Claude Jarman, Jr.

John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, and Jarman Jr. in Rio Grande Claude Miller Jarman Jr. (September 27, 1934 – January 12, 2025) was an American actor. He became a child star with his role as Jody Baxter in The Yearling (1946), for which he won an Academy Juvenile Award. As a child, he acted in productions of The Nashville Community Playhouse's Children's Theatre.

Child star Jarman was 10 years old and in the fifth grade in Nashville when he was discovered in a nationwide talent search by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Jody Baxter in the film The Yearling (1946), a high-budget film adaptation of the novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, in which Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman played his parents. His performance received glowing reviews and, as a result, he received a special Academy Award as outstanding child actor of 1946.

He continued his studies at the MGM studio school, and made a total of 11 films. His second film role was in High Barbaree, playing the younger version of Van Johnson's main character. In April 1949, he appeared with more than four dozen Hollywood stars in a famous photo to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving person from that photo session.

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.

Jarman 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. He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Nashville, Tennessee.

Filmography