Marguerite Churchill
Marguerite Churchill
Churchill in 1929
Born
Marguerite Graham Churchill
(1910-12-26)December 26, 1910
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJanuary 9, 2000(2000-01-09) (aged 89)
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1922–1952[1]
Known forCharlie Chan Carries On
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1933; div. 1948)​
Children3, including Darcy and Orin O'Brien

Marguerite Graham Churchill (December 26, 1910[2][3] – January 9, 2000) was an American stage and film actress whose career spanned 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. Marguerite made her debut as a child actress on Broadway in 1922. She debuted onscreen in 1929, and appeared in more than 25 films. She frequently appeared in westerns such as Riders of the Purple Sage (1931) and was John Wayne's first leading lady in The Big Trail (1930). She also appeared in action films and in mysteries such as Charlie Chan Carries On (1931).[4]

Career

With John Wayne in The Big Trail
Churchill in Dracula's Daughter (1936)

Marguerite Graham Churchill was born on December 26, 1910[2] in Kansas City, Missouri. She was a daughter of movie producer Edward Paycen Churchill,[5] who died on December 11, 1920.[6] Churchill attended the Professional Children's School in New York City, with Milton Berle among others.[7][8] She also attended the Theatre Guild Dramatic School in Manhattan[9] where she worked with Winifred Lenihan, winning both the Winthrop Ames and Otto H. Khan scholarships.[10]

A child actress, Churchill made her Broadway debut on Christmas Day 1922, the day before her 12th birthday.[a] The show was Why Worry? (1922-23).[11] At sixteen, Churchill was described as "an outstanding ingenue lead" for her role in The House of Shadows (1927).[5] In 1932, she appeared in the first Broadway production of “Dinner at Eight".[12]

Fox Films offered her a contract which led to her screen debut in the comedy short The Diplomats (1929). Her first feature-length film was The Valiant (1929) in which she appeared with Paul Muni and John Mack Brown.[11]

Over the course of her career, 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.[13][14][15] She appeared with Wayne again in Girls Demand Excitement (1931),[16] 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),[17] 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).[18][19]

On Broadway, Churchill performed in And Now Good-bye (1937), Dinner at Eight (1932),[20]The Inside Story (1932), Skidding (1928), The Wild Man of Borneo (1927), House of Shadows (1927), and Why Not? (1922).[1]

Personal life

Churchill married actor George O'Brien on July 15, 1933.[21] Their first child, Brian, died 10 days after his birth.[22] Their daughter, Orin O'Brien, became a double bassist for the New York Philharmonic. Their youngest child, Darcy O'Brien (1939–1998), was an author and college professor. Churchill and O'Brien divorced in 1948.[23][15][21][24] Darcy O'Brien's novel Margaret in Hollywood (1991) has been described as loosely based upon his mother's life.[25]

On June 5, 1954, Churchill married sculptor Peter Ganine.[26][27] That union also ended in divorce.

Marguerite Churchill died on January 9, 2000, aged 89, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, from natural causes.[21]

Partial filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1929 The ValiantMary DouglasCo-starring Paul Muni in his film debut
Pleasure CrazedNora Westby
They Had to See ParisOpal PetersWith Will Rogers
Seven FacesHélène Berthelot
1930 Harmony at HomeLouise HallerWith Rex Bell
Born RecklessRosa BerettiWith Edmund Lowe
Good IntentionsHelen Rankin
The Big TrailRuth CameronWith John Wayne
1931 Girls Demand ExcitementMiriamWith John Wayne
Charlie Chan Carries OnPamela PotterWith Warner Oland
Quick MillionsDorothy StoneWith Spencer Tracy and George Raft
Riders of the Purple SageJane WithersteenWith future husband George O'Brien
Ambassador BillQueen VanyaWith Will Rogers
1932 Forgotten CommandmentsMarya Ossipoff
1933 Girl Without a RoomKay LoringWith Charles Farrell and Charlie Ruggles
1935 Without ChildrenSue Cole
Speed DevilsPat Corey
1936 Man HuntJane Carpenter
The Walking DeadNancyWith Boris Karloff
Dracula's DaughterJanetWith Edward Van Sloan
Murder by an AristocratSally KeatingWith Lyle Talbot
The Final HourFlo RussellWith Ralph Bellamy
Alibi for MurderLois AllenWith William Gargan
Legion of TerrorNancy Foster
1950 Bunco SquadBarbara Madison

Notes

  1. ^Some sources mistakenly cited the date as her 13th birthday.

