The youngest of four children of German and British parents, Marian Marsh was born Violet Ethelred Krauth in Trinidad on October 17, 1913. During the mid 1920's, Marian's sister Jean (Fenwick) became an East coast based Paramount contract player. She subsequently signed with FBO Pictures in Hollywood and the Krauth family moved to California. It was then Jean helped her younger sister break into pictures. Marian began her film career as Marilyn Morgan, but in 1929 Warners' signed the then 16-year-old, and rechristened her Marian Marsh.
After a slow but promising start, Marian won the female lead in
Svengali (1931), Warners' film remake of the play "Trilby". According to Marian, she was tested for the role several times before being selected by Barrymore, apparently because she resembled his wife, Dolores Costello. (See this blog's post on Ms. Costello.) The film was a critical and financial success and Marian was on her way.
She was selected as one of the
WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1931 and a string of successful films at Warner Bros. followed. These include
Five Star Final (1931) with Edward G. Robinson,
The Mad Genius (1931), again with John Barrymore, and
Beauty and the Boss (1932) with Warren William. However, she and the studio ran afoul of each other and she left Warners' and worked overseas for a couple of years before returning and signing with Columbia. It was there she starred in
The Black Room (1935) and Von Sternberg's version of
Crime and Punishment(1935). After the two year Columbia contract expired, so did Marian's career with the majors. She continued acting until 1942 when at age 30 she left the business to raise her family. She had appeared in 42 films.
In the 1960's Marian founded Desert Beautiful, a non-profit, all-volunteer conservation organization to promote environmental and beautification programs. "We planted palm trees along the West Coast and were the first to plant palms in the lower valley [Coachella] to Palm Springs. If you want to leave something behind, plant a tree!" she told author Dan Van Neste in a 1998 interview.
Marian died on November 9th, 2006 in Palm Desert, California
Picture Play magazine, January 1932
Undated postcard
There is a great chapter and interview with Marian about her role in Svengali in Gregory William Mank's book
"Women in Horror Films, 1930's"
Screen captures from The Black Room. Boris is feeling lucky, Marian is not.
Publicity still
Marian Marsh - What do you think - Allure?
Marion Davies
Olive Borden
Bessie Love
Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell
Lupe Velez
Barbara Stanwyck
Greta Garbo
Constance Bennett
Summer swimwear, 1931 style.
Carole Lombard
Kay Francis
An early shot of Marlene in the German film, Ships of Lost Men.
Portrait of the perfect couple, at least from June 1929 to May 1933.
