Jane Withers

Jane Withers

Infobox actor
bgcolour = Silver
name = Jane Withers


imagesize = 200px
caption =
"Wild and Wooly" - 1937
20th Century Fox

birthname = Jane Withers
birthdate = Birth date and age|1926|4|12|mf=y
location = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
yearsactive = 1929 - present
spouse = 1947-1954:
William P. Moss Jr.
1955-1968:
Kenneth Errair
"'
homepage =
academyawards =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =

Jane Withers (born April 121926 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American actress best known for being one of the most popular child film stars of the 1930s and early 1940s, as well as for her portrayal of "Josephine the Plumber" in a series of TV commercials for Comet cleanser in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Withers began her career as a child actress, first on local radio broadcasts in Atlanta, Georgia as "Dixie's Dainty Dewdrop". By the age of three, she was singing and imitating adult celebrities. In the early 1930s Withers and her family moved to Hollywood; she worked as an extra and a bit part player in several films in 1932 and 1933.

Withers's big break came when she landed a supporting role in the 1934 Shirley Temple film "Bright Eyes". Her character, Joy Smythe, was mean and obnoxious, a perfect foil to Temple's sweet personality. She received positive notices for her work, and was awarded a long-term contract with Fox. Through the remainder of the 1930s she starred in several movies every year, including "Ginger" (1935), "The Farmer Takes a Wife" (1935) and "Little Miss Nobody" (1936), usually cast as a wholesome, meddlesome young girl in films less sugary than Temple's vehicles. Moviegoers flocked to see her films, and Withers became one of the top 10 box-office stars in 1937 and 1938. Her popularity was such that Fox gave her "name" co-stars: the Ritz Brothers (in "Pack Up Your Troubles") and Gene Autry (in "Shooting High"). Withers also took a flyer in screenwriting: she wrote the original story filmed as "Small Town Deb", under the pseudonym "Jerrie Walters."

Withers kept working in the 1940s; she made 16 films for Fox, Columbia, and Republic Pictures. Her "sweet sixteen" birthday party was filmed by Paramount for the "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" series. Withers received excellent notices for her dramatic performance in Lewis Milestone's "The North Star".

In 1947, recently married and in her early twenties, Withers retired for several years from acting. In 1956, she had a supporting role in the film "Giant".

In the 1960s, Withers gained fame again as "Josephine the Plumber," a character in a long-running and popular series of television commercials for Comet cleanser that lasted into the 1970s. She has continued to do voice-over work and occasionally guest stars on television shows.

Filmography

*"Handle with Care" (1932)
*"Zoo in Budapest" (1933)
*"Tailspin Tommy" (1934)
*"It's a Gift" (1934)
*"Imitation of Life" (1934)
*"Bright Eyes" (1934)
*"The Good Fairy" (1935)
*"Ginger" (1935)
*"The Farmer Takes a Wife" (1935)
*"Redheads on Parade" (1935)
*"This Is the Life" (1935)
*"Paddy O'Day" (1935)
*"Can This Be Dixie?" (1936)
*"Gentle Julia" (1936)
*"Little Miss Nobody" (1936)
*"Pepper" (1936)
*"The Holy Terror" (1937)
*"Angel's Holiday" (1937)
*"Wild and Wooly" (1937)
*"45 Fathers" (1937)
*"Checkers" (1937)
*"Rascals" (1938)
*"Keep Smiling" (1938)
*"Always in Trouble" (1938)
*"The Arizona Wildcat" (1939)
*"Hollywood Hobbies" (1939) (short subject)
*"Boy Friend" (1939)
*"Chicken Wagon Family" (1939)
*"Pack Up Your Troubles" (1939)
*"High School" (1940)
*"Shooting High" (1940)
*"Girl from Avenue A" (1940)
*"Youth Will Be Served" (1940)
*"Meet the Stars #1: Chinese Garden Festival" (1941) (short subject)
*"Small Town Deb" (1941)
*"Golden Hoofs" (1941)
*"Her First Beau" (1941)
*"Meet the Stars #6: Stars at Play" (1941) (short subject)
*"A Very Young Lady" (1941)
*"Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 2" (1941) (short subject)
*"Young America" (1942)
*"The Mad Martindales" (1942)
*"Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4" (1942) (short subject)
*"Johnny Doughboy" (1942)
*"The North Star" (1943)
*"My Best Gal" (1944)
*"Faces in the Fog" (1944)
*"Screen Snapshots: Fashions and Rodeo" (1945) (short subject)
*"Affairs of Geraldine" (1946)
*"Danger Street" (1947)
*"Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Small Fry" (1956) (short subject)
*"Giant" (1956)
*"The Right Approach" (1961)
*"Captain Newman, M.D." (1963)
*"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996) (vocal "stand-in" for Mary Wickes after her death) (voice)
*"The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" (2002) (voice) (direct-to-DVD)
*"Boxes" (2005) (short subject)

