Marian Nixon

Born in Superior, Wisconsin, in 1904, to parents of Finnish descent,{{Cite news|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.fi/artikkeli/tama-kuosi-on-taas-ajankohtainen--toimii-taydellisesti-myos-asusteissa-6.69.90749.c05df828e8|title=Tämä kuosi on taas ajankohtainen – toimii täydellisesti myös asusteissa|access-date=2018-08-08|language=fi|archive-date=2018-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809025637/https://www.cosmopolitan.fi/artikkeli/tama-kuosi-on-taas-ajankohtainen--toimii-taydellisesti-myos-asusteissa-6.69.90749.c05df828e8|url-status=dead}} Nixon began her career as a teen dancing in choruses in vaudeville.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVDmAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Marian+Nixon%22&pg=PA156|title=Women in the Films of John Ford|last=Meuel|first=David|date=2014-02-20|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786477890|pages=156–157|language=en}} She began appearing in bit part in films in 1922 and landed her first substantial role in the 1923 film Cupid's Fireman opposite Buck Jones. The following year, she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star.{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Denise|title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films, 1895-1930|publisher=Haworth Press|year=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790874369709_b7n2/page/404 404]|isbn=0-7890-1842-X|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9790874369709_b7n2/page/404}} Nixon continued to work steadily throughout the mid to late 1920s appearing in Riders of the Purple Sage (1925), Hands Up! (1926), and The Chinese Parrot (1927). In 1929, she made her talkie debut as the lead in Geraldine. Later that same year, Nixon appeared opposite Al Jolson in Say It with Songs followed by General Crack in 1930. In 1931, Nixon's Beauty Arts Institute moved into the Equitable Building of Hollywood; Nixon was president of the company.https://planning.lacity.org/StaffRpt/CHC/2-5-15/chc-2015-333.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}

In 1932, she starred as Rebecca in the film adaption of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm with Ralph Bellamy.{{cite web|title="Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" Sings Her Simple Song Again at the Paramount Theatre.|author=L.N.|date=July 30, 1932|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01EFD61531E633A25753C3A9619C946394D6CF|work=The New York Times}} Following the release of Rebecca, Nixon co-starred in Winner Take All with James Cagney. The next year she had a supporting role in John Ford's Pilgrimage. In 1934, Nixon attempted to change her wholesome image with a role in the comedy We're Rich Again. The film was not a success and, after appearing in eight more films, Nixon retired from acting in 1936. She made her last film, Captain Calamity, at the age of 32.

Nixon was married four times. She married boxer Joseph Benjamin in 1925, but they divorced two years later. Then, on August 11, 1929, Nixon married Chicago department store heir Edward Hillman Jr. at his parents' home. That union ended in 1933. The following year, Nixon wed director William A. Seiter with whom she had worked on the film We're Rich Again. Their marriage lasted until Seiter's death in 1964 and produced three children: Christopher Seiter, Selena, and Jessica. Finally, on April 1, 1972, in Los Angeles, she married actor/producer Ben Lyon, although her obituary in the Chicago Tribune reports that she married Lyon in 1971.

Her grandsons are the screenwriters Ted Griffin and Nicholas Griffin, the sons of a daughter Nixon had with husband William Seiter.[http://www25.brinkster.com/finhollywood/Marian%20Nixon/index.html Marian Nixon, Finnish Hollywood] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120422144534/http://www25.brinkster.com/finhollywood/Marian%20Nixon/index.html |date=2012-04-22 }}, 25.brinkster.com

Nixon died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center{{cite news |title=Marian Nixon, Debuted in Tom Mix's 'Riders' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113865842/marian-nixon-1904-1983/ |work=Chicago Tribune |date=February 16, 1983 |location=Chicago, IL |page=12 |access-date=November 30, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} of complications following open heart surgery on February 13, 1983,{{cite book|last=Lamparski|first=Richard |title=Whatever Became Of ...? All New Eleventh Series |publisher=Crown Publishers|year=1989|page=135|isbn=0-517-57150-1}} and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.{{cite book|last1=Ellenberger|first1=Allan R.|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|date=2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786450190|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&q=%22Marian+Nixon%22&pg=PA64|access-date=28 December 2017|language=en}}

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Nixon has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street in Los Angeles, California. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.{{cite web|title=Marian Nixon|url=http://www.walkoffame.com/marian-nixon|website=Hollywood Walk of Fame|access-date=4 March 2017}}

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• {{IMDb name|0633260}}
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• [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=856 Photographs of Marian Nixon]

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Category:1904 births

Category:1983 deaths

Category:People from Superior, Wisconsin

Category:American people of Finnish descent

Category:Actresses from Wisconsin

Category:American film actresses

Category:American silent film actresses

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

Category:American vaudeville performers

Category:Western (genre) film actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:American female dancers

Category:American stage actresses

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:20th-century American dancers