Biography for
Frances Marion More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 November 1888, San Francisco, California, USA

Date of Death

12 May 1973, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name

Marion Benson Owens

Height

5' 3" (1.60 m)

Mini Biography

The most renowned female screenwriter of the 20th century, and one of the most respected scripters of any gender, Frances Marion was born in San Francisco. She modeled and acted and had some success as a commercial artist. She entered into journalism and served in Europe as a combat correspondent during World War I. She moved to Los Angeles and was employed by director Lois Weber as an assistant, in which position she was received a thorough apprenticeship in the film industry. She began writing scripts and attracted the attention of Mary Pickford. The pair began a long relationship as both friends and artists, with Marion serving as Pickford's official screenwriter. She wrote many of Pickford's most famous and memorable silent films as well as many other of the great successful pictures of the 1920s and 1930s. She won Oscars for her writing on The Big House (1930) and The Champ (1931/I). Her influence resurrected the career of Marie Dressler and resulted in her greatest glory, and her scripts for Marion Davies are among the most memorable of that actress' oeuvre. At MGM, where she was long under contract, she enjoyed enormous creative freedom for a writer. With the death of Irving Thalberg, MGM's creative head, in 1936, Marion's power and influence waned. In 1946 she left Hollywood and thereafter concentrated on plays and novels. She was at one time married to 1920s cowboy star Fred Thomson and subsequently to director George W. Hill. She died in 1973, one of the most respected names in Hollywood history.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

Spouse

George W. Hill	(1930 - 1933) (divorced)
Fred Thomson	(2 November 1919 - 25 December 1928) (his death)
Robert Pike	(November 1911 - November 1917) (divorced)
Wesley de Lappe	(October 1906 - November 1911) (divorced)

Trivia

Best friend of actress/producer Mary Pickford.

Her association with Mary Pickford is discussed in Scott Eyman's book, "Mary Pickford: America's Sweetheart.".

First female to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay

Children with Fred Thomson: Richard Thomson (adopted) and Frederick Thomson.

Aunt of Carson Thomson.

Personal Quotes

[on Jean Harlow] The newspapers sure have loused me up, calling me a sexpot! Where'd they ever get such a screwy idea? One look at Harlow and whether you were male or female you could get no other idea; she was the Scylla and Charybdis of sex, from her provocative come-hither expression to the flowing lines of her beautifully proportioned body.

[on Lillian Gish] She might look fragile, but physically and spiritually she was as fragile as a steel rod. Nobody could sway her from her self-appointed course. With a Botticelli face, she had the mind of a good Queen Bess, dictating her carefully thought-out policies and ruling justly, if firmly.

[on Douglas Fairbanks] Whenever Douglas Fairbanks entered he caused quite a stir; buoyed by his sudden rise to fame after only two pictures, he seemed charged with electricity. His wife, calm and gentle, seemed undisturbed even when her exuberant husband did handstands or leaped over the sofas to amuse his appreciative Algonquin audiences. Because he had never outgrown a small boy's penchant for showing off, he was rarely referred to as Douglas or Mr. Fairbanks; it was always Doug.

[about Pollyanna (1920)] We proceeded with the dull routine of making a picture we both thought nauseating, "Pollyanna". I hated writing it, Mary [star Mary Pickford] hated playing it.

Salary

The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)	$3,000/week
The Wild Girl from the Hills (1915)	$200