MARION DAVIES - January/2024 #69

Hello Body House Members;

We’re kicking off 2024 with an eye to greater sensual living.

I want you to have more fun, greater clarity and feel really good about yourself and your life this year and beyond!

Which is why I’ve started this Substack newsletter…https://bodyhousechronicles.substack.com/

This post is part of the free and easily shared celebration of vintage sensuality that’s been at the heart of The BHC since it’s inception in May of 2018.

The upgrades include my original writing (spicy pulp fiction stories), narrated vintage short stories, relaxation meditations and sexy, vintage pictures (mostly of Bettie Page) with reseller rights!

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Now let’s discover more about MARION DAVIES!

Marion Davies was one of the most influential actresses of her time–and a savvy businesswoman.

She was born; Marion Cecilia Douras on January 3, 1897 (she would have been 127 year old as of the release of this newsletter).

Davies’s birth place was Brooklyn, New York, U.S. A place I know pretty well since I spent more than a couple of decades in NYC. She passed away on September 22, 1961 in Los Angeles, California, U.S. at the age of aged 64.

Davies is laid to rest in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Davies is the daughter of Rose (Reilly) and Bernard J. Douras, who was a lawyer and judge. Her parents were both of Irish descent.

Davies became fascinated with performing early in her life as she watched her sisters in local stage productions. Then went on to act in various school plays and did well.

Once her formative education had ended, Davies began her career as a chorus girl in New York City. First in the pony follies (like a farm league for Broadway), and eventually found herself in the famed Ziegfeld Follies.

However, to Davies, acting was the epitome of show business and she aimed her sights on film and ultimately, Hollywood.

Her first film was Runaway Romany (1917), when she was just 20.

Davies wrote and starred in it while it was directed by her brother-in-law.

It was a modest film, but a great start that provided a stepping stone to bigger things for Davies.

The following year Marion starred in two films, The Burden of Proof (1918) and Cecilia of the Pink Roses (1918). The latter film was backed by newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst.

By the time Davies moved to California, she was already involved with Hearst.

They lived together at his San Simeon castle, an extremely elaborate mansion which still stands as a California landmark today.

Below is a picture of the San Simeon castle.

At San Simeon, they threw grand parties, many of them in costume.

Frequent guests included Carole Lombard and Mary Pickford among many other old Hollywood megastars.

Their parties even included celebrities such as the mayor of New York City, The 30th President of the United States Calvin Coolidge, and even Charles Lindbergh.

Davies and Hearst continued their romantic relationship for over 30 years.

As for her career, Marion Davies was a true professional and an excellent comedienne. Time after time, film after film, Marion turned in masterful performances.

In 1930, two of her better films were Not So Dumb (1930) and The Florodora Girl (1930). By the early 1930s, Marion had lost much of her box office power and the inevitable career down slide began.

A picture of Hearst and Davies below…

Although many have the impression that Davies would be nothing if it weren’t for W.R. Hearst, this was not the case.

In fact, he may have been more of a hindrance than a help.

Hearst had tried to push MGM executives to hire Davies for the role of Elizabeth Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934).

Louis B. Mayer had instead hired producer Irving Thalberg‘s wife, Norma Shearer instead.

Hearst reacted by pulling his newspaper support for MGM without much impact.

In fact, by the late 1930s Hearst was having trouble financially and it was Davies who bailed him out. She did this by selling $1 million worth of her jewelry.

Without her, the Hearst Corporation might not be where it is today.

By the end of the 1930s both the Hearst company and Davies’ career were in decline.

Hearst Media would survive, but individual movie star careers always have an end.

So it was in 1937, a 40-year-old Marion Davies filmed her last movie, Ever Since Eve (1937).

Her last public appearance was just months before her death in September of 1961.

She attended the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy. See below…

Davies never married Hearst and was never married to anyone else. Until after Hearst’s death in 1951.

At that time, Davies was proposed to and accepted the ring of Horace G. Brown.

Brown was a writer and actor who had been a friend to both Davies and Hearst for many years. They stayed married until her death in September of 1961.

Below is one of Marion Davies’ starring roles in a silent film. Please note the wonderful dynamics between the men and women. There is openness and affection that is lacking today. Indeed, it was a simpler and more sensual time in America. Enjoy.