Joan Marsh

Joan Marsh (July 10, 1914 – August 10, 2000) was an American child actress in silent films between 1915 and 1921. Later, during the sound era, she resumed her acting career and performed in a variety of films during the 1930s and 1940s.

Early years Marsh was born Dorothy D. Rosher (although some obituaries listed her given name as Nancy Ann Rosher) in Porterville, California. She was the daughter of esteemed silent-film photographer Charles Rosher and his wife Lolita. Her parents later divorced.

Career In 1915, Marsh made her first film appearance, uncredited, in the short The Mad Maid of the Forest, which her father was filming. Later that same year she was also cast in Hearts Aflame and then billed as Dorothy Rosher. After these minor roles as a baby and toddler, Marsh finally became a star in Mary Pickford films such as Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) and Pollyanna (1920). She signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer but was released from her contract in 1932. Harry Cohn of Columbia, always willing to sign MGM's castoffs, hired her for two features, after which she freelanced among almost all the Hollywood studios, large and small. She had built enough of a name to receive featured roles; her most familiar role of the 1930s is probably as W. C. Fields's daughter in 1934's You're Telling Me! (Marsh made an impression on Fields, and in a subsequent Fields script for It's a Gift he asked for a "Joan Marsh type".) She was a versatile performer, capable of playing ingenues and "other women", sometimes essaying dialects.

In 1936, she sang on the CBS radio program Flying Red Horse Tavern.

By 1940 Joan Marsh went where the work was, and co-starred with John King in Blame It on Love, a promotional featurette for kitchen appliances. She continued to appear at various studios, being featured in major films and starring in minor ones. When she appeared as a gangster's moll in Universal's Little Tough Guys picture Keep 'Em Slugging, she became friendly with Huntz Hall and Bobby Jordan, who recruited her for their East Side Kids series at Monogram. After her featured roles in Mr. Muggs Steps Out (1943) and Follow the Leader (1944), she retired from the screen at the relatively young age of 30.

Personal life During the filming of Charlie Chan on Broadway, Marsh met writer Charles Belden, who had co-written the film's screenplay. They married on December 2, 1938, in Beverly Hills, California. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1943—first in Los Angeles, California, on August 26, 1943, followed by a second divorce on October 23, 1943, "so she won't have to wait a year before remarrying."

In 1943, Marsh married U. S. Army captain John D. W. Morrill in Santa Monica, California.

Later years and death Marsh later managed a stationery shop. She died at age 86 in Ojai, California

Partial filmography

Hearts Aflame (1915) - Child A Little Princess (1917) - Child (uncredited) How Could You Jean? (1918) - Morley Child Johanna Enlists (1918) - (uncredited) The Bond (1918, Short) - Cupid (uncredited) Women's Weapons (1918) - Nicholas Jr.'s Sister Captain Kidd, Jr. (1919) - Child (uncredited) Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) - (uncredited) Pollyanna (1920) - Dorothy Rosher Suds (1920) - Minor Role (uncredited) Young Mrs. Winthrop (1920) - Rosie Thou Art the Man (1920) - Ellie Prescott Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) - (uncredited) King of Jazz (1930) - Blonde ("A Bench in the Park") (uncredited) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) - Poster Girl (uncredited) The Little Accident (1931) - Doris Inspiration (1931) - Madeleine Dorety Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) - Sylvia A Tailor Made Man (1931) - Beanie Meet the Wife (1931) - Doris Bellamy Three Girls Lost (1931) - Marcia Tallant Shipmates (1931) - Mary Lou Politics (1931) - Daisy Evans Maker of Men (1931) - Dorothy The Wet Parade (1932) - Evelyn Fessenden Are You Listening? (1932) - Honey O'Neil Bachelor's Affairs (1932) - Eva Mills That's My Boy (1932) - Co-ed (uncredited) Speed Demon (1932) - Jean Torrance High Gear (1933) - Anne Merritt Daring Daughters (1933) - Betty Cummings The Man Who Dared (1933) - Joan Novak It's Great to Be Alive (1933) - Toots Three-Cornered Moon (1933) - Kitty Rainbow Over Broadway (1933) - Judy Chibbins You're Telling Me! (1934) - Pauline Bisbee Many Happy Returns (1934) - Florence Allen We're Rich Again (1934) - Carolyn 'Carrie' Page Champagne for Breakfast (1935) - Vivian Morton Anna Karenina (1935) - Lili Dancing Feet (1936) - Judy Jones Brilliant Marriage (1936) - Madge Allison What Becomes of the Children? (1936) - Marion Worthington Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937) - Joan Wendall Hot Water (1937) - Bebe Montaine Life Begins in College (1937) - Cuddles The Lady Objects (1938) - June Lane Idiot's Delight (1939) - one of Harry Van's Les Blondes! Fast and Loose (1939) - Bobby Neville Blame It on Love (1940) - Terry Arden Road to Zanzibar (1941) - Dimples The Man in the Trunk (1942) - Yvonne Duvalle Police Bullets (1942) - Donna Wells Keep 'Em Slugging (1943) - Lola Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943, Serial) - Janet Blake Mr. Muggs Steps Out (1943) - Brenda Murray Follow the Leader (1944) - Milly McGinnis (final film role)