Biography
Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens) was an American screenwriter, journalist and author. Born in San Francisco in 1888, she began her film career as an assistant to director Lois Weber before writing scenarios for Mary Pickford and many other stars of the silent era. She also wrote under the pseudonym Frank M. Clifton, notably for westerns starring her third husband, Fred Thomson.
Marion wrote more than 300 screenplays across the silent and early sound periods. Her credits include The Wind (1928), Anna Christie (1930) and Dinner at Eight (1933). She received the Academy Award for Best Writing Achievement for The Big House (1930) and the Academy Award for Best Story for The Champ (1931), becoming the first writer to win two Oscars. She died in Los Angeles in 1973.
