Academy Award winner Margaret O’Brien chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her illustrious career in the entertainment industry.
She is an acclaimed American film, radio, TV, and stage actress, as well as one of the last surviving stars from the “Golden Age of Hollywood” cinema. O’Brien is one of the classiest ladies in Hollywood.
She began her prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the young age of four, and O’Brien subsequently became one of the most popular child stars in the history of cinema.
‘Meet Me in St. Louis’
O’Brien was honored with the coveted Juvenile Academy Award as the “Outstanding Child Actress” of 1944 for “Meet Me in St. Louis” where she starred opposite the iconic Judy Garland. “That was great, it was quite a long time ago,” she admitted. “As a little girl, I was a big fan of Bob Hope movies and I was more thrilled to be able to go up and receive the Oscar from Mr. Hope. I was in awe of Bob Hope.”
“Judy Garland was lovely to work with. She was really like a big sister, she was very sweet and there were never any problems with Judy on the set. Judy enjoyed doing ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’,” she added.
The return of her lost Oscar
She opened up about how her Oscar was returned to her five decades later after it was misplaced and went missing for a while.
“Somehow it got misplaced in our house, and when my housekeeper passed away, her children found this Oscar, which they didn’t think was real, so they brought it to a vendor and it was there for quite a while. Finally, auctioneers kept looking at it and they noticed it was very different and they believed it was real. They were going to auction it off for a lot of money but the Academy at the time was looking for lost Oscars so they called the auctioneers and told them they can’t sell it. They told them that it either goes back to the Academy or it goes back to Margaret O’Brien’s family,” she explained.
“I am one of the few people that has been presented an Oscar at a ceremony twice. They gave me a little ceremony at the Academy when they gave me the returned Oscar,” she added.
“Now it is under lock and key. I don’t let the Oscar out anymore,” she said with a sweet laugh.
Regarding the key to longevity in the acting and entertainment business, O’Brien said, “I have been very lucky. I did a lot of television when the studio contracts went out. I worked with some wonderful new directors and some actors that I wouldn’t have had the chance to work with otherwise. I was very fortunate when all of these other mediums opened up, and I did a lot of theatre.”
She was born Angela Maxine O’Brien on January 15, 1937, in San Diego, California. Her film debut was a one-minute shot in MGM’s “Babes on Broadway” back in 1941.
Her big break came when she was cast in “Journey for Margaret” one year later. This film shot her into instant stardom and also resulted in Angela changing her name to Margaret.
Throughout the 1940s, she was a major child star. Aside from “Meet Me in St. Louis,” she delivered memorable acting performances in such films as “The Canterville Ghost” in 1944, “Our Vines Have Tender Grapes” in 1945, “The Secret Garden” in 1949, and “Little Women” in 1949.
She described “Meet Me in St. Louis” as a career-defining moment. “I was very lucky to be in several classic books,” she said.
By the early 1950s, she had made a mint for MGM and earned a personal fortune. Then, she brilliantly graduated into adolescent roles and she never retired from the screen.
Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In February of 1960, she was recognized with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. “I think there are three stars now… one for television, one for movies, and the one, I think is for radio because I did a lot of radio as a child,” she said.
“In fact, I am still doing radio shows even though things have been postponed due to the pandemic. I am enjoying doing radio shows again. It is an interesting medium to do. Radio is wonderful for actors, it keeps you on your toes,” she said.
Advice for hopefuls
For young and aspiring actors, she said, “My advice is for them to go to college, that way, they have something to fall back on in case things don’t work out. Make sure they get an education and think very carefully about what they want to go into and what they want to do. Get a good agent that is an authentic person, and don’t give out any money ahead of time unless you are working, and that’s either 10 percent or 15 percent.”
“It’s good to have somebody with you that oversees some of the things that you do. You can’t do everything by yourself. I had a wonderful mother, and in the later years, a wonderful team that organizes things and makes sure everything is correct,” she added.
O’Brien has also remained active on TV and on the dinner-theater circuit. She frequently is appearing at prestigious events as either a celebrity host or a guest star or a popular public speaker.
On the title of the current chapter of her life, O’Brien said, “I always enjoy working and I enjoy going out and sitting in a beautiful park, and being with my very close friends. You are very lucky if you have close friends to keep in touch with and go out with and enjoy life with. I like doing a little work and also enjoying myself.”
When asked if she were to write her own autobiography, she responded, “That’s what everybody wants me to do. Finally, I think they are ready to talk me into it. We will see what happens.”
O’Brien acknowledged that she is a “big advocate of animals and animal shelters.” “I always grew up with dogs, and it was my dog that got my first contract,” she said. “I try to help animals and animal shelters as much as I can.”
As her alternate career choice, she revealed that she would be an “archeologist.” “I lived in Peru for a while and I went into a lot of the tombs,” she said. “Also, I actually did some archeology. That’s what I would have done since archeology interests me the most.”
She defined the word success as “feeling wonderful about yourself and whatever you do.” “Be realistic since you have to live in this world and you need to have enough money to enjoy life,” she said. “You need to know what is going to make you happy. Enjoy life, and enjoy this wonderful world that we have here.”
For her dedicated fans, O’Brien concluded, “I hope my fans keep watching TCM, it is wonderful for all of these classic movies. They should watch ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘Little Women’. That will give them a wonderful idea of the classic books, especially to see the books live in a movie. I hope they enjoy life but I also hope they are realistic since they need to work hard, that way they can become successful.”
