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The Scarlet Letter
Background:
Child and juvenile actress of Hollywood’s 30s through mid-40s, Cora Sue Collins
had been a highly in demand kid performer during the thirties. Making her debut
at age 5 in The Unexpected Father (1932), the beautiful girl stayed active in
movies until retiring from cinema at age 18, when she married a rich Nevada
rancher. She is perhaps well-remembered for playing the out-of-wedlock Pearl in
The Scarlet Letter (1934), opposite Colleen Moore.
Although usually happily sequestered in her luxurious Mexican estate, Collins
has sporadically touched base with her film admirers at diverse nostalgia
conventions throughout America.
Tap Dancer
Childhood and Family:
In Beckley, West Virginia, Cora Sue Collins was born on April 19, 1927. She
began acting professionally as a child and decided to put her career on the
backburner when she was a teenager, after marrying an affluent rancher from
Nevada. Aside from acting, Cora also developed a passion for tap dancing and was
permitted to demonstrate her great skills on rare events.
Vigorous Child Actress
Career:
Beckley, West Virginia-born beauty Cora Sue Collins kicked off her movie career
at a very young age. When she was 5 years old, she made her debut by appearing
as a judge in the Thornton Freeland-directed film The Unexpected Father (1932).
This was followed by small roles in a number of films throughout the early part
of the decade, including in the Wynne Gibson-Pat O’Brien drama The Strange Case
of Clara Deane (1932), the comedy They Just Had to Get Married (1933), the Greta
Garbo vehicle Queen Christina (1933, as young Christina) and The Sin of Nora
Moran (1933).
After being cast as a potential voodoo-sacrifice victim named Nancy Lane in the
horror movie Black Moon (1934), starring Jack Holt and Fay Wray, the very much
talented little girl gained notice for her portrayal of dishonest daughter of
Colleen Moore, Pearl, in director Robert G. Vignola’s The Scarlet Letter (1934),
based on a book by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Collins maintained her busy work after the stand out performance by making such
films as Evelyn Prentice (1934), The World Accuses (1934), Little Men (1934),
Without Children (1935), Anna Karenina (1935), The Dark Angel (1935), Two
Sinners (1935), Harmony Lane (1935), Magnificent Obsession (1935), The Harvester
(1936), Devil’s Squadron (1936), Three Married Men (1936) and The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer (1938). At the end of the decade, she found herself playing Dora
Haller in the comedy film Stop, Look and Love (1939), opposite Jean Rogers,
William Frawley and Minna Gombell, and had an uncredited part as Emmett Vogan
and Grace Stafford’s daughter in the short The Greener Hills (1939). The same
year, she also played small role Clarabella Dodd in the drama film Bad Little
Angel, but it ended in the cutting floor.
A cameo role as Louise de Rham in the Bette Davis starring vehicle All This, and
Heaven Too (1940) was Collins’ opening project in the new decade, before she was
cast as the young incarnation of Linda Darnell’s character in the drama/sport
picture Blood and Sand (1941). She then appeared in the musicals Get Hep to Love
and Johnny Doughboy in 1942 and starred as Cam Chandler in the drama film Youth
on Trial in 1945. Before retiring from cinematic industry, 18-year-old Collins
completed two films, the comedy/drama Roughly Speaking (1945), playing Elinor
Randall as a girl, and comedy/musical Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), which
starred Ginger Rogers and Lana Turner.
Awards:
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