Democracy Dies in Darkness

Jane Withers, impish child star of Depression-era Hollywood, dies at 95

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Jane Withers as child dancing sensation Geraldine Revier, from the 1935 movie “This Is the Life.” (John Springer Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

Jane Withers, a child star of the 1930s and 1940s who specialized in impish roles — an antidote to the cloying sweetness of Shirley Temple — and who later became a TV fixture as Josephine the Plumber in advertisements for Comet scouring powder, died Aug. 7 at 95.

Her daughter Kendall Errair confirmed the death to the Associated Press but did not provide additional details.