Marguerite Churchill

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Marguerite Churchill December 26 1910 January 9 2000 was an American film actress appearing in more than 25 films with a career spanning from 1929 to 1952 She is best known today as John Waynes first leading lady in The Big Trail 1930 She was the daughter of a producer who owned a chain of theaters but he died when she was ten years old She was educated in New York City at the Professional Childrens School and the Theatre Guild Dramatic School She appeared on stage and was applauded on Broadway as a leading lady when just sixteen years old An official of the Fox Company saw her acting and gave her a contract which shortly afterwards led her to debut on screen in The Diplomats Churchill played leading lady to John Wayne in Howard Hawks The Big Trail 1930 an early widescreen epic and Waynes 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 George OBrien 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 Draculas Daughter 1936 She died on January 9 2000 aged 89 from natural causes in Broken Arrow Oklahoma She was survived by her daughter Orin