Sally Jane Bruce (born December 2, 1948, in Los Angeles, California) is an American former child performer, best known for playing little Pearl Harper in Charles Laughton's 1955 film noir The Night of the Hunter.
Sally Jane Bruce was born on December 2, 1948, in Los Angeles; the daughter of country singer Jewell Edwards, who worked with Spade Cooley and his Orchestra.
According to a United Artists press release, mentioned in Preston Neal Jones' documentary book on the shooting of The Night of the Hunter: "... she got her big break by singing with a full orchestra for a contest sponsored by a Los Angeles newspaper.
Laughton later told Davis Grubb, the original author of the story, that he found little Sally Jane to be "a repulsive, little insensitive pie-faced 'teacher's pet'" — and yet, this was precisely why he cast her as Pearl.
Until her retirement, Sally Jane Bruce worked as a grade school teacher and faculty advisor in Santa Maria, California, teaching young children about gardening and the meaning of the environment.