Marion Davies

As of 2017, only one of Davies' movies has been voted into the National Film Registry. Show People (1928) was inducted in 2003. With the 2017 restoration of When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922), it becomes a strong candidate for inclusion. Other Davies films that could be inducted are The Patsy (1928), Little Old New York (1923), Enchantment (1921), and The Bride's Play (1922).

Profiled in the book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen M. Silverman. [1999]

In 1993, the family of Patricia van Cleve (wife of actor Arthur Lake) revealed, upon her death, that she was actually the child of Marion and William Randolph Hearst. Van Cleve had been raised by Davies' sister Rose and had always been introduced as her niece and Lake as her nephew.

Is portrayed by by Virginia Madsen in The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985), by Heather McNair in Chaplin (1992), by Melanie Griffith in RKO 281 (1999), and by Kirsten Dunst in The Cat's Meow (2001).

As a long-time friend of Joseph P. Kennedy, Davies was invited to and attended the inauguration of John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. There are photographs of the inauguration that show her seated close to the President during his famous speech. Sadly, this was her last public appearance. She passed away eight months later.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6326 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

In November 1959, she funded the clinic at UCLA, which is still called the Marion Davies Children's Clinic.

When Hearst died in 1951, Marion did not really know what was going on. The night before, there had been a lot of people in the house. Marion was very upset by the large crowd of family and friends. She said it was too noisy and were disturbing Hearst by talking so loud. She was upset and had to be sedated. When she woke, her niece, Patricia van Cleve Lake, and her husband, Arthur Lake, told her that Hearst was dead. Upon Patricia's death, it was revealed she had been the love child of Davies and Hearst. Marion was banned from Hearst's funeral. She later started many charities including a children's clinic that is still operating today. She was very generous and was loved by everyone who knew her.

Davies was offered the Ina Claire role in Claudia (1943), but William Randolph Hearst objected to her playing a supporting role as well as a character who died in a movie.

She was the longtime, and sometimes long distance, mistress of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Their life together was dubiously mirrored in the films Citizen Kane (1941), RKO 281 (1999), Mank (2020) and more factually in The Cat's Meow (2001).

She went through a lot, even getting polio in the 1940s. Marion married for the first time at the age of 54, to Horace Brown.

Was a friend of George Bernard Shaw, who wanted her to play Eliza in Pygmalion (1938), which starred Leslie Howard. This would have reunited the two stars for the first time since Five and Ten (1931).

In 1937, a 40 year old Marion filmed her last movie, Ever Since Eve (1937). Out of films and with the intense pressures of her relationship with Hearst, Marion turned more and more to alcohol. Despite those problems, Marion was a very sharp and savvy business woman.

Marion Davies starred in several radio broadcasts in the 1930s. Two that survive are "The Brat" on July 13, 1936 and "Peg o' My Heart" on November 29, 1937.

Hearst had tried to push MGM executives to hire Marion for the role of Elizabeth Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934). Louis B. Mayer had other ideas and hired producer Irving Thalberg's wife, Norma Shearer instead. Hearst reacted by pulling his newspaper support for MGM without much impact.

William Randolph Hearst launched an Oscar campaign for Davies to receive a Best Actress nomination for Peg o' My Heart (1933), but she was not nominated.

In 1930, two of her better films were Not So Dumb (1930) and The Florodora Girl (1930). By the early 30s, Marion had lost her box office appeal and the downward slide began. Had she been without Hearst's backing, she possibly could have been more successful. He was more of a hindrance than a help.

By the late 1930s Hearst was suffering financial reversals and it was Marion who bailed him out by selling off $1 million of her jewelry. Without her the Hearst Corporation might not be where it is today. Hearst's financial problems also spelled the end to her career. Although she had made the transition to sound, other stars fared better and her roles became fewer and further between.

Her starring talkie debut in Marianne (1929) came after an aborted attempt to film The Five O'Clock Girl (1928) and a never-started adaptation of the Broadway musical "Rosalie." Marianne (1929) was also shot as a silent film with with a different supporting cast.

