Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes. David Mdivani and his brother Serge were accused of embezzling $30,000 from Pacific Oil Co. , an organization they controlled and operated. David Mdivani was born around 1900, the son of General Zakhari Mdivani, a former confidant of Emperor Nicholas of Russia. He married Mae Murray in 1926. Mdivani bankrupted her and she divorced him in 1933. They became involved in a fierce custody battle over their only child. Mdivani later married oil heiress Virginia Sinclair and they had one son. Mdivani died in 1984. Mae Murray, born Marie Adrienne Koenig, was an American film actress and producer. She was very popular in silent films and became a member of the board of trustees at the Motion Picture & Television Fund, a charitable organization formed to offer aid for those in the business who were in need. After the silent film era, her career began to wane. She walked out of her contract with MGM, angering boss Louis B. Mayer. She became blacklisted and did not make another film after 1931. For most of her later life, Murray lived in poverty and later moved into the Motion Picture House in Woodland Hills, a retirement community for Hollywood professionals. She died there on March 23, 1965. Photograph caption dated January 16, 1934 reads "Watching proceedings intently, with chin resting on hand, the debonair Georgian prince, David Mdivani, is pictured by the candid camera as he appears at his trial on charges involving funds of the Pacific Oil Co. David, the former husband of Mae Murray, vigorously denies anything illegal in handling the oil company's affairs."
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;16 x 18 cm. Photographic prints
Mdivani, David Mdivani, David--Trials, litigation, etc Trials (Embezzlement)--California--Los Angeles Crime--California--Los Angeles Theft--California--Los Angeles Men--California--Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs Herald-Examiner Collection photographs
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