Claude Jarman Jr., a recipient of the Juvenile Academy Award for his performance in the 1946 film “The Yearling,” passed away due to natural causes at his residence in Kentfield, California on Sunday, January 12, 2025. He was 90 years old.
Jarman was born on September 27, 1934 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the 11-year-old son of a railroad accountant when director Clarence Brown discovered him in his fifth-grade classroom during a school scouting trip in the South for “The Yearling” on Valentine’s Day 1945.
“Next thing, they called three days later and said, ‘Get ready to leave for Hollywood in a week,'” Jarman recollected in a 2016 interview.
Production of the film in Florida took around two years, with one scene involving a deer necessitating 115 takes. As part of the film’s promotion, Jarman famously walked a deer on a leash down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Based on the 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, “The Yearling” featured Jarman as Jody Baxter, a young boy living on a Florida farm post-Civil War. The production presented several challenges, including illness, heat, and stubborn animal actors. Despite these hardships, Jarman’s portrayal won him the coveted Juvenile Academy Award, presented by Shirley Temple at the 1947 Academy Awards. He was the seventh recipient of this award, joining the likes of famous stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.
The film was a critical and commercial success, despite its high production costs leading to limited profits. Gregory Peck received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Jody’s father, Penny Baxter, while Jane Wyman played his mother, Ora.
Following “The Yearling,” Jarman featured in ten other films during the 1940s and 1950s, including “High Barbaree,” “The Sun Comes Up,” “Roughshod,” and “Intruder in the Dust,” which saw him reuniting with director Clarence Brown. In 1950, he starred opposite John Wayne in the western “Rio Grande.” His television credits include series like “Wagon Train” and the 1978 miniseries “Centennial,” starring Raymond Burr.
After obtaining his education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, focusing on pre-law courses, Jarman served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for three years. His return to Hollywood in 1959 did not yield film work, prompting his shift to behind-the-scenes roles, notably as an Armed Forces publicist in Los Angeles, California, assisting in the creation of films about the U.S. Navy.
Jarman built a diverse and successful post-acting career. He was the executive director of the San Francisco International Film Festival from 1965 to 1980, greatly shaping the city’s cultural scene as its director of cultural affairs. He produced a documentary about renowned rock promoter Bill Graham and the Fillmore Auditorium during his tenure. In 1986, he established Jarman Travel Inc., which he led for 25 years.
Jarman remained connected to Hollywood in his later years, appearing as a special guest at the 70th and 75th Academy Awards broadcasts. In 2018, he published his memoir, “My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood,” offering insights into his time during the golden era of Hollywood and his views on the industry’s transformation.
Jarman was married three times and is survived by his wife of 38 years, Katie, along with seven children and eight grandchildren.
