![]() ![]() Especially those who came from Yale." During one infamous show starring Gaby Deslys, rowdy undergraduates from Yale pelted Davies and other chorus dancers with tomatoes and rotten eggs to show their displeasure with the performance. She came to loathe young college men: "The stage-door-Johnnies I didn't like. While working for Florenz Ziegfeld, a cavalcade of admirers pursued her sexually. Consequently, she was relegated only to dancing routines. However, she encountered difficulties with her career as a Ziegfeld girl, as her persistent stammer prevented her from pronouncing any lines. In 1916, Davies was signed as a featured player in the Ziegfeld Follies. When not dancing, she modeled for illustrators Harrison Fisher and Howard Chandler Christy. She also appeared in Nobody Home, Miss Information and Stop, Look and Listen. She made her Broadway debut starring in the show at the Globe Theatre on October 20. Montgomery and Fred Stone, at the old Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia. Portraits of Davies appeared on covers for Theatre Magazine (June 1920) and Motion Picture Classic (January 1920)ĭavies worked as a chorine starting with Chin-Chin, a 1914 musical starring David C. Career Early career on stage and in film When her sister Reine adopted the stage name of Davies after seeing a real estate billboard advertisement, Marion followed suit. As a teenager, Marion left school to pursue a career as a showgirl. ĭavies struggled with her stutter as a child, and convinced her mother to let her leave school early due to the torment of her classmates and teachers. Her family was close friends with architect Stanford White, and Davies grew up learning about the Evelyn Nesbit sex scandal. Educated in the Sacred Heart religious convent near the Hudson River and later a religious convent near Tours, France, Davies was uninterested in her academic studies and very unhappy as a child supervised by Catholic nuns. The Douras family lived near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. His name was subsequently given to Davies' nephew, screenwriter Charles Lederer, the son of Davies' sister Reine Davies. She had three older sisters, Ethel, Rose, and Reine. Her father performed the civil marriage of socialite Gloria Gould Bishop. Douras, a lawyer and judge in New York City and Rose Reilly. Marion Cecilia Douras was born on January 3, 1897, in Brooklyn, the youngest of five children born to Bernard J. In his final years, Welles attempted to correct the widespread misconceptions the film had created about Davies's popularity and talents as an actress. However, many commentators, including writer-director Orson Welles, defended Davies's record as a gifted actress and comedienne to whom Hearst's patronage did more harm than good. The title character's second wife-an untalented singer whom he tries to promote-was widely assumed to be based upon Davies. īy the time of her death, her popular association with the character of Susan Alexander Kane in the film Citizen Kane (1941) already overshadowed Davies' legacy as a talented actress. Their marriage lasted until Davies' death at 64 from malignant osteomyelitis (bone cancer) of the jaw in 1961. Įleven weeks after Hearst's death, she married sea captain Horace Brown. In Hearst's declining years, Davies remained his steadfast companion until his death in 1951. She retired from the screen in 1937 to devote herself to an ailing Hearst and charitable work. įollowing the decline of her film career during the Great Depression, Davies struggled with alcoholism. ![]() However, in 1924, her name became linked with scandal when film producer Thomas Ince died at a party aboard Hearst's yacht. During the zenith of the Jazz Age, Davies became renowned as the hostess of lavish soirees for Hollywood actors and political elites. By 1924, Davies was the number one female box office star in Hollywood because of the popularity of When Knighthood Was in Flower and Little Old New York, which were among the biggest box-office hits of their respective years. He founded Cosmopolitan Pictures to produce her films. Hearst financed Davies's pictures and promoted her career extensively in his newspapers and Hearst newsreels. Hearst took over management of Davies's career and promoted her as a film actress. While performing in the 1916 Follies, the nineteen-year-old Marion met the fifty-three-year-old newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst, and became his mistress. She soon became a featured performer in the Ziegfeld Follies. As a teenager, she appeared in several Broadway musicals and one film, Runaway Romany (1917). Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl. Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras Janu– September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. William Randolph Hearst (1917–1951 his death) ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |