Frances Marion was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos. During the course of her career, she wrote over 325 scripts. She was the first writer to win two Academy Awards. Marion began her film career working for filmmaker Lois Weber. She wrote numerous silent film scenarios for actress Mary Pickford, before transitioning to writing sound films.
Marion directing The Love Light, which she also wrote, 1920
Marion, 1915
Marion in her war correspondent uniform, 1918
Mary Pickford (center) with newlyweds Fred Thomson and Frances Marion (1919)
Corinne Anita Loos was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put her on the payroll at Triangle Film Corporation. She is best known for her 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and her 1951 Broadway adaptation of Colette's novella Gigi.
1916 portrait of Loos
Stylized cover drawing of Anita Loos by Frank Walts on the April 1918 issue of The Liberator
Anita Loos and John Emerson in Edward Steichen photo for Vanity Fair, July 1928
The 1926 cover, illustrated by Ralph Barton, for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady.