Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark.
Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark.
By the end of the following year, she had amassed some twenty film credits, appearing with such noted contemporary stars as Pauline Frederick or Alice Brady. All of her early films were made on the East Coast, at studios in Ft.Lee, New Jersey. In 1917 (aged eight), Madge made her Broadway debut in 'Peter Ibbetson' with John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. She resumed her stage career in 1926 as an ingenue with 'Daisy Mayme' and the following year appeared with Billie Burke in Noel Coward's costume drama 'The Marquise' (1927).
Her pleasing looks and personality soon attracted the attention of Hollywood and she was eventually signed by MGM in 1931. During the next decade, she appeared in several A-grade productions, notably as Lionel Barrymore's daughter in MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and as the dependable Agnes Wickfield in one of the best-ever filmed versions of David Copperfield (1935). She co-starred opposite James Cagney in the gangster movie The Mayor of Hell (1933), Spencer Tracy in The Show-Off (1934) and listened to Bing Crosby crooning the title song in Pennies from Heaven (1936). Madge received praise for her performance as the star of Beauty for Sale (1933) and The New York Times review of January 13 1934 described her acting in Fugitive Lovers (1934) (opposite Robert Montgomery ) as 'spontaneous and captivating'. Many of her 'typical American girl' roles did not allow her to express aspects of the greater acting range she undoubtedly possessed. Too often she was cast as the 'nice girl' - and those rarely make much of a dramatic impact. On the few occasions she was assigned the role of 'other woman' , such as the Helen Hayes-starrer What Every Woman Knows (1934), audiences found her character difficult to believe and disassociate from her all-round wholesome image. When her contract with MGM expired in 1937, Madge wound down her film career and, following her 1939 marriage, concentrated on being the wife of celebrated playwright Sidney Kingsley. She last appeared on stage in one of his plays, "The Patriots", in 1943.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0263004
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q433532
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Filmography (Movies)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:06/08/1975
Army Girl
Character:Julie Armstrong
Release Date:11/08/1938
Sinners in Paradise
Character:Anne Wesson
Release Date:19/05/1938
The Thirteenth Chair
Character:Helen "Nell" O'Neill
Release Date:07/05/1937
Espionage
Character:Patricia Booth
Release Date:26/02/1937
Pennies from Heaven
Character:Susan Sprague
Release Date:25/11/1936
Piccadilly Jim
Character:Ann Chester
Release Date:14/08/1936
Moonlight Murder
Character:Toni Adams
Release Date:27/03/1936
Exclusive Story
Character:Ann Devlin
Release Date:17/01/1936
The Tunnel
Character:Ruth McAllan
Release Date:27/10/1935
Men Without Names
Character:Helen Sherwood
Release Date:29/06/1935
Calm Yourself
Character:Rosalind Rockwell
Release Date:28/06/1935
Age of Indiscretion
Character:Maxine Bennett
Release Date:10/05/1935
David Copperfield
Character:Agnes Wickfield as a Woman
Release Date:18/01/1935
Helldorado
Character:Glenda Wynant
Release Date:05/01/1935
What Every Woman Knows
Character:Lady Sybil Tenterden
Release Date:18/10/1934
Death on the Diamond
Character:Frances Clark
Release Date:14/09/1934
Paris Interlude
Character:Julie
Release Date:27/07/1934
Grand Canary
Character:Lady Mary Fielding
Release Date:20/07/1934
Stand Up and Cheer!
Character:Mary Adams
Release Date:04/05/1934
The Show-Off
Character:Amy Fisher Piper
Release Date:09/03/1934
Fugitive Lovers
Character:Letty Morris
Release Date:05/01/1934
Dinner at Eight
Character:Paula Jordan
Release Date:22/12/1933
Day of Reckoning
Character:Dorothy Day
Release Date:26/10/1933
Broadway to Hollywood
Character:Anne Ainsley
Release Date:15/09/1933
Beauty for Sale
Character:Letty Lawson
Release Date:01/09/1933
The Mayor of Hell
Character:Dorothy Griffith
Release Date:24/06/1933
Hell Below
Character:Joan
Release Date:08/06/1933
The Nuisance
Character:Dorothy Mason
Release Date:03/06/1933
Made on Broadway
Character:Claire
Release Date:19/05/1933
Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
Character:June Marcher
Release Date:03/02/1933
Fast Life
Character:Shirley
Release Date:16/12/1932
Huddle
Character:Rosalie
Release Date:14/05/1932
Are You Listening?
Character:Laura O'Neil
Release Date:21/03/1932
The Greeks Had a Word for Them
Character:Polaire
Release Date:03/02/1932
Lovers Courageous
Character:Mary Blayne
Release Date:23/01/1932
West of Broadway
Character:Anne
Release Date:28/11/1931
Heartbreak
Character:Countess Vima Walden
Release Date:08/11/1931
Guilty Hands
Character:Barbara 'Babs' Grant
Release Date:22/08/1931
Sporting Blood
Character:Miss 'Missy' Ruby
Release Date:08/08/1931
Son of India
Character:Janice
Release Date:01/08/1931
Envy
Character:Helen
Release Date:01/12/1930
The Bard of Broadway
Character:
Release Date:01/10/1930
Classmates
Character:Sylvia
Release Date:19/11/1924
On the Banks of the Wabash
Character:Lisbeth
Release Date:22/10/1923
Home Wanted
Character:Madge Dow
Release Date:30/06/1919
Three Green Eyes
Character:Child
Release Date:28/04/1919
Love Net
Character:Patty Barnes
Release Date:23/12/1918
The Power and the Glory
Character:Deanie Consadine
Release Date:02/09/1918
Neighbors
Character:Clarissa Leigh
Release Date:29/07/1918
The Golden Wall
Character:Madge Lathrop
Release Date:15/07/1918
Stolen Orders
Character:Ruth Le Page - as a child
Release Date:02/06/1918
True Blue
Character:Ruth, as a Child
Release Date:05/05/1918
Wanted, A Mother
Character:Eileen Homer
Release Date:18/03/1918
The Volunteer
Character:Self
Release Date:24/12/1917
The Burglar
Character:Editha
Release Date:29/10/1917
The Corner Grocer
Character:Mary Brian, age 8
Release Date:01/10/1917
Beloved Adventuress
Character:Francine - Age 7
Release Date:16/07/1917
Maternity
Character:Constance
Release Date:28/05/1917
The Web of Desire
Character:Marjorie
Release Date:04/03/1917
The New South
Character:Georgia Gwynne, as a girl
Release Date:11/12/1916
Seventeen
Character:Jane Baxter
Release Date:02/11/1916
The Hidden Scar
Character:Dot
Release Date:15/10/1916
The Revolt
Character:Nannie Stevens
Release Date:01/10/1916
Husband and Wife
Character:Bessie
Release Date:28/08/1916
Sudden Riches
Character:Little Emily
Release Date:15/05/1916
The Devil's Toy
Character:Betty
Release Date:06/03/1916
The Master Hand
Character:Jean as a Child
Release Date:23/08/1915
The Seven Sisters
Character:Clara
Release Date:26/07/1915
Television Appearances
Images
