
Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark. By the end of the following year, she had amassed some twenty film credits, appearing with such noted contemporary stars as Pauline Frederick or Alice Brady. All of her early films were made on the East Coast, at studios in Ft.Lee, New Jersey. In 1917 (aged eight), Madge made her Broadway debut in 'Peter Ibbetson' with John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. She resumed her stage career in 1926 as an ingenue with 'Daisy Mayme' and the following year appeared with Billie Burke in Noel Coward's costume drama 'The Marquise' (1927). Her pleasing looks and personality soon attracted the attention of Hollywood and she was eventually signed by MGM in 1931. During the next decade, she appeared in several A-grade productions, notably as Lionel Barrymore's daughter in MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and as the dependable Agnes Wickfield in one of the best-ever filmed versions of David Copperfield (1935). She co-starred opposite James Cagney in the gangster movie The Mayor of Hell (1933), Spencer Tracy in The Show-Off (1934) and listened to Bing Crosby crooning the title song in Pennies from Heaven (1936). Madge received praise for her performance as the star of Beauty for Sale (1933) and The New York Times review of January 13 1934 described her acting in Fugitive Lovers (1934) (opposite Robert Montgomery ) as 'spontaneous and captivating'. Many of her 'typical American girl' roles did not allow her to express aspects of the greater acting range she undoubtedly possessed. Too often she was cast as the 'nice girl' - and those rarely make much of a dramatic impact. On the few occasions she was assigned the role of 'other woman' , such as the Helen Hayes-starrer What Every Woman Knows (1934), audiences found her character difficult to believe and disassociate from her all-round wholesome image. When her contract with MGM expired in 1937, Madge wound down her film career and, following her 1939 marriage, concentrated on being the wife of celebrated playwright Sidney Kingsley. She last appeared on stage in one of his plays, "The Patriots", in 1943.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Fast Life

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

The Mayor of Hell

Death on the Diamond

Beauty for Sale

What Every Woman Knows

Pennies from Heaven

Espionage

Dinner at Eight

The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger

Huddle

Piccadilly Jim

Exclusive Story

Made on Broadway

West of Broadway

Your Show of Shows

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Thirteenth Chair

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Army Girl

Fugitive Lovers

Men Without Names

Guilty Hands

Hell Below

The Show-Off

Lovers Courageous

The Tunnel

The Greeks Had a Word for Them

Sporting Blood

Sinners in Paradise

The Nuisance

Are You Listening?

Son of India

Studio One

Matinee Theater

Stand Up and Cheer!

Broadway to Hollywood

Age of Indiscretion

Calm Yourself

Day of Reckoning

Moonlight Murder

Grand Canary

The Alcoa Hour

Paris Interlude

The Seven Sisters

Husband and Wife

Beloved Adventuress

The Volunteer

True Blue

Helldorado

Heartbreak

The Love Net

The New South

Wanted, A Mother

On the Banks of the Wabash

Stolen Orders

The Web of Desire

The Hidden Scar

The Devil's Toy

Envy

Seventeen

Three Green Eyes

The Golden Wall

The Corner Grocer

Sudden Riches

Maternity

The Master Hand

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