Marcia Davenport | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marcia Glick June 9, 1903 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | (aged 92) Pebble Beach, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Author, music critic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Mother | Alma Gluck |
| Relatives | Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (half-brother) |
Marcia Davenport (néeGlick; June 9, 1903 – January 16, 1996) was an American writer and music critic. She is best known for her 1932 biography of composerWolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first American published biography of Mozart. Davenport also is known for her novelsThe Valley of Decision andEast Side, West Side, both of which were adapted to film in 1945 and 1949, respectively.
Marcia Davenport was born Marcia Glick in New York City on June 9, 1903, the daughter of Bernard Glick and the opera singerAlma Gluck. Her family is ofRomanian-Jewish descent.[1] Around 1911, when Marcia was 8, her parents separated. Her mother remarriedEfrem Zimbalist, a concert violinist.[2] With Zimbalist as a step-father, Marcia had two half-siblings:Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (who became an actor) and Maria Virginia Zimbalist Bennett.
She described her childhood as very lonely, apart from music and books (she always knew she wanted to write). Her mother made her continue piano lessons as discipline throughout childhood despite her being very bad at it.[2]
Growing up, Marcia traveled extensively with her parents. Intermittently, she was educated at theFriends School inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, and theShipley School inBryn Mawr.[3] She began studies atWellesley College but eloped toPittsburgh after two years to marry her first husband, Frank Delmas Clarke. After their divorce in 1925, she travelled abroad to complete her B.A. at theUniversity of Grenoble.[4]
After her divorce from Clarke in 1925, Davenport took an advertising copywriting job to support herself and her daughter. From 1928 - 1930, she worked on the editorial staff ofThe New Yorker.[5]
From 1934 - 1939, Davenport worked as the music critic ofStage magazine. From 1936 - 1937, she also worked as a radio commentator on theMetropolitan Opera broadcasts.[3] Through her opera-singing mother and violinist stepfather, Davenport had close ties to the classical music world, particularly the operatic world of Europe and America.
In 1930, Davenport travelled toPrague to research the life of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart up close.[6] In 1932, she published her first book,Mozart, which was also the first American published biography of the composer. Widely praised, the book, which became Davenport's best known work, has remained continuously in print since its publication.[7][8]
In 1936, Davenport published her first novel,Of Lena Geyer. The story is a portrait of an opera singer, told through the eyes of a devoted fan, her French duke lover, a platonic female friend, her maestro, and others. It is thought that inspiration for the book was taken from Davenport's mother, Alma Gluck. Gluck was born inRomania as Reba Feinsohn; Alma Gluck later became her stage name as a soprano opera singer. She was well known for being one of the 20th century's premier concert and recording artists. IfOf Lena Geyer is not based on Alma Gluck, it is possible Davenport took inspiration from her personal life experience, or from the tales of another opera singer,Olive Fremstad. Lena's intense relationship with a conductor may have been based on a relationship between Gluck and Toscanini. Suggestions of a lesbian relationship are not supported by the contents of the novel.
In 1942, Davenport published her most popular fiction novel,The Valley of Decision, a historical fictionsaga which traces the Scott family, prototypical owners of aniron works in Pittsburgh, from 1873 to the events of World War II. Davenport lived in Pittsburgh shortly after her first marriage with Frank Delmas Clarke, later using that background for her novel, along with further research on the steel industry, for the 788-page bestseller.[9] Portions of the book are set in 1930'sPrague, depicting the increasingly grim atmosphere up to theMunich Agreement and theNazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia. In this Davenport made use of her knowledge of Prague, gained during the research for the Mozart book.
In 1947,East Side, West Side was published, also becoming a best-seller. It was one of the last works edited byMaxwell Perkins of theCharles Scribner's Sons publishing house.[7]
Her memoirToo Strong for Fantasy (1967) describes the people, the music, the places and the political forces which shaped her life. Of particular interest is her telling of the events leading up to the death of theCzech diplomat and foreign ministerJan Masaryk in theCzernin Palace in Prague in 1948 and of her close relationship with Masaryk over many years.[7]
Two of Davenport's novels have been made into films, both released byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer:The Valley of Decision andEast Side, West Side.[10]The Valley of Decision starred Greer Garson,Gregory Peck,Donald Crisp,Lionel Barrymore,Preston Foster,Marsha Hunt,Gladys Cooper,Reginald Owen,Dan Duryea andJessica Tandy.[11] The film was nominated forAcademy Awards forBest Actress in a Leading Role (Greer Garson) andBest Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
East Side, West Side starredJames Mason,Barbara Stanwyck,Van Heflin, andAva Gardner.
My Brother's Keeper (1954), based on theCollyer brothers, was optioned for films to various individuals over decades, but no film was ever produced.
During the 1930s, Davenport was a regular commentator on the radio broadcasts of theMetropolitan Opera, though she appeared infrequently in subsequent decades, with her final Met broadcast being in 1966. During the 1940s, she was heard on various radio panel discussion shows. On January 23, 1943, she was serving as a panelist onThe People's Platform withRex Stout andAlexander Woollcott when the latter suffered a heart attack during the broadcast and subsequently died before his arrival atRoosevelt Hospital.
In 1967, Davenport appeared on theNBC radio programToscanini: The Man Behind the Legend, paying tribute to the legendary Italian conductorArturo Toscanini, with whom she had a love affair.
Davenport married Frank Delmas Clarke in April 1923. Her first child, Patricia Delmas Clarke, was born in 1924. In 1925, she and Clarke divorced.[7]
On May 13, 1929, she marriedRussell Davenport, and changed her name to Marcia Davenport. Russell Davenport became editor ofFortune magazine soon after marrying Marcia. The couple never had to worry about money, and together they travelled abroad to Europe often. The couple had homes inMilan,Lake Como,Salzburg, andVienna.[4] In an interview with theNew York Times, Marcia Davenport said that once, Russell Davenport gave her a lion as a gift.[2] Marcia and Russell Davenport had a daughter, Cornelia Whipple Davenport, in 1934.[12][13] Her marriage to Russell Davenport ended in 1944.
During the later part of theNazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Marcia Davenport became a close friend of the refugee Czech statesman,Jan Masaryk. Davenport lived in Prague with Masaryk from 1945 to 1948, until theCommunists seized power. Davenport thereupon returned toLondon, where she and Masaryk planned to be married as soon as he could join her, but only a few days later he was found dead under mysterious circumstances.[6][14]
In the last years of her life, Davenport lived inPebble Beach, California. She died on January 16, 1996, at a hospital inMonterey, at the age of 92. She was survived by her younger daughter Cornelia Davenport Schwartz, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.[7] Davenport's papers are archived at theUniversity of Pittsburgh and in theLibrary of Congress.[14][3]
A memorial plaque dedicated to Marcia Davenport at Loretánská Street 13 inPrague.
