Cora Sue Collins, a Busy Child Actress in the 1930s, Dies at 98

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Cora Sue Collins, a Busy Child Actress in the 1930s, Dies at 98

She was in films with Greta Garbo, who became a friend, and Myrna Loy, Bette Davis and others. She ended her career after being sexually harassed.


Cora Sue Collins in about 1934. She appeared in 11 movies that year and another 11 in 1935. Virgil Apger/Getty Images

By Richard Sandomir
May 4, 2025, 12:16 p.m. ET

Cora Sue Collins, who as a dimpled, chubby-cheeked child actress in the early 1930s appeared opposite A-list stars like Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy and Merle Oberon, but who cut her career short after being sexually harassed by a screenwriter, died on April 27 at her home in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 98. … Her daughter, Susie McKay Krieser, said the cause was complications of a stroke.

Miss Collins made about 50 pictures over 13 years, including 11 in 1934 and another 11 in 1935. She was one of the era’s galaxy of child stars, a list that included Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, but she did not become as famous as they did. … In her first movie, the 1932 comedy “The Unexpected Father,” she played a waif whose newly wealthy adoptive father (Slim Summerville) hires a nurse (ZaSu Pitts) to care for her. Praise for 4-year-old Cora Sue came quickly.


Miss Collins made her movie debut in “The Unexpected Father,” a 1932 comedy in which Slim Summerville played her adoptive father and ZaSu Pitts played a nurse. Universal Pictures

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As Miss Collins aged, her roles dwindled. Before her 17th birthday, she said, she was a victim of harassment when Harry Ruskin, a screenwriter at MGM whom she viewed as a father figure, offered her a big role if she would sleep with him. She turned him down, started to cry and left his office. … “I would have given my right arm to play that role,” she told Film Masters, a consortium of cinema historians and enthusiasts, in 2024.

She reported Mr. Ruskin’s behavior to Louis B. Mayer, the powerful chief of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where she was a contract player at the time. But, as she recalled, he said, “You’ll get used to it, sweetie.” Soon after, he threatened to keep her from ever working in movies again. … “Mr. Mayer, that’s my heartfelt desire,” she said she told him, adding, “It was the best decision of my life.”

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Richard Sandomir, an obituaries reporter, has been writing for The Times for more than three decades.