Child Actress Sybil Jason Dead at 83

Sybil Jason, Warner Bros.' answer to Fox's Shirley Temple in the '30s died Tuesday in Northridge, Calif., of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to the Washington Post.

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Jason was born in South Africa and played the British vaudeville circuit before her time in Hollywood. Her film credits include 1935's The Singing Kid, in which she performed alongside Al Jolson, and Little Big Shot (also 1935). Though her popularity never eclipsed her supposed rival's, she did appear opposite of Temple in two pictures: 1939's The Little Princess and 1940's The Blue Bird, which turned out to be Jason's final film. The child stars remained friends even after leaving the motion-picture industry.

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Jason's survivors include a daughter, Toni Rossi, and a grandson. Her husband of 59 years, Anthony Drake, died in 2006.