Frances Marion ( born Marion Benson Owens , November 18 , 1888 – May 12 , 1973 ) was an American screenwriter , journalist , author , and film director , often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos . She was the first writer to win two Academy Awards . Marion began her film career working for filmmaker Lois Weber . She wrote numerous silent film scenarios for actress Mary Pickford , before transitioning to writing sound films . Marion was born Marion Benson Owens in San Francisco , California , to Len D. Owens and Minnie Benson . She had an older sister , Maude , and a younger brother , Len . Her parents divorced when she was 10 , and she lived with her mother . She dropped out of school at age 12 , after having been caught drawing a cartoon strip of her teacher . She then transferred to a school in San Mateo and then to the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco when she was 16 years old . Marion attended this school from 1904 until the school was destroyed by the fire that followed in the wake of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Frances Marion