- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJohn Elnathon Searl Jr.
- Nicknames
- The Snitching Sissy
- The Sandbox Attila
- A fairly well-known child actor who never made it to the ranks of a Jackie Cooper or Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Searl nevertheless gained a film following in the 1930s. A bratty counterpart to Jane Withers, the blond, freckled, clean-cut Jackie was born in Anaheim, California in 1921 and started on L.A. radio in "The Children's Hour" at the age of three. By the end of the 1920s, film beckoned and Jackie hit it big playing mean little Sid Sawyer in the early Mark Twain film classic Tom Sawyer (1930). Paramount Pictures promptly signed the youngster up and he followed this with Finn and Hattie (1931), Huckleberry Finn (1931), Skippy (1931), Topaze (1933), and as Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland (1933). Infamous at playing sissified brats, obnoxious squealers, and sandbox bullies, he was a natural scene-stealer and aptly labeled on the Paramount sets as "The Kid Everybody Wants to Spank." He continued playing secondary parts into his teens with roles in Ginger (1935), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), That Certain Age (1938), and Small Town Deb (1941). He joined the service in WWII and tried to resurrect his career following his discharge, but had a tough time of it. In the 1960s he played character parts, nominally as minor heavies, in such films as The Couch (1962), and Shotgun Wedding (1963) and on TV dramas. He retired in the 1970s and died in 1991.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesRoberta Elaine Burton(December 29, 1971 - April 29, 1991) (his death)Catherine Marian Warner(August 1, 1943 - 1971) (divorced, 2 children)
- Often cast as snotty brats
- Over the course of twelve months, he played a character named Sidney in a total of five movies: Tom Sawyer (1930), Finn and Hattie (1931), Skippy (1931), Huckleberry Finn (1931) and Sooky (1931).
- Although typecast as highly obnoxious children, he was occasionally allowed to play very sweet boys in movies such as Hearts of Humanity (1932) and The Unwelcome Stranger (1935), or the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland (1933).
- Nearly a decade after having played Sid Sawyer in Tom Sawyer (1930) and Huckleberry Finn (1931), he appeared in Military Academy (1940) with David Holt who had played Sid Sawyer in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938).
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