Marie wells was a singer and silent film star who later committed suicide She was born Marie Edith Wells on February 20, 1884 in Cleveland, Mississippi. Her father, John Wells, was a physician. When she was a child she took singing and dancing lessons. Marie began her show business career performing at local nightclubs. At the age of twenty-one she made her movie debut in the drama The First Commandment. Next she appeared in the films Sealed Lips and Just Out Of College. The lovely brunette was usually cast as an ingenue. Her brother, Fred Wells, also became an actor. She made headlines in 1917 when she sued her agent, Lewis Selznick, for breach of contract. In 1920 she starred on Broadway in the musical Floradora. Then she toured the country in a revival of The Merry Widow. Marie returned to films with a supporting role in the 1922 drama Silas Marner.
She announced her engagement to businessman Paul Kent in 1923 but they never made it down the aisle. Marie got the chance to show off her soprano voice in the film The Desert Song. Although her performances got good reviews she never became an A-list star. During the 1930s she had bit parts in several movies including Call Of The Wild and Cain And Mabel with
Marion Davies. Her final role was in the 1939 drama A Child Is Born. As she got older shew developed a problem with her throat. Tragically on July 3, 1949 she committed suicide by taking an overdose of pills. She was only fifty-five years old. A note was found that said "Forgive me please but my health is bad and I can't go on." Marie was buried in an unmarked grave at Grand View Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.