Trivia

While filming the movie "Giant" Jane developed a friendship with James Dean. In the DVD special features she tells the story that Dean had a favorite pink cowboy shirt he wore all the time. He never let it go the laundry for fear it would be lost like the other shirts he had. Withers convinced him to let her wash it for him. She did this often and when he left to go to the race he gave her his shirt to wash and have ready for him when he came back. He died that day in a famous car crash. Withers still keeps his shirt and the fond memories of him.

External links

*imdb name|id=0936730
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=77080&mod=bio "All Movie Guide" biography of Jane Withers]
* [http://www.classicmoviekids.com/withers.htm Biographical information and vintage photographs of Jane Withers]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jane Withers — (* 12. April 1926 in Atlanta, Georgia) ist eine US amerikanische Filmschauspielerin. Leben Jane Withers wurde als Einzelkind von Walter und Lavinia Ruth Withers geboren, und lebte die ersten Lebe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jane Withers — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Withers. Jane Withers …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Withers (surname) — Withers (earlier variants Wither, Wyther) is an English surname of Anglo Saxon origin. It is today a not uncommon family name throughout the Anglosphere.HistoryThe family name appears on various early documents such as in a charter of Æthelred II …   Wikipedia

  • Withers — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Alexander Scott Withers, Historiker der frühen Appalachian Indian White Warfare Bill Withers (* 1938), amerikanischer Sänger und Songschreiber Charles W. J. Withers, schottischer historischer Geograph… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Withers — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Withers est un nom de famille notamment porté par : Jane Withers (born 1926), American radio, television and movie actress Bill Withers (born 1938),… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jane Greer — (September 9, 1924 ndash; August 24, 2001) was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past .CareerThe five foot five Greer began life as Bettejane Greer …   Wikipedia

  • Jane Latsis — Emma Lathen und R. B. Dominic sind zwei Pseudonyme des amerikanischen Krimi Autoren Duo Mary Jane Latsis (Ökonomin) und Martha Hennissart (Juristin). Lathen setzt sich allen Anschein aus den Anfangssilben der Nachnamen zusammen, der Vorname… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Steve Withers — Steven Withers (born April 16, 1961) is an American pianist. Withers, a native of San Diego, California, graduated from Point Loma High School in 1978. He studied composition and piano performance at the University of Cincinnati’s… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander Scott Withers — (12 October 1792, near Warrenton, Virginia – 23 January 1865, near Parkersburg, West Virginia) was the author of Chronicles of Border Warfare (1831), a history of (and important primary source on) the early white settlement of western Virginia… …   Wikipedia

  • Mary Jane Latsis — Emma Lathen und R. B. Dominic sind zwei Pseudonyme des amerikanischen Krimi Autoren Duo Mary Jane Latsis (Ökonomin) und Martha Hennissart (Juristin). Lathen setzt sich allen Anschein aus den Anfangssilben der Nachnamen zusammen, der Vorname… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”