‘Like bubbles in a glass of Champagne:’ Toasting an all-but-forgotten Hollywood star
Were it not for the fairly recent restoration of the site known as the Annenberg Community Beach House, many of us might never have heard the name Marion Davies. Indeed,…
By Lisa Napoli • • 1 min readThe Santa Monica Conservancy is part of a movement to bring Davies, who also happened to be the long-term mistress of William Randolph Hearst, back into public consciousness. Hearst commissioned architect Julia Morgan to build out this property for Davies back in 1928, including a 110-room mansion, lost in the 1994 earthquake. The parcel of land was re-imagined as a public space and opened nearly six years ago. Now, docents show visitors photos of Davies and regale them with tales of a bygone Santa Monica, when galas and glamorous parties occurred on the grounds.
To mark what would have been the 118th anniversary of Davies’ birth, a party will be held on Sunday. I talked with the Conservancy’s Kay Pattison about the late movie star and why history hasn’t been more favorable to her memory. Davies was “everyone’s best friend” and has been described as possessing a personality “like bubbles in a glass of Champagne.”
You can toast the late movie star at 1:30pm on Sunday in her former home, though festivities begin at 11am. (You can even come in costume!)