Mary Ann Jackson

Mary Ann Jackson (January 14, 1923 – December 17, 2003) was an American child actress who appeared in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1928 to 1931. She was born and died in Los Angeles, California. Career Mary Ann Jackson's film career began under the shadow of her actor relatives, mother Charlotte Jackson (1891–1992) and older sister, "Peaches" Jackson (1913–2002). Peaches had a fairly prolific stint as a child actress, working with such stars as Rudolph Valentino and D.W. Griffith in full-length features. Jackson made her film debut in a 1925 Ruth Taylor short, Dangerous Curves Behind. Her first big break came in the short-subject series The Smith Family. These 20-minute Mack Sennett comedies co-starred Raymond McKee and Ruth Hiatt as a young married couple, and Mary Ann Jackson as their wide-eyed daughter Bubbles. The premise of each short had Smith experiencing some new enterprise (Smith's New Home, Smith's Candy Shop), or embarking on a family outing (Smith's Picnic, Smith's Holiday), usually with disastrous consequences. Little Miss Jackson stole scene after scene as Bubbles, reacting—often directly at the camera—to the wild goings-on. Although the series ceased production in 1928, producer Sennett had stockpiled enough Smith shorts to release well into 1929, taking care to remove the "Smith" identification from the titles (Smith's Burglar became The Burglar; Smith's Rodeo became The Rodeo, etc.). Our Gang Mary Ann Jackson joined the Hal Roach studio in 1928. She was featured in the Our Gang comedies, at the tail end of the silent era. Mary Ann was often the second female lead or the spunky older sister of "Wheezer" (Bobby Hutchins), Mary Ann's snappy delivery came in handy during the series's somewhat awkward transition to sound. With her bobbed hairstyle and freckles, tomboyish Mary Ann was a vast departure from the winsome miniature heroines who would populate the series before and after her tenure.