She was famous for doing dead-on impersonations of celebrities at parties. At least, three impersonations became famous and successful into The Patsy (1928).

When Charles A. Lindbergh visited Hollywood in 1927, he wanted to meet his favorite star: Marion Davies. Lindbergh visited Davies on the set of The Fair Co-Ed (1927).

She and Rudolph Valentino were crowned Queen of the Screen and King of the Screen, respectively, by theater owners at the Motion Picture Carnival in May 1924.

Marion Davies and Rudolph Valentino were named Queen and King of the Screen by theater owners for being the #1 box office stars of 1923. They were crowned at a March 1924 ball at the Astor Hotel in New York City. Davies had the mega-hits When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922) and Little Old New York (1923) playing in theaters in 1923.

In 1922, Marion appeared as Mary Tudor in the historical romantic epic, When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922). It was a film into which Hearst poured in millions of dollars as a showcase for her. Although Marion didn't normally appear in period pieces, she turned in a wonderful performance and the film turned a profit. Marion remained busy, one of the staples in movie houses around the country. At the end of the twenties, it was obvious that sound films were about to replace the silents. Marion was nervous because she had a stutter when she became excited and worried she wouldn't make a successful transition to the new medium, but she was a true professional who had no problem with the change. Time after time, film after film, Marion turned in masterful performances.

Marion Davies was listed in the Quigley Top Ten Money-Making Stars poll four times: 1921 (ranked#7) 1923 (#5) 1924 (#2) and1925 (#3).

Davies' final live stage appearance was a 64-performance run in Ed Wynn's "Carnival" in April 1920.

She appeared in numerous films over the next few years, with The Cinema Murder (1919) being one of the most suspenseful.

The following year Marion starred in three films, The Burden of Proof (1918), [error], and Cecilia of the Pink Roses (1918). The latter film was backed by newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst. When Marion moved to California, she was already involved with Hearst. They lived together at his San Simeon castle, an extremely elaborate mansion which stands as a California landmark to this day. At San Simeon, they threw grand parties, many of them in costume. Frequent guests included Carole Lombard, Mary Pickford, Sonja Henie, Dolores del Rio - basically all of top names in Hollywood and other celebrities including the mayor of New York City, President Calvin Coolidge and Charles Lindbergh. Marion and William would continue a long-term romantic relationship for the next 30 years. Because of Hearst's newspaper empire, Marion would be promoted as no actress before her.

Her first film was Runaway Romany (1917) when she was 20. Written by Marion and directed by her brother-in-law, the film wasn't exactly a box-office smash, but for Marion, it was a start and a stepping stone to bigger things.

Marion Davies was never a Ziegfeld Girl. This phrase describes unbilled chorus girls and show girls in the various Ziegfeld "Follies." Davies was a featured player in Ziegfeld's 1916 "Follies," which also featured Fanny Brice, W.C. Fields, Ina Claire Ann Pennington, Bert Williams, and Lilyan Tashman.

Appeared in 10 Broadway shows between 1914 and 1920, including the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1916".

Marion Davies, was one of the great comedic actresses of the silent era and into the '30s. Marion Cecelia Douras was born in the borough of Brooklyn, New York on January 3, 1897, the daughter of Rose (Reilly) and Bernard J. Douras, a lawyer and judge. Her parents were both of Irish descent. Marion had been bitten by the show biz bug early as she watched her sisters perform in local stage productions. She wanted to do the same. As Marion got older, she tried out for various school plays and did fairly well. Once her formal education had ended, Marion began her career as a chorus girl in New York City, first in the pony follies, and eventually found herself in the famed Ziegfeld Follies. But she wanted more than to dance. Acting, to Marion, was the epitome of show business and aimed her sights in that direction. Her stage name came when she and her family passed the Davies Insurance Building. One of her sisters called out "Davies!!! That shall be my stage name," and the whole family took on that name.