Talk:Marion Davies/Archives/2013

Family connections

Marion is the aunt of actor Arthur Lake, who played Dagwood in the Blondie movies. Anybody know which of her sisters was his mother? I seem to have eliminated Reine. -- Zoe

Actually, it seems Arthur Lake was called her nephew, but was in fact her son-in-law. He was married to her (illegitimate) daughter by William Randolph Hearst, who was called Patricia van Cleef or Patricia van Cleeve. The identity of her parents was revealed only after her death - or so it says on the Internet. I'd just like to see it confirmed in print before adding it. -- Someone else 04:45 May 1, 2003 (UTC)

Interesting! -- Zoe

I did find one additional claim, that Patricia was Marion (& Hearst's)'s daughter but was raised by one of Marion's sisters. Unfortunately, it didn't name the sister. Most curious. (Good to see you in full-edit mode!) -- Someone else 05:02 May 1, 2003 (UTC)

Thanks.  :). So, is there anything on Arthur's sister Florence which might shed some light? I keep finding that their parents were acrobats, but no names. -- Zoe

I now see two sites that say Patricia was raised by Marion's sister Rose. If she married a "Van Cleef/Cleve" I think we'll have it nailed down. Florence and Arthur were born with the surname "Silverlake", but I can't find their parent's names. -- Someone else 05:17 May 1, 2003 (UTC)

Debrett Goes to Hollywood (pub. 1986) contains the info that was presumed to be true before Patricia's death: that she was daughter of Rose Davies née Rose Douras (1895-1963) and her first husband George Van Cleeve, and married Arthur Lake in 1937. So I feel confident in adding that in with a note about an announcement to the contrary being made by the family of Patricia after her death. (An amusing connection is also pointed out: Reine Davies's son Charles D. Lederer married Virginia Nicolson in 1940, (her stage name was Anne Stafford), and who had previously been married to Orson Welles! So they were married when Citizen Kane was being made and released (they divorced in 1946). I'll wager they had a few interesting discussions about it<G>). -- Someone else 18:27 May 1, 2003 (UTC)

So do we have any definitive proof of Patricia Lake's parentage? I'm going to put in a "citation needed" mark, because such information needs some supporting evidence. Readers can then judge for themselves the veracity of the statement. Elsquared (talk) 06:45, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Image

Marion Davies, 1920s

The image formerly illustrating the article was replaced. The current one is certainly better, but currently has no info on source or copyright status. I've moved the now orphaned old image here to talk. -- Infrogmation 20:58, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)

The new image is more attractive, but in my opinion it's not a typical likeness- if it wasn't identified I'd never guess it was Davies. The old image is the Marion I'm used to on the screen.--Saxophobia 01:31, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

It's not clear which images you are referring to. The Hamilton King drawing on the page now, while very nice, doesn't much look like her photographs. Surely we can find a freely-available photo somewhere. -Will Beback 20:30, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

NPOV

Blonde, glamorous, witty and kind, Marion Davies was one of the funniest actresses ever existed. She is likely best remembered for her relationship... edited into Blonde, glamorous, witty and kind, Marion Davies is likely best remembered for her relationship... Didn't have a chance to go through the rest of the article, but that just struck me as incredibly POV. --68.248.200.103 03:57, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Yes. It is appropriate to mention a subject's disposition, but only if we have a source and even an attribution for it. (e.g. "Mary Pickford called Davies 'kind and witty'.") Calling her "blonde" is not a problem, except that in the picture at right she doesn't look blonde. Due to her Greek heritage it is doubful that she was a natural blonde. "Glamorous" seems redundant for a blonde (?) movie star dating a tycoon. -Willmcw 06:42, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

The article is still fairly POV and makes little mention of criticism of her work. I'm not sure of the best way to rectify this. --Strangerer (Talk) 07:11, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Ince took ill? Yes, lead poisoning! :-) 216.244.240.249 (talk) 01:30, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Free photos

More free photos are available at the LOC image search, if anyone feels inclined to add more. Calliopejen1 07:01, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

51% of Hearst's estate?

The story about her inheriting 51% of Hearst's estate and then giving back to the family for $1 a year sounds too good to be true. It would surely be reflected in court probate records and I would think would make the newspapers somewhere! Just hearing it verbally from a tour guide strikes me as pretty thin provenance. I used to be a tour guide (not at Hearst Castle) and we did sometimes make things up to spice up the tour. I don't KNOW if that's what they are doing at San Simeon, I'm just saying some corroboration on this would be a good thing. Bigmac31 (talk) 16:19, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree. The source is not verifiable, so I've removed it and replaced it with a citation request. If a suitable source isn't forthcoming then it should be deleted anon.   Will Beback  talk  21:18, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

problem with "Portrayals of Davies"

Regarding this line: "Their efforts included a documentary film Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001), which premiered on Turner Classic Movies." Who/what is "their" referring to? It's not clear. Elsquared (talk) 06:49, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

MIDDLE NAME

Is it Cecelia or Cecilia. The article uses both spellings. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.98.174.26 (talk) 00:22, 9 September 2010 (UTC)