Joan Marsh
American actress

Joan Marsh

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American actress
Gender:
Female
Birth:
10 July 1913(Porterville)
Death:
10 August 2000(Ojai)
Star sign:
Family:
Father:
Charles Rosher
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The details
Biography

Introduction

(not to be confused with actress Marian Marsh)
Joan Marsh (July 10, 1913 – August 10, 2000), born Nancy Ann Rosher, and briefly known as Dorothy D. Rosher, was an American film actress. She was a child actress before becoming an adult thespian.

Early years

Marsh was the daughter of Charles Rosher, an award-winning cinematographer, and Lolita Rosher. They later divorced.

Career

Marsh made her first film appearances as an infant in 1915. She appeared in the short film The Mad Maid of the Forest (1915) and also the Universal Pictures film Hearts Aflame (1915), billed as Dorothy Rosher. In 1918, she appeared in the Paramount Pictures production Woman's Weapons. After a number of baby roles, Marsh became a child star in Mary Pickford films such as Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) and Pollyanna (1920).

She made her last film appearance as a child in 1921, and returned to films with a role in King of Jazz (1930), in which she sang with Bing Crosby. She played W. C. Fields's daughter in You're Telling Me! (1934). She continued in small roles until the early 1940s.

In 1936, Marsh sang on the Flying Red Horse Tavern on CBS radio.

During production of Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937), Marsh met and later married writer Charles Belden, who had co-written the film's screenplay. The marriage ended in divorce in 1943 -- first in Los Angeles, California, on August 26, 1943, followed by a second divorce October 23, 1943, "so she won't have to wait a year before remarrying." The following year Marsh made her final film appearance in Follow the Leader (1944).

She later managed a stationery shop, and died in Ojai, California in 2000.

Selected filmography

  • How Could You Jean? (1918)
  • Johanna Enlists (1918)
  • Women's Weapons (1918)
  • Daddy-Long-Legs (1919)
  • Suds (1920)
  • Pollyanna (1920) as Dorothy Rosher
  • Thou Art the Man (1920)
  • Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921)
  • King of Jazz (1930)
  • Inspiration (1931)
  • Three Girls Lost (1931)
  • Maker of Men (1931)
  • Are You Listening? (1932)
  • Speed Demon (1932)
  • High Gear (1933)
  • It's Great to Be Alive (1933)
  • Three-Cornered Moon (1933)
  • You're Telling Me! (1934)
  • We're Rich Again (1934)
  • Anna Karenina (1935) as Lili
  • What Becomes of the Children? (1936)
  • The Lady Objects (1938)
  • Fast and Loose (1939)
  • Idiot's Delight (1939) as one of Harry Van's Les Blondes!
  • Road to Zanzibar (1941)
  • Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943 serial)
  • Mr. Muggs Steps Out (1943)
  • Follow the Leader (1944)