She appeared as Selma Jacobsen in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, released in 1945 when she was around eight years of age. Ms. O’Brien continues her career until this day, appearing most recently in the made-for-TV motion pictures, the Elf Sparkle series where she plays Mrs. Santa Claus. Fans of classic films will remember her as Tootie Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland and as Beth in Little Women, alongside Elizabeth Taylor.
In Tender Grapes, she and Butch Jenkins float off in a bathtub when floods threaten the surrounding farmsteads, giving all the parents of the community a terrific fright.
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