Margaret O'Brien, famous child actress of the 1940's, was born on January 15, 1937 in San Diego, California. Her given name is Angela Maxine O'Brien. Her mother, Gladys, was a flamenco dancer. Her father, a circus rider, had died just before she was born. After getting jobs as a child model at a very young age, Margaret began in films at the age of 4, with a bit part in a civil defense film with James Cagney, and in Babes on Broadway. Her mother was successful in getting her an audition for the lead in the major film, Journey for Margaret in 1942. She was so skilled in acting as a child that she could cause tears to come down on cue. During the 1940's, she was the No. 1 child star, starring in such hits as Meet Me In St. Louis for which she won a special Academy Award for the year's best child actress, and she also appeared in Jane Eyre, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, The Secret Garden and Little Women in 1949. Margaret didn't sing or dance like Shirley Temple, she wasn't funny or tough like Jane Withers, but the MGM studio realized she had another special quality, that of acting like a real child. Most of her roles were endearing and emotional.

As the 1950's ended, and she left MGM Studios, her film roles decreased, but she appeared more frequently on television talk and variety shows and on the stage. She made her stage debut in the short-lived "The Intruder" on December 1, 1952, when she was 15 years old. Her movie roles in the '50's became infrequent, and her part in 1960's Heller in Pink Tights was her last major role, and she retired from films and in 1959 she became the wife of Harold Allen Jr., an artist. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in 1968, but in 1974 she married Roy Thorsen, and they had a daughter named Mara Tolene, born in April, 1977. Mara grew up and went to the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) where she studied psychology and law and society. In 1997, Mara won $11,250, 1/4th of the City Club Prize, and three other graduating seniors also won the same amount. In October of 2000, Mara wrote a dissertaion, with the assistance of her tutor, Teresa Piconto, on 'The State's Fulfillment of Children's Rights in Group Homes, Residential Treatment Facilities, and Mental Hospitals-Success or Failure?'

Margaret and Roy separated in 1985, but are still legally married and best friends. Margaret has appeared in public at parades and other functions many times during the 1970's, and 1980's. By 1977 she was able to access her $1,000,000 trust fund and she continues to live comfortably from these funds. Margaret now appears occasionally in films, most recently in 1996's Sunset After Dark and 1998's Hollywood Mortuary and will appear in the new film Dead Season. She was the official Los Angeles Chairperson for the Sacramento AIDS foundation. From 1981 to 1987 she served as Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Southern California. A list of film and television appearances can be found in her filmography. Margaret has appeared onstage in summer stock and cruise ship productions of Barefoot in the Park, Under the Yum-Yum Tree, and A Thousand Clowns. She recently narrated a film on the life of Princess Diana called Princess Diana- Queen of Hearts.