Marion Davies
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Film
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
1994
Film
Show People
Peggy Pepper
1928
Series
Citizen Hearst
Self (archival footage)
2021
Film
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
1925
Film
The Pilgrim
Congregation Member (uncredited)
1923
Film
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
1972
Film
The Big Parade of Comedy
Tina in 'The Red Mill' (archive footage)
1964
Film
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Self
1929
Film
Page Miss Glory
Loretta
1935
Film
Five and Ten
Jennifer Rarick
1931
Film
Operator 13
Gail Loveless
1934
Film
Cain and Mabel
Mabel O'Dare
1936
Film
The Casting Couch
1995
Film
The Florodora Girl
Daisy Dell
1930
Film
Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
Blondie of the Follies
Blondie McClune
1932
Film
Going Hollywood
Sylvia Bruce
1933
Film
The Red Mill
Tina
1927
Film
Beverly of Graustark
Beverly Calhoun
1926
Film
The Fair Co-Ed
Marion
1927
Film
Marianne
Marianne
1929
Film
Quality Street
Phoebe Throssel
1927
Film
Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies
(archive footage)
2001
Film
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Self (archive footage)
1996
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
(archive footage)
2004
Film
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood
Self
1960
Film
Janice Meredith
Janice Meredith
1924
Film
Polly of the Circus
Polly Fisher
1932
Film
A Dream Comes True
Herself (uncredited)
1935
Film
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle
Marion Davies
1935
Film
Adam and Eva
Eva King
1923
Film
The Young Diana
Diana May
1922
Film
The Belle of New York
Violet Gray
1919
Film
The Cardboard Lover
Sally
1928
Film
The Christmas Party
Herself
1931
Film
The Patsy
Patricia Harrington
1928
Film
Murders of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
Ever Since Eve
Marge Winton
1937
Film
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Mary Tudor
1922
Film
Hearts Divided
Betsy Patterson
1936
Film
Tillie the Toiler
Tillie Jones
1927
Film
It's a Wise Child
Joyce Stanton
1931
Film
Not So Dumb
Dulcy
1930
Film
The Complete 'Citizen Kane'
1991
Film
Zander the Great
Mamie Smith
1925
Film
Behind the Scenes of Cain and Mabel
Herself
1936
Film
The Bride's Play
Enid of Cashell / Aileen Barrett
1922
Film
A Trip to Paramountown
Self
1922
Film
The Bachelor Father
Antoinette "Tony" Flagg
1931
Film
Peg o' My Heart
Margaret 'Peg' O'Connell
1933
Film
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
Self
1922
Film
Enchantment
Ethel Hoyt
1921
Film
The Restless Sex
Stephanie
1920
Film
Little Old New York
Patricia O'Day
1923
Film
Beauty's Worth
Prudence Cole
1922
Film
Getting Mary Married
Mary Bussard
1919
Film
The Wife of the Centaur
Cameo in chorus line
1924
Film
Lights of Old Broadway
Fely / Anne
1925
Film
Runaway Romany
Romany
1917
Film
The Dark Star
Rue Carew
1919
Film
April Folly
April Poole
1920
Film
Buried Treasure
Pauline Vandermuellen
1921
Film
Yolanda
Princess Mary / Yolanda
1924
Film
The Burden of Proof
Elaine Brooks
1918
Film
Cecilia of the Pink Roses
Cecilia
1918
Film
The Cinema Murder
Elizabeth Dalston
1919