Corinne Griffith

Corinne Griffith

An astute businesswoman after leaving her film career behind, she soon amassed a fortune in real estate holdings. At the time of her death on July 13, 1979, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world, leaving an estate of $150 million.

At the time of her death, in 1979, she was not only the richest woman in America but she was also one of the most prominent forces in Republican politics in the state of California.

Authored eleven books published between 1947 and 1973.

Corinne's claim not to have been the silent actress Corinne Griffith during her 1965 divorce trial inspired the Tom Tryon novel 'Fedora' which was later filmed by Billy Wilder and released in 1979, coincidentally the year of her death.

Her father was a Methodist minister, but for much of her life she was a Christian Scientist.



Her parents were John Lewis Griffin and Ambolyn (Ghio) Griffin.

Her third husband, George Preston Marshall, was founder and longtime owner of the Washington Redskins.

Made headlines in 1965 with her request for an annulment from actor Danny Scholl, almost thirty years her junior, and her claim she was not the Corinne Griffith of the silent film era. Although former associates denied her claim of being a different woman, she was granted the annulment 33 days after the marriage.

One of the richest women in California during her later decades, she owned four office buildings in California, each of them named after her (ie: Corinne Griffith Building Number One, etc.).

Starred in a touring production of Noel Coward's "Design for Living" in the mid 1930's, her only theatre work.

The film version of her best-selling memoir 'Papa's Delicate Condition' misspelled her name as "Corrine Griffith" in the credits. Griffith was not fond of the film and had unsuccessfully campaigned for Fred Astaire to play her father and was disappointed with the choice of Jackie Gleason.

Widely considered to be one of the most beautiful stars of the silent screen.


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