Born 1920 as Elizabeth Keno in The Bronx, New York City, American actress and singer Mitzi Green was often featured in Paramount’s early talkies, as an outspoken and mischievous little girl alongside studio stars Clara Bow, Jack Oakie, Ed Wynn, Leon Errol, and Edna May Oliver among others.
Green was a gifted mimic and her celebrity imitations were often worked into the films. She was cast (against type) opposite Jackie Coogan in two Mark Twain adaptations, Tom Sawyer (1930) and Huckleberry Finn (1931). Paramount released her in 1931, as she was rapidly outgrowing child roles.
Green moved to RKO where she played the title role in Little Orphan Annie (1932) and in Girl Crazy (1932), the first movie version of the George Gershwin-Ira Gershwin stage musical. At the age of 14, she played a soubrette role in Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934). It did not result in further film offers, and she left Hollywood.
Green died in 1969 in Huntington Beach, California, at age 48, of cancer. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6430 Hollywood Blvd. Take a look at these lovely photos to see portraits of a very young Mitzi Green in the 1930s.
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