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Cora Susan Collins (born April 19, 1927) is an American former child actress who appeared in numerous films during the Golden Years of Hollywood.
Early life and career
Cora Susan Collins was born on April 19, 1927, in Beckley, West Virginia. She later moved toLos Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, along with her mother and older sister. Collins made her acting debut in ''The Unexpected Father
''The Unexpected Father'' is a 1932 American comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Slim Summerville, Zasu Pitts, and Cora Sue Collins.Stumpf p. 136
The film's sets were designed by the art director Thomas F. O'Neill.
Plot
...
'' in 1932 at the age of five. Her reported salary in 1934 was $250 per week ().
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Collins appeared in numerous films including '' Queen Christina'', ''Anna Karenina
''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...
'', and ''All This, and Heaven Too
''All This, and Heaven Too'' is a 1940 American drama film made by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures, produced and directed by Anatole Litvak with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was adapted by Casey Robinson from the 193 ...
''. She was often cast as the daughter of the main characters, or as the leading lady in her childhood. She was initially cast as Becky Thatcher in ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the no ...
'' (1938), but her role was changed to Amy Lawrence because Collins was considered to be too tall for Tommy Kelly
Tommy Terrell Kelly (born December 27, 1980) is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agen ...
. She said that writer Harry Ruskin
Harry Ruskin (1894–1969) was an American screenwriter and lyricist. He worked for a variety of Hollywood studios over the course of several decades. For MGM he co-wrote several entries in the Andy Hardy and Dr. Kildare series. He wrote the lyr ...
, 33 years her senior, tried to force her to have sex with him in exchange for a good role at age 15. She refused and told Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...
about what had happened, who was nonchalant and dismissive about it. One of her rare leading roles was in the 1945 drama film ''Youth on Trial
''Youth on Trial'' is a 1945 American crime drama film noir mystery film directed by Budd Boetticher (as Oscar Boetticher Jr.) and starring Cora Sue Collins, David Reed, Eric Sinclair, Georgia Bayes and Robert B. Williams.Budd Boetticher: The ...
'', in which she played the juvenile delinquent daughter of a court judge. Her last movie appearance was in 1945, after which she retired from show business at the age of 18.
Personal life
Around 1944, Collins married Ivan Stauffer, a wealthy rancher from Nevada. In 1960, robbers stole two mink coats from her home while she was on vacation. Around 1961, she married James Morgan Cox. In a 1996 article, Collins was referred to as Susie Nace and lived inPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
. Her husband at the time was theatre owner Harry Nace, who died in June 2002 at the age of 87. Having appeared with Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...
in two films, Collins and Garbo remained in contact until Garbo's death in 1990.
Filmography
References
Further reading
* Dye, David (1988). ''Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., p. 35. * Best, Marc (1971). ''Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen''. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., p. 35-39. * Willson, Dixie (1935). ''Little Hollywood Stars''. Akron, OH, and New York: Saalfield Pub. Co.External links
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Cora Sue 1927 births Living people American child actresses People from Beckley, West Virginia Actresses from West Virginia 20th-century American actresses American film actresses 21st-century American women