Autumn leaves....spring's colorful winter blanket.
An Actress With Character….
Jane Darwell
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She was stout, plain and soft-spoken but her talent as an actress was undeniable. Silent films didn’t treat her well so she waited until sound came along and racked up such an impressive roster of character roles that she was easily the most recognized actress of her era. As Ma Joad in “The Grapes of Wrath” she won a well-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the age of 61. Her real name was Patti Woodard but Hollywood knew her as Jane Darwell.
 Her birthplace in Palmyra is a historic site. |
Patti was born in Palmyra, Missouri on October 15th, 1879. Her father was the president of a railroad and also claimed another president for an ancestor….Andrew Jackson. Patti grew up dreaming dreams like most young girls her age but when she decided she wanted to be a circus performer her parents were appalled. They dissuaded her with music, voice and drama lessons. She gave up on being an opera star because her voice wasn’t strong enough and pinned her hopes on being an actress, instead. Her papa put his foot down….but not hard enough to crush her dream. So, in 1906 when she was 27, Patti made her stage debut…. and to keep “disgrace from the Woodard name” Patti Woodard became “Jane Darwell”.
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Jane made her silent film debut in the 1913 film short “The Capture of Aquinaldo” at the age of 44. She went on to work in over 16 silent films by 1915 including four with director Cecil B. De Mille. But, disillusioned with Hollywood and the roles she was offered, Jane went back to Broadway and stayed there for 15 years. When sound came along, she returned in 1930 vowing to give Hollywood a second chance. Her first “talkie” was “Tom Sawyer”, with Jackie Coogan. Jackie, once a successful child star, was making his ‘comeback’ at 15. The huge success of the film prompted the studio to take another chance on Mark Twain with “Huckleberry Finn” and Jane reprised her role as the Widow Douglas.
In 1936’s “Captain January” with Shirley Temple, Jane took one of the rare evil roles of her career....as Eliza Croft who treated the little Shirley very badly. Jane would do 5 films with Shirley and treated her much better in the other 4. But later in her career, Jane got two other chances to be “bad”….as Ma Grier, the shrewish member of a lynch mob in “The Ox Bow Incident” (1943) and as the isolation matron in “Caged” (1950) both memorable roles.
 "Ramona" 1936 |
 "Laughing at Trouble" 1936 |
Her first adventure in color was “Ramona” with Don Ameche and Loretta Young where she played Aunt Ri Hyar. It is the story of a half-Indian girl raised by a Spanish family in Old California. Rita Hayworth was originally supposed to play the title role but Darryl Zanuck thought she was too young. In the western film “Laughing at Trouble” with Allan “Rocky” Lane, Jane was Gloria Bradford, a newspaper publisher in a small town who hides a convicted murderer (Lane) because she knows the real killer. Jane could be bossy, dominating and sometimes even run afoul of the law in her movie roles, but she always had a good excuse.
 ..as Mrs. Merriwether in "Gone With The Wind" 1939 |
Jane’s next film in color was “Jesse James” where she was ‘Ma’ to Jesse (Tyrone Power) and Frank (Henry Fonda) the infamous leaders of the James gang of desperados. This was considered the first pure Western in color. As the story goes, since Ma was killed by a rogue railroad agent, Jesse and Frank could rob the railroad…and a few banks along the way. Then Jane got the chance to play a part in one of Hollywood’s biggest movie of that era. She was given the role of Mrs. Dolly Merriwether in “Gone With The Wind”. Jane was now 60 years old but her biggest triumph was still to come.
 "The Grapes of Wrath' 1940 |
Made in 1939 but released in January, 1940, John Steinbeck’s best-selling novel “The Grapes of Wrath” came to the screen. Adapted from the printed page by Nunnally Johnson and masterfully directed by John Ford, the story of the Joad family became one of the first films ever to show a seamy side of American life without the usual sugar coating. This was the early beginning of the age of realism, slow to take shape but definitely on the way. In indomitable Ma Joad, Jane Darwell found the greatest role of her career and her performance well-deserved the Oscar she received.
Later, Jane told a magazine interviewer “I’ve played Henry Fonda’s mother so often that, whenever we run into each other, I call him “Son” and he calls “Ma” just to save time”.
 John Ford gives Jane a kiss for her 86th birthday! |
Jane made another 56 films between 1939 and 1959. She also tackled the small screen with over 100 guest spots in television dramas, comedies and series episodes from 1952 to 1964. But after working in “Hound Dog Man” in 1959, Jane decided to retire from the screen. She was living at the Motion Picture Country Home when Walt Disney came to call. He wanted Jane for the part of Bird Woman in “Mary Poppins” and no one else would do. So, at 85, Jane left her rocking chair and went back to work. She kept active for the next two years and was about to begin another film when she died of a heart attack on August 13th, 1967. She was 87 years old.
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Jane Darwell is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery, Glendale, California…..but she has left many memories behind for us to share.