Barbara Davis ( Levine) is an American philanthropist, billionaire, and widow of

Marvin Davis Marvin H. Davis (August 31, 1925 – September 25, 2004) was an American industrialist. He made his fortunes as the chair of Davis Petroleum and at one time owned 20th Century Fox, the Pebble Beach Corporation, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the ...

Biography

Early life

Born Barbara Levine in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

,Children's Diabetes Foundation
/ref> she graduated from

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

, in 1951.

Philanthropy

In 1977, she established the Children's Diabetes Foundation.Fred Schruers
Table-Hopping With...Barbara Davis
'' W'', February 2012 Since 1978, she has organized the black-tie, invitation-only ''Carousel of Hope Ball'' every two years to raise money for juvenile

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

.Brook Barnes
Tough Times No Deterrent for This Ball
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 22, 2010Obituaries: Marvin Davis
''The New York Times'', Accessed May 24, 2012. In particular, the proceeds go to the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

and the Children's Diabetes Foundation. She also serves on the Boards of Trustees of the

Joslin Diabetes Center Joslin Diabetes Center is the world's largest diabetes research center, diabetes clinic, and provider of diabetes education. It is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Among the Harvard Medica ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, the

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

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' ...

, the Race to Erase MS in

and the

Eisenhower Medical Center The Eisenhower Medical Center (EMC) is a not-for-profit hospital based in Rancho Mirage, California, serving the Coachella Valley region of Southeastern California. It was named one of the top one hundred hospitals in the United States in 2005. ...

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and located ...

. Additionally, she is a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel of the

Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ...

. In November, 1992, she received the 1992 Promise Ball Humanitarian Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International in New York City (

JDRF JDRF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that funds type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, provides a broad array of community and activist services to the T1D population and actively advocates for regulation favorable to medical research and approval o ...

). In 1995, she received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

. In 2004, she received the Angel Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Los Angeles.

Personal life

She married

(1925–2004) in 1951. They had five children: *Patricia Davis Raynes. * John Davis. *Nancy Davis Rickel (married Nebil Zarif; they had three sons: actor Jason Davis (1984-2020), Brandon Davis and Alexander Davis; they divorced and she remarried to Ken Rickel; they had two daughters: Isabella Rickel and Mariella Rickel). * Gregg Davis (married actress

Kim Richards Kim Erica Richards (born September 19, 1964) is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. She began her career as a child actress, and rose to prominence from her roles in ''Nanny and the Professor'', ''Escape to Witch Mountai ...

; they had two children: Whitney Davis (born 1990) and Chad Davis (born 1991); they later divorced). *Dana Davis. They resided in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, from 1951 to 1985. In 1985, they moved to The Knoll, an estate in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. Shortly after his death, she sold it for $46 million and moved into a bungalow at the

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Cinema of the ...

. Additionally, in 2011 she listed a condominium she owned in the Wilshire Corridor in

Westwood, Los Angeles Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...

.Lauren Beale
Barbara Davis puts Wilshire Corridor condo on the market
''The Los Angeles Times'', July 05, 2011 In 2006, she was worth $2.5 billion.
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Barbara Living people People from New York City People from Denver People from Beverly Hills, California Adelphi University alumni American billionaires Philanthropists from New York (state) American socialites Davis family 1929 births