20 Facts About Marvin Davis

Marvin Davis made his fortunes as the chair of Davis Petroleum and at one time owned 20th Century Fox, the Pebble Beach Corporation, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the Aspen Skiing Company.

Marvin Davis was raised in a Jewish family, the son of Jack Davis and Jean Spitzer.

Marvin Davis's father came to the United States from London as a teenager in 1917 and later joined the British Navy after reportedly applying for a college scholarship but being denied it because he was Jewish.

Jack Davis became a successful fashion buyer for New York department stores.

Marvin Davis graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from New York University in 1947.

Marvin Davis senior's partner Ray Ryan was a pioneer of the oil deal known as the "third for a quarter," where investors in a wildcat oil well would each buy one-quarter of the well's production for a third of the cost of drilling the well, leaving all costs paid and Marvin Davis and Ryan owners of one-quarter of the well.

Marvin Davis developed the oil business, and became a major real estate developer in Denver, acquiring a shopping center and office complex.

Marvin Davis offered to purchase the Oakland Athletics from Charlie Finley for $12 million on December 12,1977, with the intention of moving the franchise to Denver.

Marvin Davis ended negotiations on January 23,1978, and the Athletics remained in Oakland under Finley's continued ownership.

In 1984 Marvin Davis appointed Barry Diller, formerly chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures, to the chairman and CEO role at 20th Century Fox.

Marvin Davis later backed out of a deal with Murdoch to purchase John Kluge's Metromedia television stations, which would form what is the Fox network.

In 1999, Marvin Davis attempted to build a stadium in Los Angeles to lure the National Football League to award the city an expansion franchise during a 20 year span when the NFL was absent from Los Angeles.

In later years, Davis was linked to takeover targets including Northwest Airlines, US Airways, CBS, NBC and T Boone Pickens' Mesa.

The Marvin Davis's daughter Dana is a diabetic, and they founded the Children's Diabetes Foundation which hosts the biannual Carousel of Hope ball to raise money for juvenile diabetes.

Marvin Davis was married for 53 years to Barbara Levine.

Marvin Davis was known for his large appetite, with Fox executive Alan Hirschfield saying that Davis "was the poster boy for everything you shouldn't eat"; he weighed over 300 pounds for much of his adult life, though he lost about 130 pounds as his health failed in his final years.

Marvin Davis was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Marvin Davis's lawsuit alleged that Marvin had entrapped and beaten Patricia in an attempt to get her to sign documents giving him control over her finances.

Patricia Marvin Davis later settled with all 14 parties named in her complaint, and the case was closed in January 2008.

The Texas bankruptcy court that had originally approved the deal to sell Marvin Davis Petroleum ruled in favor of Gregg and his partners, then a district-court judge dismissed Nancy's appeal.