About Claude Jarman Jr.
Claude Miller Jarman Jr. (September 27, 1934 – January 12, 2025) was an American actor. He became a child star with his role as Jody Baxter in The Yearling (1946), for which he won an Academy Juvenile Award. Further roles in films like Intruder in the Dust (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) followed. Jarman largely retired from acting in early adulthood and later served as executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival, and director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco. == Life == === Early life === Jarman was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Mildred (Freeman) and Claude Miller Jarman, an accountant for the railroad. As a child, he acted in productions of The Nashville Community Playhouse's Children's Theatre. === Child star === Jarman was 10 years old and in the fifth grade in Nashville when he was discovered in a nationwide talent search by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was cast as Jody Baxter in the film The Yearling (1946), a high-budget film adaptation of the novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, in which Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman played his parents. His performance received glowing reviews and, as a result, he received a special Academy Award as outstanding child actor of 1946. He continued his studies at the MGM studio school, and made a total of 11 films.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.