Mitzi Green

Birthday: 1920-10-22
Deathday: 1969-05-24
Birthplace: The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

Mitzi Green, also known as Mitze Green, was born Elizabeth Keno in The Bronx on October 22, 1920. At age 3, she began appearing in her parents' vaudeville act. In the early 1930s, she starred in several popular films with Paramount Pictures, including Tom Sawyer (1930) and Huckleberry Finn (1931). She became known as "Little Mitzi," and she was the first child star to sign for a multi-picture contract with Paramount. Green had a natural talent for comedy and mimicry, and audiences were impressed by her uncanny imitations of Greta Garbo and George Arliss. She was also a gifted singer, performing two songs in Girl Crazy (1932). But her career as "Little Mitzi" would not last. Green matured quickly, and at age 14 she was cast in an adult role in Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934), which marked the end of her career as a child star. Green left Hollywood and spent the next several years performing on Broadway and in night clubs. She starred in the original Broadway production of Rogers' and Hart's Babes in Arms, where she introduced the classic song "My Funny Valentine." During this time she appeared in only one film, Santa Fe Trail (1940), in which she had a bit part. Green's career as an adult star in Hollywood began in 1952, when she re-emerged on screen in Lost in Alaska (1952), opposite Abbott and Costello. She also appeared in Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952) and the sitcom So This Is Hollywood (1955), in which she played a perceptive stunt woman. After many years of retirement, Green died of cancer on May 24, 1969, in Huntington Beach, California. She was 48. She is buried in Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California.

Credits

Year Title Character
1952-11-14 Bloodhounds of Broadway '52nd Tessie' Sammis
1952-08-13 Lost in Alaska Rosette
1940-12-20 Santa Fe Trail Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
1934-11-02 Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round Mitzi
1932-11-04 Little Orphan Annie Annie
1932-03-24 Girl Crazy Tessie Deegan
1931-08-07 Huckleberry Finn Becky Thatcher
1931-07-02 Newly Rich Daisy Tate
1931-05-15 Dude Ranch Alice Merridew
1931-04-25 Skippy Eloise
1931-04-04 The Stolen Jools Little Mitzi
1931-02-04 Finn and Hattie Mildred Haddock
1930-12-19 Tom Sawyer Becky Thatcher
1930-09-27 The Santa Fe Trail Emily
1930-07-05 Love Among the Millionaires Penelope 'Penny' Whipple
1930-03-29 Honey Doris
1929-12-12 The Marriage Playground Zinnie Wheater