Former child star Claude Jarman Jr dies aged 90 decades after rare Oscar win

Claude Jarman Jr has died aged 90.

The former child star was one of only 12 recipients of the Juvenile Academy Award as a 12-year-old boy in recognition of his role in classic 1946 movie The Yearling.

His wife of 38 years, Katie, told The Hollywood Reporter that Jarman died in his sleep of natural causes.

In 1934, Jarman was discovered in an MGM talent search, which led to his debut film appearance in The Yearling.

He director Clarence Brown was visiting schools to scout children for the film, and he visited Jarman’s fifth grade classroom.

Speaking to the Film Noir Foundation in 2016, Jarman recalled: ‘Next thing, they called three days later and said, “Get ready to leave for Hollywood in a week.’

He had a starring role in the emotional movie set in the US Civil War as young boy Jody, who adopts a fawn, only to later have to take its life.

The movie earned him the Juvenile Oscar, which he was presented with by inaugural winner Shirley Temple.

Jarman went onto appear in 10 more films, including John Wayne western Rio Grande, Disney’s The Great Locomotive Chase, and Lassie movie The Sun Comes Up.

He would later reunite with The Yearling director Clarence Brown in Intruder in the Dust as a youngster trying to prove the innocence of a Black man.

Asked about his early success in 2014, he told the Marina Times: ‘I had nothing to compare it to. I thought, “Doesn’t everyone have this?” I had my own dressing room, my own makeup person and wardrobe person.’

He was educated on the MGM lot with classmates including Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Powell.

In 1949, he was in a photo to commemorate the 25th anniversary of MGM, appearing alongside the likes of Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Errol Flynn, Angela Lansbury and Lassie.

Before his death over the weekend, he was the last surviving person in the iconic photo.

In 2018, his book was published, titled My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood.

Jarman will be buried in Nashville, Tennessee, while a celebration of life is being planned for San Francisco.

He is survived by his third wife Katie, as well as his children, Claude III, Murray, Elizabeth, Vanessa, Natalie, Sarah and Charlotte, and eight grandchildren.

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