Marie Prevost

Marie Prevost
Marie Prevost, circa 1921
Born	Marie Bickford Dunn (1896-11-08)November 8, 1896 Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Died	January 21, 1937(1937-01-21) (aged 38) Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Acute alcoholism
Nationality	Canadian American
Other names	Mary Prevost Marie Provost
Education	Manual Arts High School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1915–1936
Spouse(s)	Sonny Gerke (m. 1918; div. 1923) Kenneth Harlan (m. 1924; div. 1927)

Marie Prevost (November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian-born film actress. During her twenty-year career, she made 121 silent and talking pictures.

Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was discovered by Mack Sennett who signed her to contract and made her one of his "Bathing Beauties" in the late 1910s. Prevost appeared in dozens of Sennett's short comedy films before moving on to feature length films for Universal. In 1922, she signed with Warner Bros. where her career flourished as a leading lady. She was a favorite of director Ernst Lubitsch who cast her in three of his comedy films; The Marriage Circle (1924), Three Women (1924) and Kiss Me Again (1925).

After being let go by Warner Bros. in early 1926, Prevost's career began to decline and she was relegated to secondary roles. She was also beset with personal problems, including the death of her mother in 1926 and the breakdown of her marriage to actor Kenneth Harlan in 1927, which fueled her depression. She began to abuse alcohol and binge eat, resulting in a weight gain that made it difficult for her to secure acting jobs. By 1935, Prevost was only able to secure bit parts in films. She made her last onscreen appearance in 1936.

After years of drinking, Prevost died of acute alcoholism at the age of 38 in January 1937. Prevost's estate was valued at $300 since she had squandered most of her earnings. Her death prompted the Hollywood community to create the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.

Prevost was born Marie Bickford Dunn in Sarnia, Ontario, to Hughlina Marion (née Bickford) and Arthur "Teddy" Dunn. Her father worked as a railroad conductor. When she was an infant, Teddy Dunn was killed when gas seeped into the St. Clair Tunnel. Hughlina later married Frank Prevost and the family moved to Denver. In 1900, Hughlina gave birth to another daughter, Marjorie. Marie's stepfather, who worked as a miner and surveyor, frequently moved the family around the country following up on various get-rich-quick schemes. After living in Ogden, Utah; Reno, Nevada; and Fresno, California, the family finally settled in Los Angeles. Hughlina and Frank Prevost later divorced. Frank Prevost died in September 1933 and bequeathed Marie $1.