Claude Miller Jarman Jr.

Claude Miller Jarman Jr. passed away peacefully at his home in Kentfield, CA on Sunday, January 12th, at age 90. Claude was born on September 27, 1934, in Nashville, Tennessee to Claude Jarman and Mildred Freeman Jarman. He was born an ordinary man and went on to live an extraordinary life.

He had a modest southern upbringing during The Depression. His father worked as an accountant for the railroad. His family, including his sister, Mildred, spent many happy weekends and summers in Bell Buckle, Tennessee at their grandparents’ farm. He loved taking the train to Bell Buckle and maintained a lifelong love of train travel. Claude relished helping his grandfather, a country doctor, deliver both human and animal babies. He especially loved dogs and horses.

From a very young age, Claude acted in school plays. His cherub face, shock of blond hair, and bright blue eyes made him a standout in all his performances. One fateful day in his fifth grade classroom at the Eakin Elementary School, his life was forever changed. He was discovered on a Valentine’s Day afternoon by the legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) movie director, Clarence Brown. Brown had not had success identifying the boy to play the lead in his film adaptation of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Yearling. He decided to fly his plane from Hollywood to the South to scour the elementary schools to find an unknown young, blonde-haired boy to play the part of Jody Baxter. Out of thousands of potential young boys, Brown had finally found his “Jody” in Claude.

At ten years old, Claude and his father took the train from Nashville to Hollywood. The Yearling took over two years to film on location in the “Big Scrub” country of Ocala, Florida. It was immensely challenging to make the movie due to intense heat, rain, and bugs. Claude could not wear shoes for months as he was barefoot for most of the filming. His on-camera parents, Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, remained friends of Claude’s for his entire life. Additionally, he visited Clarence Brown and his wife for many years at their home in Indian Wells.

The Yearling was released at the end of 1946 to tremendous critical acclaim, with Claude’s remarkable first-time performance being recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures. He was presented with a rare Juvenile Academy Award by Shirley Temple at the 1947 Oscars. The film catapulted Claude into stardom, and his performance as the lonely boy who loved his deer was iconic. He went on to make ten more movies.

During his movie-making years he was educated at the MGM school on the studio lot. His classmates included the young stars Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O’Brien, Roddy McDowall, and Jane Powell. Claude was one of the last actors of the studio system generation that many associate with the “Golden Age of Hollywood.” He was the final surviving actor in the famous MGM 25th anniversary photo taken in April 1949.

He played John Wayne’s son, Trooper York, in the Western film Rio Grande, directed by John Ford. Claude was one of Ford’s favorite actors because he was a natural and skilled horseman. Horses were a significant part of Claude’s career in Western films, and he performed his own

daring equestrian stunts like Roman riding, which involves standing on the backs of two galloping horses. Westerns were Claude’s favorites to make, and he went on to star in four more with the likes of Randolph Scott, Lee Marvin, Harry Carey Jr, Donna Reed, and Ben Johnson.

In between acting Claude graduated high school from Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville in 1952. While there he was voted “Most athletic” and was beloved by his teachers and classmates, many of whom remained friends for over seventy years.

Nashville had a special place in his heart and was always home. He was a true Southern gentleman - well-mannered, charming, soft spoken and humble, proud of his heritage, and with a faint Southern drawl. His film career had groomed him to be comfortable in his skin. When he walked into a room his captivating presence was felt - tall, handsome, approachable, with twinkling blue eyes. He looked like a movie star his entire life.

He was most well-known for his performance in The Yearling, but he was most proud of his work in the film adaptation of William Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust, where he was reunited with Clarence Brown. The film told the story of a teenage boy named Chick, played by fifteen-year-old Claude, who averted the lynching of an innocent Black man in Jim Crow Mississippi. The 1949 movie was ahead of its time and did not perform well at the box office but was critically acclaimed for starting the conversation about racism in the film world.

Following high school, he decided to walk away from the ups and downs of acting and attended Vanderbilt University, where he studied history and graduated in 1956. A lifelong football fan, it brought him great joy to finally see the Vandy Commodores’ epic ‘24 football season.

