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Sybil Jason (born Sybil Jacobson; 23 November 1927 – 23 August 2011) was an American child film actress who, in the late 1930s, was presented as a rival to Shirley Temple.
Irving Asher, the head of Warner Bros.' London studio, saw Jason's performance in Barnacle Bill and arranged for her to make a screen test for the studio. The test was a success, resulting in Warner Bros. signing her to a contract. Her American film debut came as the lead in Little Big Shot (1935), directed by Michael Curtiz and co-starring Glenda Farrell, Robert Armstrong, and Edward Everett Horton.
Jason followed this with supporting roles opposite some of Warner Bros. most popular stars, including Kay Francis in I Found Stella Parish (1935), Al Jolson in The Singing Kid (1936), Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart in The Great O'Malley (1937), and again with Kay Francis in Comet Over Broadway (1938). Warners also starred her in The Captain's Kid (1937), and four Vitaphone two-reelers filmed in Technicolor: Changing of the Guard, A Day at Santa Anita, Little Pioneer, and The Littlest Diplomat.
Jason never became the major rival to Shirley Temple that Warner Bros. had hoped, and her film career ended after playing two supporting roles at 20th-Century Fox. These films — The Little Princess (1939) and The Blue Bird (1940) — supported Temple, who became her lifelong friend.
She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1952.
Personal life
Jason married Anthony Albert Fromlak (aka Anthony Drake) on 30 December 1950. He died in 2005. Their daughter, Toni Maryanna Rossi, is married to Phillip W. Rossi, producer of The New Price Is Right.
Death
Sybil Jason died in 2011 and was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Legacy
Filmography
1934 He Was Her Man Little Girl Uncredited 1935 Barnacle Bill Jill as a child Dance Band Girl on train Broadway Gondolier (scenes deleted) Little Big Shot Gloria "Countess" Gibbs A Dream Comes True Herself Uncredited I Found Stella Parish Gloria Parish 1936 The Singing Kid Sybil Haines Changing of the Guard Sybil Short The Captain's Kid Abigail Prentiss 1937 The Great O'Malley Barbara "Babs" Phillips A Day at Santa Anita Peaches Blackburn Short Little Pioneer Betsy Manning Short The Littlest Diplomat Sybil Hardwick Short 1938 Comet Over Broadway Jacqueline "Jackie" Appleton 1939 Woman Doctor Elsa Graeme The Little Princess Becky 1940 The Blue Bird Angela Berlingot (final film role)
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1927 Births, 2011 Deaths, 20th-century American Actresses, 20th-century South African Actresses, American Child Actresses, 20th-century American Women Singers, 20th-century American Singers, American Film Actresses, South African Child Actresses, South African Emigrants To The United States, 20th-century South African Women Singers, South African Film Actresses, Warner Bros. Contract Players, Burials At Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Actresses From Cape Town, 21st-century American Women
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