Jane Darwell | |
|---|---|
 Darwell in the 1945 play A Doll's House | |
| Born | Patti Woodard (1879-10-15)October 15, 1879 Palmyra, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | August 13, 1967(1967-08-13) (aged 87) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1909–1964 |
Jane Darwell (bornPatti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television.[1] With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her poignant portrayal of the matriarch and leader of the Joad family in the film adaptation ofJohn Steinbeck'sThe Grapes of Wrath, for which she received theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.
Born to William Robert Woodard, president of theLouisville Southern Railroad, and Ellen Booth Woodard in Palmyra, Missouri, Darwell originally intended to become a circus rider, then later an opera singer. Her father, however, objected to those career plans, so she compromised by becoming an actress, changing her name to Darwell to avoid sullying the family name.[2]
TheJane Darwell Birthplace was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1984.[3]
Some sources give Darwell's birth name asPatti Woodward.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
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Darwell studied voice culture and the piano, followed by dramatics. At one point, she decided to enter a convent, then changed her mind and became an actress. She began acting in theater productions in Chicago and made her first film appearance in 1913. She appeared in almost 20 films over the next two years, then returned to the stage. After a 15-year absence from films, she appeared inTom Sawyer (1930), and her career as a Hollywood character actress began. Short, stout and plain, she was quickly cast in a succession of films, usually as the mother of one of the main characters. She also appeared in fiveShirley Temple films, usually as the housekeeper or grandmother.[2]
She won anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Ma Joad inThe Grapes of Wrath (1940), a role she was given at the insistence ofHenry Fonda, the film's star. A contract player with20th Century Fox, Darwell was memorably cast inThe Ox-Bow Incident, and occasionally starred inB movies and played featured parts in scores of major films.
Darwell had noted appearances on the stage as well; in 1944, she was popular in the stage comedySuds in Your Eye, in which she played an Irishwoman who had inherited a junkyard.[2]
By the end of her career, she had appeared in more than 170 films, includingHuckleberry Finn (1931),Jesse James (1939),Gone with the Wind (1939),The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941),The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), andMy Darling Clementine (1946).[10]
On the television front, Darwell was among the guest stars on an episode ofFaye Emerson's Wonderful Town, a variety series that aired on CBS from 1951 to 1952 in which hostessFaye Emerson visits a different city each week to accent the local music. In 1954, Darwell appeared withAndy Clyde in the episode "Santa's Old Suit" of the seriesThe Pepsi-Cola Playhouse. This same episode was re-run the following Christmas 1955 onStudio 57. In 1959, she appeared with child actorRoger Mobley in the episode "Mr. Rush's Secretary" onBuckskin, starring Tom Nolan andSally Brophy. That same year she appeared in the TV Western seriesWagon Train as “Mrs. Anderson” in the S2E23 episode “The Vivian Carter Story”. She guest starred onJohn Bromfield's crime dramaSheriff of Cochise.
On July 27, 1961, Darwell appeared as Grandmother McCoy in an episode of the sitcomThe Real McCoys. In the story, the series characters played byWalter Brennan,Richard Crenna, andKathleen Nolan return to fictitious Smokey Corners, West Virginia for Grandmother McCoy's 100th birthday gathering. Darwell was 15 years older than "son" Walter Brennan.Pat Buttram andHenry Jones appeared in this episode as Cousin Carl and Jed McCoy, respectively.
On February 8, 1960, Darwell received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the motion-picture industry; it is located at 6735 Hollywood Boulevard.[11][12]
In her mid-eighties, Darwell was semi-retired from acting, other than a rare television guest appearance. She had recently moved into the Motion Picture Country Home because of her advanced age and feebleness. When Disney offered her the role of the Bird Woman inMary Poppins (1964), Darwell declined the role. Walt Disney, still insistent, personally drove to the retirement home to plead with her and she agreed to take the part. But it was her last acting role. In this pivotal scene in the movie, the Bird Woman at the steps ofSt Paul's Cathedral Square sells bags of bread crumbs to passers-by to feed the pigeons. The "poignant"[13] song "Feed the Birds" was sung by Julie Andrews, as ahymn-likelullaby.[14]
Darwell died on August 13, 1967, at theMotion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, of aheart attack at the age of 87.[15]