References

  1. ^ ab"Marguerite Churchill". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  2. ^ ab"New York, New York, Birth Index, 1910–1965". AncestryLibrary.com. Ancestry.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  3. ^"Social Security Death Index". AncestryLibrary.com. Ancestry.com. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  4. ^"Cast List - C". The Charlie Chan Family Home. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  5. ^ ab"The Dramatic Stage". The Billboard. R.S. Littleford, Jr., W.D. Littleford. May 7, 1927. p. 22. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  6. ^"Obituary". The New York Times. December 13, 1920. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  7. ^"CHILDREN'S THEATRE OPENS; Little Players Make Fairy Tales Come True at Heckscher Foundation". The New York Times. November 11, 1922. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  8. ^"Film "Schmoos"". Jewish Post. Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program. 27 December 1946. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  9. ^"In the days before they were famous". Dress & Vanity Fair. Vol. 42, no. 5. Condé Nast. 1934. p. 43. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  10. ^Thorold, W. J.; Hornblow, Arthur; Maxwell, Perriton; Beach, Stewart (1927). "Figures within Broadway's Compass". Theatre Magazine. No. February. Theatre Magazine Company. p. 29. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  11. ^ abS.D., Trav (2018-12-26). "Marguerite Churchill: Broadway, B Movies & "Bunco Squad"". Travalanche. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  12. ^"Marguerite Churchill; Starred With John Wayne". Los Angeles Times. 29 January 2000.
  13. ^Landesman, Fred (13 August 2015). The John Wayne Filmography. McFarland. pp. 37–40. ISBN 978-1-4766-0922-5.
  14. ^Eldredge, Ward (2008). Sequoia National Park. Arcadia Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7385-5940-7.
  15. ^ ab"Marguerite Churchill, Movie Actress". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 15, 2000. p. B7. ProQuest 91762086. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  16. ^Munn, Michael (2005-03-01). John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth. Penguin (published 2005). p. 31. ISBN 978-0-451-21414-0.
  17. ^Loy, R. Philip (5 October 2015). Westerns and American Culture, 1930-1955. McFarland. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7864-8115-6.
  18. ^Towlson, Jon (2016-09-27). The Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films, 1931-1936. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9474-3.
  19. ^Weaver, Tom; Schecter, David; Kiss, Robert J. (11 September 2017). Universal Terrors, 1951-1955: Eight Classic Horror and Science Fiction Films. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-2776-2.
  20. ^Hischak, Thomas S. (22 April 2009). Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007. McFarland. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-7864-5309-2.
  21. ^ abcVogel, Michelle (24 March 2010). Olive Borden: The Life and Films of Hollywood's "Joy Girl". McFarland. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-7864-5836-3. Retrieved 8 November 2025.
  22. ^Houseman, Victoria (1991). Made in Heaven: The Marriages and Children of Hollywood Stars. Bonus Books. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-929387-24-6.
  23. ^Folkart, Burt A. (September 8, 1985). "Athlete and Film Actor George O'Brien, 86, Dies". Los Angeles Times.
  24. ^Wilson, Scott (19 August 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. pp. 556–557. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7.
  25. ^"Margaret in Hollywood by Darcy O'Brien". www.publishersweekly.com.
  26. ^"California Marriage Index, 1949–1959". Ancestry.com. California Department of Health Services. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  27. ^Hopper, Hedda (June 5, 1954). "Marguerite Churchill to Be Wed – Former film star Marguerite Churchill will marry Peter Ganine at the Russian Orthodox Church here". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. A1.
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