Past Exhibitions

Marion Davies Estate:

Past, Present & Future

2006
January

Marion Davies began her acting career on Broadway and her first film was “Runaway Romany” at the age of 20. Marion became the most promoted actress through William Randolph Hearst’s newspaper empire, and during the 1920s, she appeared in twenty-nine films. In the early 1920s, she and Hearst moved their company, Cosmopolitan Productions, to California. By 1930, Hearst had built Marion Davies the grandest estate on the “Gold Coast” of Santa Monica beach.

The exhibit features historic photographs of Marion Davies and her estate’s five elaborately decorated buildings, landscape and swimming pool from the Bison Archives.

Marc Wanamaker, founder of Bison Archives and a professional consultant on motion pictures, gave a lecture on the history of Marion Davies and her glamorous life at the estate to compliment the temporary exhibit.

Curator:   Marc Wanamaker
Marc also presented in our program, Discover the History: The Gold Coast

Marion Davies estate
more images