Long before a television sat in nearly every American living room, a little girl from Compton was already working in front of the camera.

Born Jacklyn DeVon Taylor in Compton, she would later be known as Jackie Taylor Fries, one of the city's earliest links to the golden age of film and TV.

Her career stretched across more than seven decades and took her from child actor to television host, director, producer, teacher and minister.

Many fans remember her from the Our Gang comedies, the short films later generations came to know as The Little Rascals.

Between 1934 and 1935 she appeared in five of the shorts, often cast as the sister or girlfriend of one of the boys, usually Wally Albright.

Her biggest leap came in 1951, when she joined KTTV in Los Angeles.

There she hosted what was described as the first daily two-hour variety show in the Los Angeles area, making her a true television pioneer.

For more than a decade after that, she hosted the top-rated show in San Diego.

Her first marriage, to actor and acting teacher Ben Bard, ended in 1954, and she later married television producer and journalist Jack Fries, her partner for 48 years.

From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the couple produced and co-hosted Little Rascals Family Theater, a Southern California program honoring the original Our Gang performers.

Taylor was ordained in 1979 and went on to serve congregations in Missouri, California and Nevada.

She and her husband also taught Voice Power Dynamics at Sierra College in Rocklin and spoke to service clubs and civic groups throughout Northern California.

Jackie Taylor Fries died on May 5, 2014, at age 88, after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Her journey is a reminder that Compton history runs deep in American entertainment, often in places people never think to look.

This piece was contributed by local historian Dean L. Jones.