This unconventional approach meant she was always a freelance actor, enjoying complete freedom to choose her roles. “If you were under contract like Judy Garland or Shirley Temple, you went to a studio school and really lost your ordinary life,” she explained to Mr. Thomas. “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 career kicked off in 1931 when her father, on a business trip to Los Angeles, spontaneously arranged a screen test with Paramount Pictures. The very next day, she secured a small speaking role as the daughter of Paul Lukas and Eleanor Boardman in “Women Love Once.” That same year, she appeared in at least four more films for various studios, sometimes uncredited.
Her father eventually moved the family to Los Angeles and established himself as a talent agent with an office on the iconic corner of Hollywood and Vine.
Among Knowlden’s other notable film credits were the 1936 musical adaptation of “Show Boat,” featuring Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, and Paul Robeson; the opulent biopic “Marie Antoinette” (1938) with Norma Shearer; and the gritty gangster film “Angels With Dirty Faces” (1938), starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and Humphrey Bogart.
As with many child actors, her career naturally slowed as she entered her teenage years. She graduated from Beverly Hills High School and then pursued three years of music studies at Mills College in Oakland. In 1946, she left school to marry Richard Goates, a World War II veteran who fought with Merrill’s Marauders, a jungle-warfare combat unit later depicted in a 1962 film.
After settling in Fallbrook, California, Knowlden dedicated her creative talents to music and local theater, writing plays and composing songs. In 2011, she shared her life story in the autobiography “Little Girl in Big Pictures.”
She is survived by her daughter Carolyn, sons Brian and Kevin, foster daughter Liz, three grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. Her marriage to Mr. Goates ended in divorce in 1978. Her second husband, Eliseo Busnardo, whom she married in 1978, passed away in 2010.
Knowlden often recalled one minor disappointment in her otherwise rich childhood film career: her scenes in “Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise),” a 1931 melodrama where Greta Garbo played her governess, were ultimately left on the cutting room floor.
After this experience, she shared that Ms. Garbo offered her some sage advice that she carried throughout her life: “In Hollywood, don’t count on anything!”