# Marguerite Churchill

Marguerite Churchill (December 26, 1910 – January 9, 2000) was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in The Big Trail (1930).

## Career

A child actress, Churchill made her first appearance on Broadway on Christmas Day 1922 (a date mistakenly described by some as her 13th birthday). She was later lauded on Broadway as a leading lady at just sixteen years of age. A Fox Film official saw her acting and gave her a contract which shortly afterwards led her to debut on screen in The Diplomats (1929).
Churchill appeared in more than 25 films. She 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 her future husband 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).
On Broadway, Churchill performed in And Now Good-bye (1937), Dinner at Eight (1932), The Inside Story (1932), Skidding (1928), The Wild Man of Borneo (1927), House of Shadows (1927), and Why Not? (1922).

## Personal Life

Marguerite married actor George O'Brien on July 15, 1933. Their first child, Brian, died 10 days after his birth. Daughter Orin O'Brien became a double bassist for the New York Philharmonic. Their youngest child Darcy O'Brien was a successful writer and college professor.
George and Marguerite divorced in 1948. After her divorce from O'Brien, she appeared in one movie and a few television plays.
On June 5, 1954, Marguerite married Peter Ganine, a sculptor.
Marguerite Churchill died January 9, 2000, aged 89, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma from natural causes.

## Filmography

* The Valiant (1929) (co-starred with Paul Muni in his film debut) as Mary Douglas
* Pleasure Crazed (1929) as Nora Westby
* They Had to See Paris (1929) (with Will Rogers) as Opal Peters
* Seven Faces (1929) as Hélène Berthelot
* Harmony at Home (1930) (with Rex Bell) as Louise Haller
* Born Reckless (1930) (with Edmund Lowe) as Rosa Beretti
* Good Intentions (1930) as Helen Rankin
* The Big Trail (1930) (with John Wayne) as Ruth Cameron
* Girls Demand Excitement (1931) (with John Wayne) as Miriam
* Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) (with Warner Oland) as Pamela Potter
* Quick Millions (1931) (with Spencer Tracy and George Raft) as Dorothy Stone
* Riders of the Purple Sage (1931) (with future husband George O'Brien) as Jane Withersteen
* Ambassador Bill (1931) (with Will Rogers) as Queen Vanya
* Forgotten Commandments (1932) as Marya Ossipoff
* Girl Without a Room (1933) (with Charles Farrell and Charlie Ruggles) as Kay Loring
* Without Children (1935) as Sue Cole
* Speed Devils (1935) as Pat Corey
* Man Hunt (1936) as Jane Carpenter
* The Walking Dead (1936) (with Boris Karloff) as Nancy
* Dracula's Daughter (1936) (with Edward Van Sloan) as Janet
* Murder by an Aristocrat (1936) (with Lyle Talbot) as Sally Keating
* The Final Hour (1936) (with Ralph Bellamy) as Flo Russell
* Alibi for Murder (1936) (with William Gargan) as Lois Allen
* Legion of Terror (1936) as Nancy Foster
* Bunco Squad (1950) as Barbara Madison