Mitzi Green

Biography

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.

Most Known For

The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self

Santa Fe Trail

as Girl at Wedding (uncredited)

The Stolen Jools

as Little Mitzi

Lost in Alaska

as Rosette

Paramount on Parade

as Herself

Skippy

as Eloise

Bloodhounds of Broadway

as '52nd Tessie' Sammis

Dude Ranch

as Alice Merridew

Girl Crazy

as Tessie Deegan

Huckleberry Finn

as Becky Thatcher

Newly Rich

as Daisy Tate

Screen Snapshots (Series 10, No. 8)

as Self

Tom Sawyer

as Becky Thatcher

The Santa Fe Trail

as Emily

Hollywood on Parade No. A-1

as Self

Little Orphan Annie

as Annie

Honey

as Doris

The Marriage Playground

as Zinnie Wheater

Finn and Hattie

as Mildred Haddock

Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round

as Mitzi