Child star Margaret O’Brien’s Oscar finds permanent home at Movie Madness

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Hollywood legend stopped by Portland to donate her Oscar to a local movie museum.

Margaret O’Brien was just 6 years old when she starred alongside Judy Garland in “Meet Me In St. Louis.” She appeared as Garland’s younger sister, Tootie.

O’Brien won an Oscar in 1944 for her performance. It was a rare small Juvenile Oscar, an award also won by Garland just five years before for “The Wizard of Oz.”

But 10 years later, it went missing. Then in 1995, it was discovered at a flea market in Los Angeles and returned to her.

O’Brien was at Movie Madness in Southeast Portland on Saturday where her Oscar was placed in a display case already filled with her movie memorabilia.

“Sometimes old treasures come back to you,” she told KOIN 6 News. “And I thought, ‘Where am I going to put the Oscar? It’s not really safe in my house. What am I going to do? Put it in the closet?’ Nobody sees it.”

Owner Mike Clark has been friends with O’Brien for years and she wanted to make sure her Oscar would remain safe.

“Michael Clark’s wonderful museum here, he has several of my outfits and clothes and memorabilia, that would be the place for it,” she said. “So that it would have a permanent home for people to see.”

O’Brien noted she loves visiting Portland, adding she’s happy that her little Oscar will remain the in the Rose City forever.