She made her screen debut at age 5, and a year later Margaret O’Brien was a major movie star. Her initial success came in 1942 with Journey for Margaret, the first of a string of brilliant performances. She was a dramatic actress who specialized in playing sensitive little girls who suffered, unlike cutsie-cute Shirley Temple, the biggest child star until Margaret came along. In 1944, she was honored with a special Academy Award for Meet Me in St. Louis. Co-starring with Judy Garland, she was both dramatic and very funny, too. Her most famous quote reveals what a consummate professional she was when she asked a director, “When I cry, do you want the tears to run all the way or shall I stop them halfway down?”

During her childhood stardom Margaret O’Brien was the subject of several paper dolls and coloring books. Now Paper Studio Press, the premiere publisher of vintage-style paper doll books, will present a brand new work by reknown artist, Norma-Lu Meehan. The book will feature dolls of the famous child star at her childhood peak and pages of clothes (the sweet kind that little girls used to wear before the t-shirt and jeans became ubiquitous) to cut out for dressing the paper dolls.

The Margaret O’Brien Paper Doll book is scheduled for publication in 2011 and will be available from Paperdoll Review, Amazon.com, specialty websites and catalogs as well as selected stores and gift shops.