page_title: Lee de Forest
section_title: Marriages
hierarchical_section_title: Lee de Forest / Personal life / Marriages
caption_attribution_description: English: Mary Mayo (1892-1957) who married Lee DeForest
context_page_description: Lee de Forest was an American inventor, self-described "Father of Radio", and a pioneer in the development of sound-on-film recording used for motion pictures. He had over 180 patents, but also a tumultuous career—he boasted that he made, then lost, four fortunes. He was also involved in several major patent lawsuits, spent a substantial part of his income on legal bills, and was even tried for mail fraud. His most famous invention, in 1906, was the three-element "Audion" vacuum tube, the first practical amplification device. Although De Forest had only a limited understanding of how it worked, it was the foundation of the field of electronics, making possible radio broadcasting, long distance telephone lines, and talking motion pictures, among countless other applications.
context_section_description: De Forest was married four times, with the first three marriages ending in divorce:
  Lucille Sheardown in February 1906. Divorced before the end of the year.
  Nora Stanton Blatch Barney (1883–1971) on February 14, 1908. They had a daughter, Harriet, but were divorced by 1911.
  Mary Mayo (1892–1957) in December 1912. According to census records, in 1920 they were living with their infant daughter, Deena (born ca. 1919); divorced October 5, 1930 (per Los Angeles Times). Mayo died December 30, 1957 in a fire in Los Angeles.
  Marie Mosquini (1899–1983) on October 10, 1930; Mosquini was a silent film actress, and they remained married until his death in 1961.
caption: Mary Mayo, his third wife
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