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Gene Markey
Eugene Willford "Gene" Markey (December 11, 1895 – May 1, 1980) was an American writer, producer, and screenwriter. During World War II, he served in the US Navy, reaching the rank of Rear Admiral and becoming a highly decorated officer.
His first three marriages were to actresses and each had short time spans. In 1952 he married Lucille Parker Wright, widow of the owner of Calumet Farms, and their marriage lasted to his death. With her he entered the world of thoroughbred horse racing in Lexington, Kentucky, and became known for his parties and friendships.
Markey was born in Michigan. His father, Eugene Lawrence Markey, was a colonel in the United States Army. His uncle, Daniel P. Markey, had been Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. Markey graduated from Dartmouth College in 1918.
He was a skilled sketch artist, which gained him entry, after World War I, into the Art Institute of Chicago in 1919; he finished in 1920. He claimed to have "studied painting and learned nothing" there.
After that, he worked as a journalist in Chicago for several newspapers and magazines, including Photoplay magazine. It was during the 1920s that Gene Markey became a writer, specializing in novels about the Jazz Age. Among his titles were Anabel; Stepping High; Women, Women, Everywhere; and His Majesty's Pyjamas. His book Literary Lights (March 1923, Alfred A. Knopf, New York) was a collection of fifty caricatures of important literary authors of the day.
He went to Hollywood in 1929 and became a screenwriter for Twentieth Century Fox. His screen credits included King of Burlesque (1936) starring Alice Faye, Girls' Dormitory (1936) featuring Herbert Marshall, and On the Avenue (1937), starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. He was also the producer of the 1937 Shirley Temple film, Wee Willie Winkie, among others.
Although he was not overly handsome, he was a very skilled conversationalist and he quickly became a popular fixture in Hollywood society. Among his good friends in Hollywood were producer John Hay Whitney, composer Irving Berlin, and actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ward Bond and John Wayne. He would often go fishing with Bond and Wayne off Catalina Island, California. A 1946 article in the Washington Times Herald said, "Other Men Say: What's Gene Markey Got That We Haven't Got?" The article ran a photo of Rudolph Valentino with the caption, "NOT SO HOT – By Comparison. Though all American womanhood swooned over him in his day, Rudolph Valentino was no Markey." Soon after he arrived in Hollywood in 1929, it was also reported that, "Markey became the most sought after unattached man in the cinema firmament, so sprinkled with far handsomer, richer male stars." Markey was married three times to prominent film actresses. His first marriage, to Joan Bennett, from 1932 to 1937, produced a daughter, Melinda, in 1934. He was married to Hedy Lamarr from 1939 to 1940 and to Myrna Loy from 1946 to 1950. At first, Loy claimed mental cruelty, but later retracted it, saying, "He could make a scrubwoman think she was a queen and he could make a queen think she was the queen of queens."
After his graduation from Dartmouth, Markey became a lieutenant in the infantry during World War I (which the United States had entered in 1917) and saw action at the Battle of Belleau Wood. He then joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1920, and it was during World War II that he made his greatest mark. In August 1941, he reported to Balboa, Panama, with the rank of lieutenant commander. He had a yacht, Melinda (named after his daughter), that he donated to the United States Navy for use as a submarine chaser. During the war, Markey rose to the rank of commodore and served as an assistant intelligence officer on the staff of Fleet Admiral William "Bull" Halsey at Guadalcanal. After the war, he was promoted to rear admiral and he officially retired from the Navy on February 27, 1956. He was highly decorated; among his awards were the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Combat V (for leading a reconnaissance mission in the Solomon Islands in 1942), a Navy Commendation Medal, Italy's Star of Solidarity, and France's Legion of Honor. During World War II, Markey became good friends with Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. After the war, he became a special assistant to United States Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. Markey was very proud of his admiral's commission. He insisted on being called "Admiral Markey", never "Mister Markey" and, rarely, "Gene". For the rest of his life, he would promptly toss any mail (including bills) that wasn't addressed to Admiral Markey into the trash.
