Marion Davies Biography

Fast Facts

• Is the aunt of actress Natalie Draper and writer Charles Lederer
• In 1951, she got married to actor Horace G․ Brown
• Started out as a chorus girl and dancer after watching her older sisters perform in local Brooklyn productions
• Wrote the script for her first film, "Runaway, Romany," and persuaded her brother-in-law, George W․ Lederer, to direct it in 1917
• Got her start working as a model for various illustrators
• Best known for her role as Peggy Pepper in "Snow People" and as Patricia Harrington in "The Patsy․"
• Although her relationship with William Randolph Hearst caused some scandal due to his funding of her film career, they seemed to share a genuine connection, and she repaid his generosity by supporting him financially during the Great Depression
• Donated over $1 million to help build a children's clinic at UCLA