Fern Maxine Salyer was born to California-born Mattie Elizabeth (née Fretwell) (1883-1962) and Missouri native Frank Edward Salyer (1882/3-1981), who married in Los Angeles on 26 August 1903; Mattie filed for divorce from Frank in April 1931 and was granted a decree two months later. Fern appears to have been their only child. In 1927, Fern Salyer was a member of "The Hollywood Bachelor Girls," a club of young actresses which also included Martha Sleeper, Edna Marion, Loretta Young, Polly Ann Young, Sally Blane, Sally Eilers, Sally Phipps, Barbara Luddy, and other girls. In 1930, Fern was in New York studying voice and dancing; her mother, Mrs. Frank E. Salyer of 1830 North Cherokee avenue, joined her there in May. In late 1932, the now-christened Marion Bardell and her mother, Mrs. M. E. Bardell, returned from New York City to Fern's native Los Angeles, living at the La Leyenda Apartments.
On New Year's Eve, 1934, Fern Maxine Salyer married automobile dealer Harold Kaiser (1897-1960), of Madison, Wisconsin. Reports as early as December 1933 mention Marion Bardell and Harold Kaiser out together; furthermore, the address given for Fern on the marriage certificate -- 1737 Whitley Ave, Hollywood (the aforementioned La Leyenda Apartments) -- matches the one given for Marion and Mrs. Maude Bardell in the 1934 Los Angeles City Directory. Harold, a World War I Navy veteran, was the vice-president and co-founder of Kaiser Bros. Oldsmobile. They were married until Harold's death in 1960. When her mother, Mattie Elizabeth Salyer aka Mattie E. Bardell passed away in 1962, Mrs. Marion Kaiser was the informant on her death certificate. Marion Kaiser re-married to Parker Alexander Eckles (1907-1981) on 09 June 1975 in Clark County, Nevada. At the time of her death in 1996, Marion Kaiser Eckles was, as seen by her name, the widow of Harold Kaiser and Parker Eckles. (Coincidentally, a Marion Kaiser Bardell, born c. 1920, married a William Henry Eppinger on 23 May 1975 -- 17 days before Marion married Mr. Eckles -- in Orange County, California.)
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