Connie Marshall, a bright-eyed and blonde-haired child actress, was born on April 28, 1933, in New York City, to parents not from the show business industry. Her father, a lieutenant with the Allied Military Government in Europe, was a descendant of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, and Gerardus Beekman, the first Colonial Governor of New York.
As a young model, Connie was frequently featured in commercial newspapers and magazines, often used by New York photographers, artists, and caricaturists. Her acting career began unexpectedly when a failed screen test in Hollywood was seen by 20th Century-Fox director Lloyd Bacon, who was casting the role of Mary Osborne in the family comedy-drama Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944). The film also starred Anne Baxter and John Hodiak, who met and fell in love while shooting the picture.
Connie attended the Gardner School in New York, where she appeared in a few plays, and the Fox Studio School, where she studied ballet and ballroom dancing. Her natural talent shone in her first film, Sunday Dinner for a Soldier, alongside Bobby Driscoll. Her second picture, Sentimental Journey (1946),showcased her emotional range as an orphan girl adopted by a terminally ill woman, played by Maureen O'Hara.
Throughout the post-war years, Connie continued to demonstrate her precocious promise in sentimental dramas and lightweight comedies, including Dragonwyck (1946),Home, Sweet Homicide (1946),Mother Wore Tights (1947),and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948). She worked with top movie stars, including Gene Tierney and Joan Crawford, but her career gradually faded after she outgrew her precociousness.
Connie attempted television with the short-lived series Doc Corkle (1952) and appeared in the film Saginaw Trail (1953) opposite Gene Autry. However, by 1954, she had retired from the industry after an unbilled part in Rogue Cop (1954). Despite her untapped potential, Connie Marshall remains an important figure in Hollywood history as one of the most talented young actors of her time.
