Marguerite Churchill (December 26, 1910 â€" January 9, 2000) was an
American film actress with a film career spanning from 1929 to 1952.
She is best known today as John Wayne's first leading lady, in The Big
Trail (1930).She was the daughter of Edward Paycen Churchill, a
producer who owned a chain of theaters, and Marguerite N. Graham. Her
father died when she was ten years old. She was educated in New York
City at the Professional Children's School and the Theatre Guild
Dramatic School. She appeared on stage and was applauded on Broadway
as a leading lady when just sixteen years old. An official of Fox Film
saw her acting and gave her a contract which shortly afterwards led
her to debut on screen in The Diplomats.Churchill played leading lady
to John Wayne in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930), an early
widescreen epic and Wayne's first leading role. She appeared with
Wayne the following year in Girls Demand Excitement (1931), with
Spencer Tracy and George Raft in Quick Millions (1931), with Will
Rogers in Ambassador Bill (1931), with Warner Oland in Charlie Chan
Carries On (1931), with George O'Brien in Riders of the Purple Sage
(1931), with Charles Farrell in Girl Without a Room (1933), with Ralph
Bellamy in The Final Hour (1936), with Boris Karloff in The Walking
Dead (1936), and with Edward Van Sloan in Dracula's Daughter
(1936).Churchill appeared in more than 25 films. She was married for
15 years to her one-time costar George O'Brien from July 15, 1933,
until their divorce in 1948. They had three children, one of whom was
novelist Darcy O'Brien, whom she outlived by two years. Her daughter
Orin has played double bass for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
since 1966. A third child, Brian, died in infancy in 1934.
American film actress with a film career spanning from 1929 to 1952.
She is best known today as John Wayne's first leading lady, in The Big
Trail (1930).She was the daughter of Edward Paycen Churchill, a
producer who owned a chain of theaters, and Marguerite N. Graham. Her
father died when she was ten years old. She was educated in New York
City at the Professional Children's School and the Theatre Guild
Dramatic School. She appeared on stage and was applauded on Broadway
as a leading lady when just sixteen years old. An official of Fox Film
saw her acting and gave her a contract which shortly afterwards led
her to debut on screen in The Diplomats.Churchill played leading lady
to John Wayne in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930), an early
widescreen epic and Wayne's first leading role. She appeared with
Wayne the following year in Girls Demand Excitement (1931), with
Spencer Tracy and George Raft in Quick Millions (1931), with Will
Rogers in Ambassador Bill (1931), with Warner Oland in Charlie Chan
Carries On (1931), with George O'Brien in Riders of the Purple Sage
(1931), with Charles Farrell in Girl Without a Room (1933), with Ralph
Bellamy in The Final Hour (1936), with Boris Karloff in The Walking
Dead (1936), and with Edward Van Sloan in Dracula's Daughter
(1936).Churchill appeared in more than 25 films. She was married for
15 years to her one-time costar George O'Brien from July 15, 1933,
until their divorce in 1948. They had three children, one of whom was
novelist Darcy O'Brien, whom she outlived by two years. Her daughter
Orin has played double bass for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra
since 1966. A third child, Brian, died in infancy in 1934.
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