- Born
- Died
- Birth nameClaude Miller Jarman Jr.
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Claude was the son of a railroad accountant. With no intentions of becoming a screen actor at the time, 12-year-old Claude Jarman, Jr. was discovered during an MGM nationwide talent search for their upcoming film, The Yearling (1946), and won the coveted role of Jody Baxter in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' classic story. The critics raved over Claude's tremendously moving debut, and the boy was awarded a miniature Oscar on Academy Awards night.
His family moved to California permanently, and Claude studied at the MGM studio school while being built up as a child star. Sad to say, his film success would not last all that long. He seemed to lack the requisite good looks and natural boyish appeal necessary to forge on ahead. His follow-up films were mediocre, however, including High Barbaree (1947) with Van Johnson, The Sun Comes Up (1949) with Jeanette MacDonald, and Roughshod (1949) starring Robert Sterling. His next best role would be in Intruder in the Dust (1949) with David Brian and Juano Hernandez, but it wasn't enough to sustain his career.
By the early 1950s, MGM was loaning him out to Republic Studios in minor programmers and the now-awkward teen lost ground rapidly. Discouraged, Claude returned to Nashville to complete high school and then attended Vanderbilt University where he took a pre-law course. Following his studies, he served three years in the Navy. By the time he returned to Hollywood in 1959, he found no film work at all but did manage to guest on a few TV shows. He later moved to behind-the-scenes work and made minor strides as a producer and film-festival executive director. He once served as director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousesKatharine M. Stuart(October 4, 1986 - January 12, 2025) (his death, 2 children)Maryann Eve de Lichtenberg(January 22, 1968 - November 13, 1984) (divorced, 2 children)Virginia Walker Murray(June 20, 1958 - December 13, 1967) (divorced, 3 children)
- ChildrenCharlotte Stuart JarmanVanessa Louise Jarman (Getty)Natalie Ann JarmanSarah Freeman JarmanElizabeth Bonneau JarmanClaude Miller Jarman IIIFrederick Murray Jarman
- ParentsClaude Miller Jarman Sr.Mildred Freeman
- RelativesMildred Ann Jarman (Daugherty)(Sibling)
- Other adult sidelines: Became an executive with Amway; served as executive director of the San Francisco Film Festival; was executive producer of the rock-concert feature film Fillmore (1972); was manager of the San Francisco Opera House.
- Last appearance as an actor, and his first in almost two decades, was in the TV mini-series Centennial (1978), based on the James A. Michener novel.
- A child star of the late 1940s and early '50s who won a special Oscar award for his film debut The Yearling (1946).
- Made a rare public appearance as one of some 60-plus past Oscar-winners at The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) (March 23, 2003).
- Made a special appearance at the The 70th Annual Academy Awards (1998), sitting next to Jennifer Jones in the past Academy Awards tribute sequence.
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