Marjorie White (born Marjorie Ann Guthrie, July 22, 1904 â€" August
21, 1935) was a Canadian-born actress of stage and film.Born in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada,[1] she was the first-born child of a grain
merchant,[2] Robert Guthrie, and his wife,[3] born in Simcoe, Ontario.
She entered show business at age 8 or age 10, as one of the Winnipeg
Kiddies, a troupe of child performers who toured Canada and the United
States. She danced and sang with the troupe until too old to continue;
then at age 17, in December 1921, she went to San Francisco and joined
Thelma Wolpa in amateur vaudeville comedy.Teamed for a time with
Thelma Wolpa as Wolpa and Guthrie, Little Bits of Everything, the duo
act became 'The White Sisters' in New York City. Both women kept the
name White after the act broke up.[citation needed] White married
Eddie Tierney on August 10, 1924 in Greenwich, Connecticut.[2] She
appeared on Broadway in several musicals between 1926 and 1929, when
she and her husband moved to Hollywood. In accordance with studio
tradition, four years were knocked off her birth date and she was
supposedly born in 1908. Early biographies of James Cagney, the Marx
Brothers and Bing Crosby typically gave birthdates occurring five
years after the actual event.[citation needed]She began getting parts
in pictures, starting with leading roles in Happy Days (1929) and
Sunny Side Up (1929). The same year she was required by executives of
the Fox Film studio to lose four pounds in order to secure a role in
The New Orleans Frolic. White was diminutive to begin with, weighing
only 103 pounds and standing 4'10" tall. The part called for a woman
who weighed less than 100 pounds.[4] She returned to Broadway for a
musical, Hot-Cha, in 1932, but came back to Hollywood thereafter.
21, 1935) was a Canadian-born actress of stage and film.Born in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada,[1] she was the first-born child of a grain
merchant,[2] Robert Guthrie, and his wife,[3] born in Simcoe, Ontario.
She entered show business at age 8 or age 10, as one of the Winnipeg
Kiddies, a troupe of child performers who toured Canada and the United
States. She danced and sang with the troupe until too old to continue;
then at age 17, in December 1921, she went to San Francisco and joined
Thelma Wolpa in amateur vaudeville comedy.Teamed for a time with
Thelma Wolpa as Wolpa and Guthrie, Little Bits of Everything, the duo
act became 'The White Sisters' in New York City. Both women kept the
name White after the act broke up.[citation needed] White married
Eddie Tierney on August 10, 1924 in Greenwich, Connecticut.[2] She
appeared on Broadway in several musicals between 1926 and 1929, when
she and her husband moved to Hollywood. In accordance with studio
tradition, four years were knocked off her birth date and she was
supposedly born in 1908. Early biographies of James Cagney, the Marx
Brothers and Bing Crosby typically gave birthdates occurring five
years after the actual event.[citation needed]She began getting parts
in pictures, starting with leading roles in Happy Days (1929) and
Sunny Side Up (1929). The same year she was required by executives of
the Fox Film studio to lose four pounds in order to secure a role in
The New Orleans Frolic. White was diminutive to begin with, weighing
only 103 pounds and standing 4'10" tall. The part called for a woman
who weighed less than 100 pounds.[4] She returned to Broadway for a
musical, Hot-Cha, in 1932, but came back to Hollywood thereafter.
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