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Marguerite Churchill

Marguerite Churchill

Birthday: 1910-12-26 | Place of Birth: Kansas City, Missouri, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Marguerite Churchill (December 26, 1910 – January 9, 2000) was an American film actress appearing in more than 25 films with a 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 a producer who owned a chain of theaters, but he 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 the Fox Company 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 Howard Hawk'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). She died on January 9, 2000, aged 89, from natural causes in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She was survived by her daughter, Orin.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1950
Bunco Squad

as    Barbara Madison

1936
Man Hunt

as    Jane Carpenter

1936
Dracula's Daughter

as    Janet

1936
Alibi for Murder

as    Lois Allen

1936
The Walking Dead

as    Nancy

1936
Legion of Terror

as    Nancy Foster

1931
Girls Demand Excitement

as    Miriam

1930
Good Intentions

as    Helen Rankin

1930
Born Reckless

as    Rosa Beretti