Marion Talley(1906-1983)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Her parents moved to Kansas City when she was a young girl. It was
there that her vocal talents were first discovered and cultivated. A
1922 concert helped to raise the money she needed to receive
professional training - including a year of study in Italy. She debuted
at the New York Metropolitan Opera 17 February 1926, her performance
broadcast over Kansas City radio. At the time of her debut, she was 19
and the youngest prima donna in Met history. She retired after only
four seasons, giving the explanation that she wanted to go live on her
Kansas farm. This explanation was not entirely believed by some, and
rumors of other reasons circulated - including the theory that she
lacked the ambition and drive needed for long term success. Another
rumor was that the Met was going to let her go at the end of her
contract. Whatever the true reason for her early retirement, she did
not move to the Kansas farm (which she did own, but never lived on),
but to Hollywood, California. There, she made her only movie, Follow
Your Heart. She was contracted to make a film for MGM, but it never
came to fruition. After her divorce from Eckstein in 1935 and a very
bitter and public custody battle over their daughter Susan, she
withdrew from almost all performing, and spent the rest of her life
concentrating on her family. Her death occurred somewhat suddenly,
during surgery to treat a problem with blood clots in her legs.