A heavy-set character player with a hearty voice and a slightly worried expression, Jane Darwell was often cast in matronly roles. Although she played a wide variety of roles (including an unsympathetic part as one of the lynchers in the memorable "The Ox-Bow Incident" 1943) in a career spanning well over 100 credits from the early 1930s through the mid-60s, she was most typically seen as concerned, warm-hearted mothers. For many fans, Darwell will always be remembered for her towering, Oscar-winning performance as Ma Joad in John Ford's stirring adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940). One of her last screen appearances was as an elderly woman seen tossing crumbs to the pigeons while Julie Andrews warbled "Feed the Birds" in "Mary Poppins" (1964).
Milestones
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1906 Made stage debut
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1913 Made film acting debut at age 33 in the silent "Head Hunters"
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1914 Acted in Cecil B DeMille's "Rose of the Rancho" and "The Only Son"
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1914 Starred in the suspenseful silent "The Master Mind"
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1915 Last film for 15 years, "The Goose Girl"
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1930 Played the kindhearted Widow Douglas alongside Jackie Coogan's "Tom Sawyer"
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1931 Reprised role of Widow Douglas in the follow up "Huckleberry Finn"
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1934 Was featured alongside Shirley Temple in "Bright Eyes" and "Change of Heart"
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1935 Co-starred with Temple as a matchmaking matron in "Curly Top"
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1936 Featured in the Shirley Temple films "Captain January" and "The Poor Little Rich Girl"
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1938 Final collaboration with Temple, "Little Miss Broadway"
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1939 Acted in "Gone With the Wind"
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1939 Had a featured role as the strong-willed, ill-fated mother of "Jesse James"
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1940 Played the indomitable Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath"; won Best Supporting Actress Oscar
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1941 Featured in "The Devil and Daniel Webster"
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1943 Gave a powerful performance as one of the lynchers in "The Ox-Bow Incident"
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1945 Played the titular skipper in "Captain Tugboat Annie"
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1946 Reteamed with John Ford and Henry Fonda in the western "My Darling Clementine"
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1950 Played the isolation matron in John Cromwell's women in prison drama "Caged", starring Eleanor Parker
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1956 Had a featured guest role in the TV series "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" (ABC)
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1958 Reteamed with John Carradine and John Ford on "The Last Hurrah"
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1964 Final screen role, the beloved Bird Woman in "Mary Poppins"
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Featured in dozens of silent films
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Guested on several episodes of the popular western TV series "Wagon Train" (NBC)