Meglin Kiddies
Encyclopedia
The Meglin Kiddies was a well-known performance troupe consisting of acting, music and dance. The troupe was composed of child-actors up to the age of 16. (AKA: The Meglin Professional Children's School, The Meglin Dance Studio, Meglin's Dance School and Meglin's Wondrous Hollywood Kiddies.)
The troupe was started by Ethel Meglin in 1928. Meglin was a Ziegfeld girl
in feature films. Director/actor and Slapstick Keystone King Mack Sennett
was supportive of the formation of the troupe's studio. Sennett donated a Meglin Kiddie studio building sign and assisted in securing an operations location on his lot. The Johnny Grant Building at 7018-7024 Hollywood Blvd once housed the Meglin Dance Studio on its second floor.
One of the most successful child stars of all time, Shirley Temple
, was once a Meglin Kiddie dancer. Producers from Educational Studios
recruited her from the Meglin Kiddie studio. "Charles Lamont, a director from Educational Studios visited the “Meglin Kiddies” and chose Shirley, hiding under the piano, for a part in a movie that the studio was about to make."
Superstar Judy Garland
was a Meglin Kiddie also. Garland's mother, Mrs. Gumm, played the piano at the Meglin Kiddie studio to help pay for Garland's singing and dancing lessons there. The film debut of Judy Garland was in Meglin Kiddie short films. Garland also performed with the Meglin Kiddies over the radio, and live at theaters such as: Shrine Auditorium
, Pantages Theatre (Hollywood)
, and Loew's State Theater in Los Angeles, California.
In the 1950s, the Meglin Kiddies had a television show.
Ethel Meglin retired in 1962, along with the studio and dance troupe.
The troupe was started by Ethel Meglin in 1928. Meglin was a Ziegfeld girl
Ziegfeld girl
Ziegfeld Girls were the chorus girls from Florenz Ziegfeld's theatrical spectaculars known as the Ziegfeld Follies , which were based on the Folies Bergère of Paris....
in feature films. Director/actor and Slapstick Keystone King Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
was supportive of the formation of the troupe's studio. Sennett donated a Meglin Kiddie studio building sign and assisted in securing an operations location on his lot. The Johnny Grant Building at 7018-7024 Hollywood Blvd once housed the Meglin Dance Studio on its second floor.
One of the most successful child stars of all time, Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
, was once a Meglin Kiddie dancer. Producers from Educational Studios
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures was a film distribution company founded in 1919 by Earle Hammons . Educational primarily distributed short subjects, and today is probably best known for its series of 1930s comedies starring Buster Keaton, as well as for a series of one-reel comedies featuring Shirley...
recruited her from the Meglin Kiddie studio. "Charles Lamont, a director from Educational Studios visited the “Meglin Kiddies” and chose Shirley, hiding under the piano, for a part in a movie that the studio was about to make."
Superstar Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
was a Meglin Kiddie also. Garland's mother, Mrs. Gumm, played the piano at the Meglin Kiddie studio to help pay for Garland's singing and dancing lessons there. The film debut of Judy Garland was in Meglin Kiddie short films. Garland also performed with the Meglin Kiddies over the radio, and live at theaters such as: Shrine Auditorium
Shrine Auditorium
The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...
, Pantages Theatre (Hollywood)
Pantages Theatre (Hollywood)
The Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at Hollywood and Vine , Hollywood, California, USA. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages...
, and Loew's State Theater in Los Angeles, California.
In the 1950s, the Meglin Kiddies had a television show.
Ethel Meglin retired in 1962, along with the studio and dance troupe.
Movies
- Reg'lar Fellers (1941) --Billy Lee's Band --Associate Producer: Ethel Meglin
- The Wizard of Oz (1939) --Munchkin child actors and dancers
- Maytime (1937) --Children In Maypole Number
- Roarin' Lead (1936) --Dancers
- Too Many Parents (1936) (uncredited) --Themselves
- In Love with Life (1934) --Floor show performers at the Kiddie Kabaret
- Show Kids (1934)
- The Land of Oz (1932) --Production company and actors/dancers (Film adapted from the book, Land of OzThe Marvelous Land of OzThe Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This and the next...
) - The Big Revue (1929) --AKA "The Meglin Kiddie Revue" & AKA "The Starlet Revue" --with Judy Garland (Francis Gumm & Sisters)
Notable Meglin Kiddies
- Beverley DeLay (actor/dancer in Land of Oz (1932))
- Nola FairbanksNola FairbanksNola Fairbanks is the granddaughter of Mormon pioneers Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks and Celestia Adelaide Johnson Fairbanks from Payson, Utah and Death Valley, California and has done film and Broadway work...
- Judy GarlandJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
- Virginia GreyVirginia GreyVirginia Grey was an American actress.She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin as Little Eva...
- Donna Hardway (MunchkinMunchkinThe Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
in the 1939 Oz filmThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
and was in Our GangOur GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
Comedies) - Donald HendersonDonald HendersonDonald Ainslie Henderson, known as D.A. Henderson, is an American physician and epidemiologist, who headed the international effort during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox. , he is a Distinguished Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Center for Biosecurity and a professor of...
- Darryl HickmanDarryl HickmanDarryl Gerard Hickman is an American film and television actor, former television executive, and child star of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
- Dwayne HickmanDwayne HickmanDwayne Bernard Hickman is a former American actor and television executive at CBS.He is known primarily for his "teenage" actor roles on television sitcoms. The naturally brown-headed Hickman is best known for playing Chuck MacDonald, Bob Collins's crazy teenaged nephew, on the popular 1950s...
- June LangJune Lang-Early life:Born Winifred June Vlasek in Minneapolis, Minnesota , she originally trained as a dancer in "kiddie reviews" and went to Hollywood at the urging of her mother.-Career:...
- Billy LeeBilly LeeBilly Lee was a child actor who appeared in many films from the mid 1930s through the early 1940s.-Biography:...
- Paul MarcoPaul MarcoPaul Marco was an American actor who often appeared in movies made by Ed Wood, including the "Kelton Trilogy" of Bride of the Monster, Night of the Ghouls and Plan 9 from Outer Space, in which he played a bumbling, fearful policeman named Kelton.-Career:Born in Los Angeles, Marco started taking...
- Ann MillerAnn MillerJohnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...
- Mickey RooneyMickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
- Melody Thomas ScottMelody Thomas ScottMelody Thomas Scott is an American actress, best known for playing Nikki Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless since 1979.-Early Training:Melody Thomas Scott has been a working actress since the age of three...
- Shirley TempleShirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
- Jane WithersJane WithersJane Withers is an American actress best known for being one of the most popular child film stars of the 1930s and early 1940s, as well as for her portrayal of "Josephine the Plumber" in a series of TV commercials for Comet cleanser in the 1960s and early 1970s.-Biography:Withers began her career...
External links
- The Meglin Kiddies production of