Marion Davies
Biography
From Wikipedia Marion Davies (January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American film actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Davies was already building a solid reputation as a film comedienne when newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, with whom she had begun a romantic relationship, took over management of her career. Hearst financed Davies' pictures, promoted her heavily through his newspapers and Hearst Newsreels, and pressured studios to cast her in historical dramas for which she was ill-suited. For this reason, Davies is better remembered today as Hearst's mistress and the hostess of many lavish events for the Hollywood elite. In particular, her name is linked with the 1924 scandal aboard Hearst's yacht where one of his guests, film producer Thomas Ince, became ill. Despite the legend surrounding Ince's death, likely from alcohol consumption, he did not die on the Hearst yacht. The producer died a few days later in the arms of his wife. In the film Citizen Kane (1941), the title character's wife—an untalented singer whom he tries to promote—was widely assumed to be based on Davies. But many commentators, including Citizen Kane writer/director Orson Welles himself, have defended Davies' record as a gifted actress, to whom Hearst's patronage did more harm than good. She retired from the screen in 1937, choosing to devote herself to Hearst and charitable work. In Hearst's declining years, Davies provided financial as well as emotional support until his death in 1951. She married for the first time eleven weeks after his death, a marriage which lasted until Davies died of stomach cancer in 1961 at the age of 64.
Known For
Blondie McClune
Blondie of the Follies
Self (archival footage)
Citizen Hearst
Peggy Pepper
Show People
Marge Winton
Ever Since Eve
Herself
Behind the Scenes of Cain and Mabel
Self
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Sylvia Bruce
Going Hollywood
Self
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
Cameo in chorus line
The Wife of the Centaur
Patricia Harrington
The Patsy
Jennifer Rarick
Five and Ten
Mary Tudor
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Sally
The Cardboard Lover
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Gail Loveless
Operator 13
Janice Meredith
Janice Meredith
Tina
The Red Mill
Elizabeth Dalston
The Cinema Murder
Marianne
Marianne
Daisy Dell
The Florodora Girl
Margaret 'Peg' O'Connell
Peg o' My Heart
Mabel O'Dare
Cain and Mabel
Marion
The Fair Co-Ed
Betsy Patterson
Hearts Divided
Prudence Cole
Beauty's Worth
Loretta
Page Miss Glory
Patricia O'Day
Little Old New York
Polly Fisher
Polly of the Circus
Dulcy
Not So Dumb
Antoinette "Tony" Flagg
The Bachelor Father
(archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Self
A Trip to Paramountown
Self
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Herself
The Christmas Party
Ethel Hoyt
Enchantment
Self (archive footage)
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Beverly Calhoun
Beverly of Graustark
Mamie Smith
Zander the Great
Eva King
Adam and Eva
Phoebe Throssel
Quality Street
Stephanie
The Restless Sex
Joyce Stanton
It's a Wise Child
Congregation Member (uncredited)
The Pilgrim
Mary Bussard
Getting Mary Married
Fely / Anne
Lights of Old Broadway
Enid of Cashell / Aileen Barrett
The Bride's Play
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
April Poole
April Folly
Violet Gray
The Belle of New York
Pauline Vandermuellen
Buried Treasure
Herself (uncredited)
A Dream Comes True
Marion Davies
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Diana May
The Young Diana
Tillie Jones
Tillie the Toiler
Princess Mary / Yolanda
Yolanda
Tina in 'The Red Mill' (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
Romany
Runaway Romany
Cecilia
Cecilia of the Pink Roses
Elaine Brooks
The Burden of Proof
Rue Carew
The Dark Star
(archive footage)
Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies
Self (archive footage)
Murders of Hollywood
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
63
Gender
Female
Birthday
1897-01-03
Place of Birth
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As
Marion Cecelia Douras