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| Peggy Ann Garner in her Oscar-winning role as Francie Dolan, 1945's 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.' |
Peggy
Ann Garner passed away Oct. 16 in 1984, at age 52. Garner gave a vivid,
naturalistic performance as Francie Dolan in 1945’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Sadly, starring in this classic didn’t
lead to greater things.
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| Garner as a soulful young 'Jane Eyre' in '44. With her is Sara Allgood. |
Both
Peggy Ann Garner and Elizabeth Taylor got noticed in 20th Century
Fox’s ’43 version of Jane Eyre.
Garner was under contract with Fox, and Taylor was loaned from MGM. Garner was
a plaintively emotional young Jane, contrasted by a remarkably poised Taylor as
Helen, the schoolmate who dies of pneumonia. Peggy Ann and Elizabeth were both
born February of 1932. They became child stars in ’45 with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and National
Velvet, respectively, with critics and audiences applauding their intense
performances. Garner and Taylor were natural performers, far superior to the
era’s typical child actors. Garner received a special Oscar for her work,
Elizabeth Taylor became Metro’s favorite child performer.
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Peggy Ann Garner's heartfelt Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Taylor's sweet, sickly Helen.
Ironically, Taylor would nearly die of pneumonia twice in her life. |
What’s
a shame is that 20th Century Fox continued to treat Peggy Ann Garner
as just another child performer, back to playing small roles. MGM created
vehicles for their similarly intense child star, Margaret O’ Brien. And with National Velvet, MGM treated Elizabeth
like a prized jewel, carefully guiding her through any gawky phases. By the
late ‘40s, Garner was freelancing, stuck in B-movies like Bomba, the Jungle Boy.
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| How do you go from winning an Oscar to 'Bomba, The Jungle Boy' in just four years? Only in Hollywood! |
My review of Peggy Ann Garner's Oscar-winning role as Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn here: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn-powerful-story.html
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| Garner with her special Oscar for 'Tree.' |
Still,
Garner persevered and found work as a television actress in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Peggy
Ann Garner’s career ended on a high note, when her one-time TV director Robert
Altman cast her in his 1978 comedy, A
Wedding. Garner seemed plucky, working as a realtor during the dry spells
of showbiz, weathering three failed marriages. Peggy Ann Garner died of cancer,
at the Hollywood Motion & Television Country House and Hospital, survived
by a daughter, who died over a decade later herself. Stardom seemed to come
easily to Elizabeth Taylor, but fans know that her real life was not. And it
seems that neither came easy for Peggy Ann Garner. If nothing else, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn stands as a
tribute to Garner’s naturalistic talent.
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| Peggy Ann Garner ended her film career on a high note in '78, in Robert Altman's 'A Wedding.' |
