Mary Isabel Gunnis Davis (born 1870 in London,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

–Died 15 July 1944 in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

) was a British-born American

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

actress. She was married to

J. Gunnis Davis James Gunnis Davis (21 December 1873 – 23 March 1937) was a British-born American actor and director who had a career in films in the US. Early life He was born as Joseph Gunnis Davis on 21 December 1873 in Sunderland, the son of Janet ...

Motion pictures

She made her début in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

with a role in '' Leave It To Cissy'' (1916). This appearance was followed by parts credited as ''Mary I. Davis'' in '' I Accuse'' and ''Mary G. Davis'' in ''

The Haunted Manor ''The Haunted Manor'' ( pl, Straszny dwór) is an opera in four acts composed by Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko in 1861–1864. The libretto was written by . Despite being a romance and a comedy, it has strong Polish patriotic undertones ...

'', both from 1916. Her career was short-lived, concluding with performances in '' Rich Man, Poor Man'' (1918), ''

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch ''Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' is a 1901 novel by American author Alice Hegan Rice, about a southern family humorously coping with poverty. It was highly popular on its release,Lowell Hayes Harrison, ''A New History of Kentucky'' (1997), p. ...

'' (1919), and '' An Amateur Widow'' (1919). She is also sometimes credited as Mary B. Davis, Mary Gunniss, and Mary Gunniss Davis. Davis'

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

address was 1113 South Union Avenue. She died at the Ramona Community Hospital in

in California in 1944.

Personal life

Born in London in 1870 as Mary Isabel Michael, she was the daughter of surgeon John William Michael (1847–1897) and Kate ''née'' Soilleux (1844–1913). She married Henry Warnell Denton-Cardew (1860–1894) in 1889 and with him had two children: Mary Isabel Denton Cardew (1890–1967), and Warnell De Montigny Denton Cardew (1892–1917). In 1897 she married the actor

Spencer Trevor Spencer Trevor (29 May 1875 – 22 May 1945) was a British stage and film actor. He was born as Spencer Trevor Andrews. In 1897 he married the actress Mary Davis (1870–1944) and with her had a son, John Spencer Trevor Andrews (1897–1984); t ...

(1875–1945) and with him had a son, John Spencer Trevor Andrews (1897–1984); they divorced in 1901 as a result of her adultery with the actor

. Thirdly, after her divorce she married J. Gunnis Davis in London in 1902 and with him had a son, James Gunnis J Davis (1906–1992).

Assault victim

In 1928 she filed a criminal complaint against Dr. J.C. Woodward after going to his office for treatment. She charged the physician with kicking and beating her. Davis told the chief prosecutor that Woodward started a drinking party and made advances toward her. When she resisted he knocked her down and kicked her in the abdomen. Davis was then thrown out into the corridor of the building and was picked up by a tenant from an adjacent room. She was sent home in a taxicab. Woodward was placed under arrest and taken before a municipal judge. He entered a plea of guilty to both charges and awaited sentencing.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, ''Physician Confesses To Assault'', December 14, 1928, Page A5.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Mary 1870 births 1944 deaths English film actresses English silent film actresses 20th-century English actresses Actresses from London English emigrants to the United States