FOUND A GRAVE

Child Actress. Sometimes known as “Britain’s answer to Shirley Temple”. Born Sybil Jacobson, the daughter of a shoe salesman and the niece of orchestra leader Harry Jacobson, she moved with her family to London at an early age. At five years old, she was performing in London-area clubs, entertaining patrons with her Maurice Chevalier impersonations and piano playing, as well as singing and dancing. This would lead to radio performances with her uncle and her film career, beginning with the picture “Barnacle Bill” (1935). She would be brought to the attention of Jack L. Warner who signed her to a contract, as she initiated her Hollywood career with the film “Little Big Shot” (1935). She would go onto appear with such stars as Al Jolson in “The Singing Kid” (1936), Pat O’Brien and Humphrey Bogart in “The Great O’Malley” (1937). After being released from her contract with Warner Brothers, she ended up with 20th Century Fox and had roles opposite Shirley Temple in “The Little Princess” (1939) and “The Blue Bird” (1940, her final film). After appearing in some 15 pictures, she returned to England to host her own radio program. In 1947, she married writer Anthony Drake and raised their daughter.