Edith Fellows | Former child actress, 88

Edith Fellows, 88, who as a child actress was the subject of a famous 1936 custody case, has died.

Her daughter, Kathy Fields Lander, told the Los Angeles Times that Ms. Fellows died of natural causes Sunday at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement home in Los Angeles.

Ms. Fellows' mother abandoned her as an infant, and she was raised by her grandmother, who took her to Hollywood. She made about 50 movies in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, including the 1936 film Pennies From Heaven. She later appeared on stage and TV.

Ms. Fellows was 13 when her mother sued for custody. Ms. Fellows testified that she wasn't "used to loving strangers" and remained with her grandmother. Her childhood earnings were placed in trust, but most later vanished. - AP