Claude Jarman Jr.

Early life and career

Jarman was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He was ten years old and in the fifth grade in Nashville when he was discovered in a nationwide talent search by MGM Studios, and was cast as the lead actor in the film The Yearling (1946).

His performance received glowing reviews and he was awarded with an Academy Juvenile Award as a result. He continued his studies at the MGM studio school, but MGM was finding him increasingly difficult to cast, and by the time he reached his late teens his career was virtually over. Republic Studios cast him in a couple of B-movies, but discouraged, he moved back to Tennessee to finish high school.

Following coursework in pre-law at Vanderbilt University, Jarman appeared in Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase, which was his final movie. After that, he served three years in the U.S. Navy, doing public relations work.

He returned to acting with a role on an episode of the television production Centennial (1978). Jarman was a special guest as a past award winner at both the 1998 and 2003 Academy Awards Ceremonies. Later, he moved to working behind the scenes, and had success as a producer and film festival executive producer, as well as serving as Director of Cultural Affairs for the city of San Francisco. He has seven children by three wives, including two daughters with his current wife Katherine.