Marcia Davenport (née Glick; June 9, 1903 – January 16, 1996) was an American writer and music critic. She is best known for her 1932 biography of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first American published biography of Mozart. Davenport also is known for her novels The Valley of Decision and East Side, West Side, both of which were adapted to film in 1945 and 1949, respectively. Early life and education Marcia Davenport was born Marcia Glick in New York City on June 9, 1903, the daughter of Bernard Glick and the opera singer Alma Gluck. Her family is of Romanian-Jewish descent. Around 1911, when Marcia was 8, her parents separated. Her mother remarried Efrem Zimbalist, a concert violinist. With Zimbalist as a step-father, Marcia had two half-siblings: Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (who became an actor) and Maria Virginia Zimbalist Bennett. She described her childhood as very lonely, apart from music and books (she always knew she wanted to write). Her mother made her continue piano lessons as discipline throughout childhood despite her being very bad at it. Growing up, Marcia traveled extensively with her parents. Intermittently, she was educated at the Friends School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr. She began studies at Wellesley College but eloped to Pittsburgh after two years to marry her first husband, Frank Delmas Clarke. After their divorce in 1925, she travelled abroad to complete her B.A. at the University of Grenoble. Career After her divorce from Clarke in 1925, Davenport took an advertising copywriting job to support herself and her daughter. From 1928 - 1930, she worked on the editorial staff of The New Yorker. From 1934 - 1939, Davenport worked as the music critic of Stage magazine. From 1936 - 1937, she also worked as a radio commentator on the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. Through her opera-singing mother and violinist stepfather, Davenport had close ties to the classical music world, particularly the operatic world of Europe and America. Biography of Mozart In 1930, Davenport travelled to Prague to research the life of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart up close. In 1932, she published her first book, Mozart, which was also the first American published biography of the composer Mozart. Widely praised, the book, which became Davenport's best known work, has remained continuously in print since its publication. Novels In 1936, Davenport published her novel, Of Lena Geyer. The story is a portrait