1909-07-01 ( 115 years old ) in New York City, New York, USA
Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark.
By the end of the following year, she had amassed some twenty film credits, appearing with such noted contemporary stars as Pauline Frederick or Alice Brady. All of her early films were made on the East Coast, at studios in Ft.Lee, New Jersey. In 1917 (aged eight), Madge made her Broadway debut in 'Peter Ibbetson' with John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. She resumed her stage career in 1926 as an ingenue with 'Daisy Mayme' and the following year appeared with Billie Burke in Noel Coward's costume drama 'The Marquise' (1927).
Her pleasing looks and personality soon attracted the attention of Hollywood and she was eventually signed by MGM in 1931. During the next decade, she appeared in several A-grade productions, notably as Lionel Barrymore's daughter in MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and as the dependable Agnes Wickfield in one of the best-ever filmed versions of David Copperfield (1935). She co-starred opposite James Cagney in the gangster movie The Mayor of Hell (1933), Spencer Tracy in The Show-Off (1934) and listened to Bing Crosby crooning the title song in Pennies from Heaven (1936). Madge received praise for her performance as the star of Beauty for Sale (1933) and The New York Times review of January 13 1934 described her acting in Fugitive Lovers (1934) (opposite Robert Montgomery ) as 'spontaneous and captivating'. Many of her 'typical American girl' roles did not allow her to express aspects of the greater acting range she undoubtedly possessed. Too often she was cast as the 'nice girl' - and those rarely make much of a dramatic impact. On the few occasions she was assigned the role of 'other woman' , such as the Helen Hayes-starrer What Every Woman Knows (1934), audiences found her character difficult to believe and disassociate from her all-round wholesome image. When her contract with MGM expired in 1937, Madge wound down her film career and, following her 1939 marriage, concentrated on being the wife of celebrated playwright Sidney Kingsley. She last appeared on stage in one of his plays, "The Patriots", in 1943.
Movies
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975-08-06
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961-12-31
Army Girl
1938-08-11
Sinners in Paradise
1938-05-19
The Thirteenth Chair
1937-05-07
Espionage
1937-02-26
Pennies from Heaven
1936-11-25
Piccadilly Jim
1936-08-14
Moonlight Murder
1936-03-27
Exclusive Story
1936-01-17
The Tunnel
1935-10-27
Men Without Names
1935-06-29
Calm Yourself
1935-06-28
Age of Indiscretion
1935-05-10
David Copperfield
1935-01-18
Helldorado
1935-01-05
What Every Woman Knows
1934-10-18
Death on the Diamond
1934-09-14
Paris Interlude
1934-07-27
Grand Canary
1934-07-20
Stand Up and Cheer!
1934-05-04
The Show-Off
1934-03-09
Fugitive Lovers
1934-01-05
Dinner at Eight
1933-12-22
Day of Reckoning
1933-10-26
Broadway to Hollywood
1933-09-15
Beauty for Sale
1933-09-01
The Mayor of Hell
1933-06-24
Hell Below
1933-06-08
The Nuisance
1933-06-03
Made on Broadway
1933-05-19
Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
1933-02-03
Fast Life
1932-12-16
Huddle
1932-05-14
Are You Listening?
1932-03-21
The Greeks Had a Word for Them
1932-02-03
Lovers Courageous
1932-01-23
West of Broadway
1931-11-28
Heartbreak
1931-11-08
Guilty Hands
1931-08-22
Sporting Blood
1931-08-08
Son of India
1931-08-01
Envy
1930-12-01
The Bard of Broadway
1930-10-01
Classmates
1924-11-19
On the Banks of the Wabash
1923-10-22
Three Green Eyes
1919-04-28
Love Net
1918-12-23
The Power and the Glory
1918-09-02
Neighbors
1918-07-29
The Golden Wall
1918-07-15
Stolen Orders
1918-06-02
True Blue
1918-05-05
Wanted, A Mother
1918-03-18
The Volunteer
1917-12-24
The Burglar
1917-10-29
The Corner Grocer
1917-10-01
Beloved Adventuress
1917-07-16
Maternity
1917-05-28
The Web of Desire
1917-03-04
The New South
1916-12-11
Seventeen
1916-11-02
The Hidden Scar
1916-10-15
The Revolt
1916-10-01
Husband and Wife
1916-08-28
Sudden Riches
1916-05-15
The Devil's Toy
1916-03-06
The Master Hand
1915-08-23
The Seven Sisters
1915-07-26
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