Pierce, Marion.

Marion Pierce was an actress, singer and dancer.

Marion Dean Hughes was born on July 21, 1911, daughter of Walter A. Hughes and the former Marion K. Dean. She married Conkey P. Whitehead (the son of the founder of Coca-Cola) in 1929. She received a bachelor degree from UCLA in 1932 and divorced Whitehead the following year. In October 1933 she married Andrew Granville Pierce III. (Andrew Pierce's father owned the Pierce Bros. Manufacturing which supplied material for Wamsutta Sheets and American Woolen Mills.) That marriage also did not last and in 1939 she married actor Willard Parker (they divorced in 1951).

On Broadway she appeared in New Faces, Three Waltzes and I Must Love Someone . On tour she played roles in The Women, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Lady in the Dark . She had minor roles in the films His Butler's Sister (1943) and All About Eve (1950).

An article in the New York World-Telegram indicates that Marion Pierce, having been written out of the Social Register due to divorce, decided to become a nightclub entertainer because she had to make a living. She made her nightclub debut on January 22, 1937 at the Merry-Go-Round club. Her accompanist was Sam Walsh. To insure a receptive audience she sent out 300 telegrams to friends asking them to attend. The article goes on to state that her song about a strip-tease (see folder 18) was merely recalling such an event, and was not a strip-tease in itself. Also noted is her ghost song (see folder 15). During her career Pierce had numerous nightclub engagements. In 1951 she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona and opened her own venue, Marion Parker's Guys and Dolls, which she ran until 1959.

In 1960 she moved back to New York City and her interests apparently veered away from performing, although she did make a commercial for Ivory Soap in 1964. From 1960-64 she was director of special events at ITT, from 1965-66 executive director of the Association of Operating Room Nurses, and from 1966-68 she was president of Home Care-Ring Service. She was invovled in real estate and from 1970 she was a public relations consultant.

Marion Pierce died at Palm Desert, California, on June 28, 1998.

From the guide to the Collection of songs performed by Marion Pierce, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)