Marvel Rea

Marvel Rea was born Marvel Luciel Rea on November 9, 1901, in Ainsworth, Nebraska. When she was a child her family lived in Seattle and eventually moved in California. She grew into a beautiful teenager with a petite figure and champagne blonde hair. Marvel was very athletic and loved to swim and surf. In 1918 she married a banker named Henry Page Wells. Unfortunately he was a drug addict and she divorced him less than a year later. Movie producer Mack Sennett hired Marvel to model as one of his bathing beauties. She became known as "the girl with the most beautiful figure on the Motion Picture stage". Before long she was given small roles in movies like Her Screen Idol and The Summer Girls.

Although she would appear in more than thirty films Marvel never became a major star. She decided to stop acting in 1921. Her final role was in the short film For Land's Sake. Marvel married her second husband Edwin J. Wilkinson in 1936 but her happiness was short-lived. On September 2, 1936 she was kidnapped and assaulted by three men. She was choked, cut, and left semi-conscious in the street. The men were caught and Marvel had to testify at the headline-making trial. Sadly she never fully recovered from the attack. She committed suicide on June 17, 1937 by ingesting ant poison. Marvel was only thirty-five years old. She is buried at Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach, California.

~ Original biography by Elizabeth Ann 2014

Marvel, Ford Sterling, and Alice Maison

 

Marvel is sitting on the right

Marion Aye (Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty)

"A man outside the studio is far more apt to remain the lover. For to him you can preserve the glamour of the screen" ~ Marion

Marion Aye was born Maryon Eloise Aye on April 5, 1903 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father was a lawyer who moved the family to California. When she was fifteen Marion lied about her age to elope with her older boyfriend Sherman Plaskett. Sadly he passed away just a year later. While walking on the beach in a bathing suit Marion was discovered by producer Mack Sennett. She became one of his bathing beauties and in 1919 she made her film debut in the comedy short Hearts And Flowers. Marion appeared in more than a dozen films including Montana Bill and The Weak-End Party. In 1922 she was chosen to be one of the Wampas baby stars along with Colleen Moore and Lois Wilson. The following year she signed a five year contract with a Hollywood production company. Marion was the first actress to sign a contract with a morality clause in it. She joked that she didn't mind because her only bad habit was dipping her "bread in the chicken gravy"

 She was sometimes credited as Maryon Aye

Her second marriage, to press agent Harry Wilson, ended in 1924 and she fought with him in court over spousal support. Marion seemed destined for stardom but her career never took off. Her last movie was the 1926 comedy Irene. She married comedian Robert Forester in 1936. Unfortunately she suffered from psychiatric problems and made several suicide attempts. In 1951 tried to make a comeback and auditioned for a role on television. When she didn't get the part she became despondent. Her depression got worse when her mother passed Eloise away. On July 10, 1951 Marion checked into a Culver City motel and swallowed a large amount of poison. She was found semi-conscious but tragically she died eleven days later at the age of forty-eight. Her husband later told reporters that he never took her threats of suicide seriously. Marion was buried next to her mother at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

~ Original biography by Elizabeth Ann 2014


Marion (center) with other bathing beauties