Corinne Malvern facts for kids

Corinne Malvern (born December 13, 1901 – died November 9, 1956) was an American commercial artist. She was famous for drawing pictures for children's books and for fashion advertisements. She worked from the early 1930s until her death in 1956.

Corinne Malvern drew pictures for many magazine covers. She also worked as the Art Editor for Ladies' Home Journal magazine. She is best known for her drawings in the popular Little Golden Books series. Some of these books include Heidi, Frosty the Snow Man, The Night Before Christmas, Doctor Dan the Bandage Man, and Nurse Nancy. She illustrated 32 books in total, and 17 of them were for Little Golden Books. She also wrote and drew one children's book called How Big (later called How Big Are You). Her last book, Five Pennies To Spend, came out in 1955.

Corinne Malvern's Life Story

Corinne Malvern was born in Accomack County, Virginia. She grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother, Cora Malvern, made costumes for theater shows. Corinne and her older sister Gladys Malvern (born 1897 or 1903) started acting when they were children. They performed in plays, vaudeville shows, and operas. While she sometimes said she was born later, records show she was actually born in 1901.

Early Acting Career

In 1907, Corinne performed in a famous opera called Madama Butterfly. She played the child character "Dolore" (which means "Sorrow"). She performed in front of important people, including the Japanese Ambassador. After that, she toured with the show all over the United States and Canada.

By 1910, Corinne and Gladys were often working in vaudeville shows that traveled around. They also worked in the growing movie industry in New York City. Gladys played young, innocent characters. Corinne played "fairies, babies, witches, and other funny little people." In 1915, Corinne appeared in a movie called The Luring Lights.

Becoming an Artist

When Corinne was a young teenager, she was hurt in a train accident during a vaudeville tour. After this, she stopped acting on stage. She went to a boarding school while her mother and sister continued their acting careers. Her family encouraged her to study art. She studied for four years at the Art Students League of New York.

By 1930, Corinne was working as an advertising artist. She lived in Los Angeles with her sister Gladys and their mother. There, Corinne continued to study art with Theodore Lukits. By 1932, she was a well-known commercial artist and illustrator. She often used tempera paint, pencil, pastel, and watercolor for her art. She created magazine covers and fashion drawings. She also showed her artwork, mostly portraits, in art galleries.

Corinne started working with her sister, Gladys, who was a writer. Together, they began creating children's books.

Working with Her Sister

Corinne Malvern never got married. She moved to New York between 1934 and 1936 with her mother and Gladys. She kept working with Gladys on books. They published Land of Surprise in 1938, Brownie, the Little Bear Who Liked People in 1939, and The Land of Look And See in 1940. Their 1943 book, Valiant Minstrel, won a special award called the Julia Ellsworth Ford Prize.

Corinne drew pictures for Nursery Songs, which was one of the very first Little Golden Books published in 1942. She also worked as the Art Editor for the Ladies Home Journal. She was a very busy and important advertising illustrator. Her work helped create the popular "look" of the 1950s.

Corinne and Gladys shared an art studio that looked out over the Hudson River. They were living together in Weston, Connecticut, when Corinne became ill. She moved to a special care home in Weston. Corinne Malvern passed away on November 9, 1956, after being sick for a long time.

Images for kids

• Corinne Malvern as a child actress, after a photograph that can be found in the J. Willis Sayer collection, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle.