The Golden Age of Hollywood: MGM Turns 100 and A Little Girl Turns 97

By Mike Szymanski (all photos by Mike except as noted)

Cora Sue Collins sees a birthday cake that was recreated from one she got in 1935.

It’s a true Hollywood story.

On April 19, 1935, MGM Studio chief Louis B. Mayer had a brainstorm and celebrated the joint birthdays of the studio’s youngest star Cora Sue Collins along with one of the oldest stars May Robson. It was to be a great publicity stunt with every major star on the lot in attendance, including her young peers Mickey Rooney and Jackie Cooper.

“I was turning 8, not 7,” says Cora Sue, remembering the story. “But Mr. Mayer thought 7 to 70 sounded good, and said that for that day I was turning 7.”

The actress faked a scowl, “I was not happy.”

As a child actress from the age of 4, Cora Sue worked with the likes of Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, William Powell and was hand-picked by Greta Garbo to play her as a child in “Queen Christina.”

Mae West and Jean Harlow rarely seen items. Photo by Rick Carl

This past week, at the Hollywood Studio Museum, Cora Sue celebrated her upcoming 97th birthday with some of the world’s greatest collectors of some of the actors who were at that party so long ago.