Actress Jean Darling, who starred in the movie Our Gang as a child, has died, aged 93. She played Aunty Poppy for RTÉ’s children’s programmes on TV and radio in the 1980s.
Darling got her start in the acting business at the age of four, joining Our Gang in the early 1920s. She would appear in many silent films. Interestingly, Our Gang didn’t add sound until seven years after its 1922 debut.
Born Dorothy Jean LeVake, her name was legally changed to Jean Darling when she was five months old. She starred in her first movie at six months as a baby. As an adult, she originated the role of Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel when the show made its debut on Broadway in 1945.
The actress moved to Dublin in the 1970s where she enjoyed a career as a writer, penning mystery and horror stories for magazines. Jean Darling's final appearance was in a short silent film titled The Butler’s Tale in 2013. In later years, Darling lived with her son in Rodgau, Germany where she passed away.
