Sultry, sleepy-eyed Argentine brunette Mona Maris was born Rosa Emma Mona Maria Marta Capdevielle, of Spanish-French parentage. Her well-to-do background ensured a quality education with an emphasis on foreign languages. Mona mastered three of them, but, alas, English was not among them. This mattered little early on, as her career began in silent films in 1925, first in England and France, then with Universum AG in Germany. Moving to the U.S. in 1929, she was signed by Fox to co-star opposite 'Warner Baxter' . Shortly after that, she called it a day and in 1960 retired to Lima, Peru, with her second husband, Dutch millionaire Herman Rick.
Twice married, her husbands included Clarence Brown.
Fortunio Bonanova and Mona Maris were originally cast as Emporer Louis Napoleon and Empress Eugenie in "The Song of Bernadette," but the scenes were discarded, and were refilmed with Jerome Cowan and Patricia Morison.
Maris was replaced in the cast of hard-luck "Viva Villa" primarily because of co-star Wallae Beerys dissatisfaction with her.
Although she was born Maria, her family nicknamed her Mona, Spanish for "graceful" or "pretty," and she chose the last name of Maris because it reminded her of the sea.
1909 Nobel Prize winner Gugliemo Marconi.the famous Italian radio engineer and radio pioneer, was a friend of her family.
