Matinee Classics - Jane Withers Biography & Filmography

Jane Withers ACTOR

PHOTOS

JANE WITHERS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Jane Withers was born on April 12th, 1926 in Atlanta, Georgia, born to Walter and Lavinia Ruth Withers. From a very young age her parents encouraged her involvement in the entertainment industry.

From the age of three she was already taking dancing and singing lessons and by the time she was four, Withers had her own radio program. Her father soon received a job transfer from Atlanta to Los Angeles which was a great move for her to get her career heading in the right direction.

Withers studied at Lawlor's Professional School and began appearing in modeling shows and working as an extra in a number of films. At the age of eight, she was given her chance at a breakthrough role for her career in the Twentieth Century Fox film, "Bright Eyes" (1934).

Soon she was gaining quite a name for herself as a child actress in Hollywood and was appearing on the big screen in such features as, "Ginger" (1935), "The is the Life" (1935), "Paddy O-Day" (1935), "Pepper" (1936), "Angel's Holiday" (1937), "Boy Friend" (1939) and "Pack Up Your Troubles" (1939).

As she became a teenager, she was having a hard time making the transition in the industry from child actress to teenage actress and she was signed to a three year contract with Republic Pictures with not much success.

The mid 40's were a slow time in her career appearing in, "The North Star" (1943) starring Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan, Farley Granger, Ann Harding, Dean Jagger and Erich von Stroheim, "Faces in the Fog" (1944) and "Danger Street" (1947). None of these films were so successful, she then focused on her personal life for a while and tried to make a comeback to Hollywood in the mid 50's.

While trying to earn a college degree in directing from USC film school, Withers appeared in the films, "Giant" (1956) starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Chill Wills, Sal Mineo, Mercedes McCambridge, Rod Taylor, Carroll Baker and Earl Holliman, "The Right Approach" (1961), "Pete and Gladys" (1962) and "Captain Newman, M.D" (1963) starring alongside Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, Bobby Darin, Robert Duvall, Eddie Albert and James Gregory.

Along with film she later began to turn her focus towards television appearances adding such series as, "The Love Boat", "Murder, She Wrote", "Hart to Hart", "Munsters", "Amazing Grace" and voice over work on, "Mickey Mouse Works", "House of Mouse" and the video games, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" and "Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance".

She also gained a huge amount of popularity portraying, Josephine the Plumber character for the television commercials for the product, Comet.

Jane Withers has married twice throughout her lifetime, first in 1947 to William Moss and together they had three children, however this marriage only lasted six years. She then married Kenneth Errair in 1955 and they had two children together and remained married until he passed away in a plane crash in California in 1968. She sadly also lost one of her sons, Randy when he was only thirty three years old to cancer. She resides in Los Angeles, California and occasionally still takes on projects in the entertainment industry.

Filmography

2012 Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance

2002 The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

2001 House of Mouse

1999 Mickey Mouse Works

1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1995 Amazing Grace

1991-1993 Murder, She Wrote

1981 Hart to Hart

1977-1981 ABC Weekend Specials

1980 The Love Boat

1975 All Together Now

1964-1966 The Munsters

1964 Summer Playhouse

1963 Captain Newman, M.D.

1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

1958-1962 Bachelor Father