Claude Jarman Jr.

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Claude Jarman Jr.
Jarman Jr., 1949
Born (1934-09-27) September 27, 1934 (age 89)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • businessman
  • producer
  • entrepreneur
  • executive director
Years active1946–1956 1979 (brief tenure)
Jarman Jr. in the trailer of the film High Barbaree (1947)
John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara & Claude Jarman Jr. in Rio Grande (1950)

Claude Jarman Jr. (born September 27, 1934) is an American former child actor, entrepreneur, former executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival and former director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco.

Early life and career[edit]

Jarman was born in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] As a child, he acted in productions of the Nashville Community Playhouse's Children's Theater.[2]

Jarman was 10 years old and in the fifth grade in Nashville when he was discovered in a nationwide talent search by MGM Studios, and was cast as the lead actor in the film The Yearling (1946).[3]

His performance received glowing reviews and, as a result, he received a special Academy Award as outstanding child actor of 1946.[4][5] He continued his studies at the MGM studio school,[6] and made a total of 11 films. By the time he reached his early twenties he chose to leave his film career behind. Republic Studios cast him in a couple of B-movies, but discouraged, he moved back to Tennessee to finish college at Vanderbilt University. Following coursework in pre-law at Vanderbilt, Jarman appeared in Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), his final movie. After that, he served three years in the U.S. Navy, doing public relations work.[7]

Jarman moved to working behind the scenes. He ran the San Francisco International Film Festival for 15 years (1965–1980) and was known for his in-depth retrospectives of movie stars and directors. He was executive producer of the music documentary film Fillmore (1972), about rock impresario Bill Graham.[citation needed]

He briefly returned to acting in 1978, for the television miniseries Centennial. He was a special guest at the 70th and 75th Academy Award telecasts, in 1998 and 2003 respectively, as a past acting award winner at the Oscar Family Album retrospectives.[6]

He served as director of cultural affairs for the City of San Francisco. He founded Jarman Travel Inc. in 1986 to serve the travel needs of corporations and executives.[1]

Jarman wrote My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood, which was published in 2018.[8]

Personal life[edit]

Jarman married his first wife, Virginia, in 1959. They had three children: Elizabeth Suddeth, Claude Jarman III and Murray Jarman, before their 1968 divorce. Jarman married his second wife, Maryann, in 1968. They had two daughters together, Vanessa Getty and Natalie Jarman, before their 1983 divorce. Jarman married his current wife, Katharine, in 1986, with whom he has twin daughters, Charlotte and Sarah.[8][6]

Filmography[edit]

Year Film Role Other notes
1946 The Yearling Jody Academy Juvenile Award
1947 High Barbaree Alec (age 14)
1949 Intruder in the Dust Chick Mallison
Roughshod Steve Phillips
The Sun Comes Up Jerry
1950 Rio Grande Trooper Jefferson "Jeff" Yorke John Wayne's son
The Outriders Roy Gort
1951 Inside Straight Rip MacCool (age 16)
1952 Hangman's Knot Jamie Groves
1953 Fair Wind to Java Chess
1956 The Great Locomotive Chase Jacob Parrott Andrews' Raiders USA: TV title
1979 Centennial Earl Grebe "The Winds of Death" – TV miniseries episode

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "classicmoviekids.com". Classicmoviekids.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  2. ^ "Local Boy, 10, Signs Contract For Hollywood Screen Test". The Tennessean. Tennessee, Nashville. February 27, 1945. p. 3. Retrieved June 24, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ "Child actor in new career". Times Daily. February 28, 1960. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "("Jarman" search results)". Academy Awards Database. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved June 25, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Claude Jarman, Jr". Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Pals Of The Saddle – Claude Jarman Jr". DukeWayne.com. February 2, 2011. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "Flashback – Claude Jarman Jr". Beaver County Times. May 26, 1991. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Jarman, Claude (2018). My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood. Covenant Books, Incorporated. ISBN 9781640036680. Retrieved May 14, 2022.

Further reading[edit]

  • Goldrup, Tom and Jim (2002). Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Film and Television. McFarland & Co. pp. 161–168. ISBN 1476613702.
  • Holmstrom, John (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 189-190.
  • Dye, David (1988). Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., pp. 115–116.

External links[edit]

Claude Jarman Jr. at IMDb