Born in Cape Town, South Africa, on 23 November 1927, Sybil Jason began playing the piano at age two and, a year later, began making public appearances doing impersonations of
Maurice Chevalier. She was introduced to the theatre-going public of London by way of her uncle, Harry Jacobson, a then-popular London orchestra leader and also pianist for
Gracie Fields. The apex of her career came with a concert performance with
Frances Day at London's
Palace Theatre. Her theatre work led to appearances on radio and phonograph records as well as a supporting role in the film
Barnacle Bill (1935).
Irving Asher, the head of
Warner Bros.' London studio, saw Jason's performance in
Barnacle Bill and arranged for her to make a screen test for the studio. The test was a success, resulting in Warner Bros. signing her to a contract. Her American film debut came as the lead in
Little Big Shot (1935), directed by
Michael Curtiz and co-starring
Glenda Farrell,
Robert Armstrong, and
Edward Everett Horton. Jason followed this with supporting roles opposite some of Warner Bros. most popular stars, including
Kay Francis in
I Found Stella Parish (1935),
Al Jolson in
The Singing Kid (1936),
Pat O'Brien and
Humphrey Bogart in ''The Great O'Malley
(1937), and again with Kay Francis in Comet Over Broadway (1938). Warners also starred her in The Captain's Kid
(1937), and four Vitaphone two-reelers filmed in Technicolor: Changing of the Guard
, A Day at Santa Anita
, Little Pioneer,
and The Littlest Diplomat''. Jason never became the major rival to Shirley Temple that Warner Bros. had hoped, and her film career ended after playing two supporting roles at
20th-Century Fox. These films —
The Little Princess (1939) and
The Blue Bird (1940) — supported Temple, who became her lifelong friend. ==Personal life==