Ever debonair in his white Navy uniform, Claude spent three years as a Naval Officer in Rhode Island, Seattle, and Los Angeles. During that time, he married his first wife, Virginia Creveling (née Murray), and welcomed three children, Claude III (Cal), Murray, and Elizabeth (Libba). After a brief time in Birmingham, Alabama, Claude was once again drawn out west in 1961 to San Francisco to serve as the Director of Public Relations at John Hancock Insurance Company. While still at Hancock, he was offered an opportunity to get involved with the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF). Claude’s contributions were so significant to the festival that San Francisco’s Mayor Joseph Alioto personally asked him to run the festival full-time.

Under his fifteen years of leadership as Executive Director, the festival grew to become one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. He organized actor tributes, traveled abroad to source progressive films, and entertained guests in his home including Paul Newman, Natalie Wood, and Rita Hayworth. Even when there were snags at the festival, such as a pie-throwing protest in the 1960s, he was always calm, cool, and collected. He led the festival through difficult periods. During this time, he married his second wife, Maryann Opperman (née de Lichtenberg), with whom he had two daughters, Natalie and Vanessa.

He was extremely active in the seventies, running both the SFIFF and serving as the Managing Director of the War Memorial Opera House. He also dabbled in production as the Executive Producer of the documentary, Fillmore, which followed music impresario Bill Graham during the final days of Fillmore West. In 1979, he starred in an episode of the TV miniseries, Centennial, produced by his good friend, John Wilder.

Claude loved the City of San Francisco. He was a confidant to Mayors Alioto, Moscone, Feinstein, Jordan, and Brown. As a devoted civil servant, he served on the board of the War Memorial Performing Arts Complex for nearly 35 years following his appointment by Mayor Dianne Feinstein. He served as President of the Board numerous times.

While Claude surrounded himself with luminaries in film, the arts, public life, and politics, he considered himself just a guy from Tennessee who loved his sacred Sundays on the couch watching the NFL or having a beer with his buddies at Perry’s on Union Street. His love of music ranged from Willie Nelson to Elvis, Jimmy Buffett to classical music and opera. His friends will remember him as always staying up late to enjoy music in the redwoods. He loved outrageous comedy, and Steve Martin and Mel Brooks films were his and his family’s favorites.

He was recruited to the Shaklee Corporation in 1979 as Vice President of Corporate Communications. It was there he met his third wife, Katie Stuart, in 1984. They shared four decades together, and welcomed twin daughters, Charlotte and Sarah, in 1994.

Wanting to be his own boss, he decided to start a corporate travel company after he left Shaklee. For twenty-five years, his company arranged luxury travel and entertainment all over the world. He was adored by his staff and clients at Jarman Travel Inc.

Claude truly accomplished everything he set out to do, lived without regret, and was always young at heart. The last years of his life were marked with many games of dominoes, rounds of golf, watching movies with his grandchildren, travel with his wife and family, and a good steak and occasional cigar.

Well into his eighties, he was invited to speak about his memoir and his films at festivals around the country. He relished interacting with those that attended and was humbled that fans continued to appreciate his work. His recollection of his movie making days was truly remarkable. He could recall his lines from The Yearling, from almost 70 years ago. He travelled to Lone Pine, California; Oxford, Mississippi; Ocala, Florida; and Knoxville, Tennessee, among others, to talk about his film career. He touched people from all over the world with his movies and received weekly fan mail. He graciously responded to every piece of mail that he ever received, even if he had to pay the return postage.

His family is grateful that his legacy will live on forever - in his memoir, “My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood”, his eleven movies, photos, interviews, videos, and most importantly, his family. He was one-of-a-kind and led a full life with great health and good fortune.

Claude is survived by his wife of 38 years, Katie Stuart Jarman; seven children, Claude “Cal” Jarman III (Isabel Halpin), Murray Jarman (Monique), Elizabeth Suddeth (John), Natalie Jarman, Vanessa Getty (William), Charlotte Jarman (Paul Schemel), and Sarah Jarman; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Claude's name to SFFILM, a nonprofit corporation. https://secure.givelively.org/donate/sffilm

His legacy continues to inspire imaginations and deepen the appreciation of film among audiences throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

There will be a private family burial in Nashville and a Celebration of Life later this year.

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