Jane Withers 1926-2021

Jane Withers, the talented child star who tormented Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes and years later became a trusted confidant of James Dean in his final days on the set of Giant, has died. She was 95.

Withers died Saturday in Burbank, her daughter Kendall Errair announced. “My mother was such a special lady,” she said in a statement. “She lit up a room with her laughter, but she especially radiated joy and thankfulness when talking about the career she so loved and how lucky she was.”

Baby Boomers perhaps will know Withers best for playing the bubbly Josephine the Plumber in scores of TV commercials for Comet cleanser that ran from 1963-74.