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Title
Prince David Mdivani child custody suit
Alternative Title
Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection
Date Created and/or Issued
1939
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes.
David Mdivani was born around 1900, the son of General Zakhari Mdivani, a former confidant of Emperor Nicholas of Russia. 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. Murray led a colorful life, marrying four times and often appearing in court, suing or being sued for various reasons. 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. Murray married Georgian prince, David Mdivani in 1926. He bankrupted her and they divorced in 1933. They became involved in a fierce custody battle over their only child. For most of her later life, Murray lived in poverty and she 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 August 22, 1939 reads "Confined to his bed with a broken leg, Prince David Mdivani is shown giving a deposition today in which he denied his former wife, Mae Murray, ever asked him for money to support their son. She is suing him for $12,000 a year support. Taking the deposition are Milan Medigovich, center and W. I. Gilbert Jr."
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00112583
Herald Examiner Collection
HE box 3638
CARL0005342662
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/31878
Subject
Mdivani, David
Mdivani, David--Trials, litigation, etc
Murray, Mae,--1885-1965--Trials, litigation, etc
Child support--California--Los Angeles
Lawyers--California--Los Angeles
Men--California--Los Angeles
Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs
Herald-Examiner Collection photographs

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