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Gene Markey
Eugene Willford "Gene" Markey (December 11, 1895 – May 1, 1980) was an American writer, producer, and screenwriter. During World War II, he served in the US Navy, reaching the rank of Rear Admiral and becoming a highly decorated officer.
His first three marriages were to actresses and each had short time spans. In 1952 he married Lucille Parker Wright, widow of the owner of Calumet Farms, and their marriage lasted to his death. With her he entered the world of thoroughbred horse racing in Lexington, Kentucky, and became known for his parties and friendships.
Markey was born in Michigan. His father, Eugene Lawrence Markey, was a colonel in the United States Army. His uncle, Daniel P. Markey, had been Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. Markey graduated from Dartmouth College in 1918.
He was a skilled sketch artist, which gained him entry, after World War I, into the Art Institute of Chicago in 1919; he finished in 1920. He claimed to have "studied painting and learned nothing" there.
After that, he worked as a journalist in Chicago for several newspapers and magazines, including Photoplay magazine. It was during the 1920s that Gene Markey became a writer, specializing in novels about the Jazz Age. Among his titles were Anabel; Stepping High; Women, Women, Everywhere; and His Majesty's Pyjamas. His book Literary Lights (March 1923, Alfred A. Knopf, New York) was a collection of fifty caricatures of important literary authors of the day.
He went to Hollywood in 1929 and became a screenwriter for Twentieth Century Fox. His screen credits included King of Burlesque (1936) starring Alice Faye, Girls' Dormitory (1936) featuring Herbert Marshall, and On the Avenue (1937), starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. He was also the producer of the 1937 Shirley Temple film, Wee Willie Winkie, among others.
Although he was not overly handsome, he was a very skilled conversationalist and he quickly became a popular fixture in Hollywood society. Among his good friends in Hollywood were producer John Hay Whitney, composer Irving Berlin, and actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ward Bond and John Wayne. He would often go fishing with Bond and Wayne off Catalina Island, California. A 1946 article in the Washington Times Herald said, "Other Men Say: What's Gene Markey Got That We Haven't Got?" The article ran a photo of Rudolph Valentino with the caption, "NOT SO HOT – By Comparison. Though all American womanhood swooned over him in his day, Rudolph Valentino was no Markey." Soon after he arrived in Hollywood in 1929, it was also reported that, "Markey became the most sought after unattached man in the cinema firmament, so sprinkled with far handsomer, richer male stars." Markey was married three times to prominent film actresses. His first marriage, to Joan Bennett, from 1932 to 1937, produced a daughter, Melinda, in 1934. He was married to Hedy Lamarr from 1939 to 1940 and to Myrna Loy from 1946 to 1950. At first, Loy claimed mental cruelty, but later retracted it, saying, "He could make a scrubwoman think she was a queen and he could make a queen think she was the queen of queens."
After his graduation from Dartmouth, Markey became a lieutenant in the infantry during World War I (which the United States had entered in 1917) and saw action at the Battle of Belleau Wood. He then joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1920, and it was during World War II that he made his greatest mark. In August 1941, he reported to Balboa, Panama, with the rank of lieutenant commander. He had a yacht, Melinda (named after his daughter), that he donated to the United States Navy for use as a submarine chaser. During the war, Markey rose to the rank of commodore and served as an assistant intelligence officer on the staff of Fleet Admiral William "Bull" Halsey at Guadalcanal. After the war, he was promoted to rear admiral and he officially retired from the Navy on February 27, 1956. He was highly decorated; among his awards were the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Combat V (for leading a reconnaissance mission in the Solomon Islands in 1942), a Navy Commendation Medal, Italy's Star of Solidarity, and France's Legion of Honor. During World War II, Markey became good friends with Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. After the war, he became a special assistant to United States Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. Markey was very proud of his admiral's commission. He insisted on being called "Admiral Markey", never "Mister Markey" and, rarely, "Gene". For the rest of his life, he would promptly toss any mail (including bills) that wasn't addressed to Admiral Markey into the trash.