2294 Alcyona Drive 

Two Mack Sennett Beauties rent this Hollywood Hills house after they got married!

2294 Alcyona Drive was built in 1924 by owner H.V. Safford who hired architect William Kerr to design the two story, 7 room Spanish Style residence with a basement and a detached two car garage.  In 1929, Miami businessman Stephen Quinerly and his wife, actress Marion McDonald (1904-1956) rented the house until 1933.  Marion McDonald began her acting career through Mack Sennett as one of his bathing beauties and appeared in 27 films between 1920 and 1927. 

After she appeared in her last film "The Prince of Headwaiters" in 1927, she traded in her bathing suit for a wedding ring and married Stephen Quinerly, splitting their time between Hollywood and Miami.  She was 22 years old when she married; he was 47 years old.  Quinerly liked his wives young as his first wife, Bess Thomas, was only 21 years old when they married in 1921 and divorced in 1924.  Marion became pregnant and daughter, Sally, was born in 1928 followed by son, Bobby, in 1929.  

The Quinerlys briefly lived apart in 1935 but then reconciled.  In 1935, the Quinerlys separated; Marion was living at 1534 Wilcox Avenue and Stephen 7273 Waring Avenue.  In 1937, Marion was living at the Ojai Apartments, 1929 Whitley Avenue.  In 1940-42, Stephen & Marian were listed at 6561 Franklin Avenue (now demolished).

When living in Miami, Marion got her real estate license, while her siblings remained in the Hollywood entertainment industry.  Her older brother, Charles McDonald worked as a studio grip and electrician for the pictures.  Marion's sister, Peggy McDonald, was a hair stylist and make-up artist for 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures.  She was Jean Harlow's favorite hair stylist and they became good friends, attending Harlow's funeral in 1937.  

In August 1938, 30 year old Charles McDonald shot and seriously wounded Emita Krueger (below left), wife a conductor of the Kansas City Philharmonic, Karl Krueger, as she exited her car at 5610 Hollywood Boulevard. She was picking up her daughter from a dance studio. Newspapers printed the details of McDonald’s (middle photo below) jealousy of Mrs. Krueger’s attention to his wife for the past three years, claiming Mrs. Krueger was interfering with their marriage.  Mrs. Frances McDonald worked as a governess for the Kruegers.  They separated last year and his wife filed for divorce and moved in with the Krueger family.  McDonald pled guilty by reason on insanity.  Marion, in Miami at the time of the shooting, flew out to Los Angeles to testify on his behalf during the trial about his mental health.  During the trial, the McDonalds reconciled, Frances standing by her husband's side.  Charles McDonald was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon after a long deliberation and was sent to San Quentin for 1 to 10 years (he only served 1 year).  

After the trial, the Quinerlys spent less time in Hollywood; they lived and entertained in their home on Miami’s exclusive Sunset Island.  Stephen Quinerly died in 1945 at age 66.  Marion remained active until 1954, when she developed cancer in her right kidney. The cancer eventually spread to her brain. She died on October 20, 1956. She was only 52.

After the Quinerlys moved out of 2294 Alcyona Drive, Dr. Clement Joynt and his newlywed wife, Patricia O'Day rented the house in 1933.  Joynt, a chripractor, met his wife who was a friend of the nurse he employed and the two married in 1930.  At first, they rented an apartment at 2270 Beachwood Drive, but then moved into this residence in 1931.  Patricia O'Day used the stage name of Patricia (Patsy) O'Leary and became one of Mack Sennett's bathing beauties, starring in 50 films from 1927 to 1932.  

Dr. Clement Joynt worked for Dr. C.H. Wood at the Los Angeles Chiropratic College during this time; Wood was running for the police commission and Joynt was verbal in his support and had been harrassed for opposing the current police commissioner.  During the early hours of October 12, 1931, Joynt was awakened the sound of his back door rattling.  Joynt grabbed a gun, ran to the window and shot at two men that were in his backyard.  Joynt went down the stairs to catch up to the men who shot at Joynt as they jumped into a car and exited the area.  Apparently, Mrs. Joynt had been receiving death threats over the phone for the past two weeks.  The actress was "near collapse" after the shooting incident while police scoured the area for the two assailants with no luck of finding them.  The Joynts rented the home until 1933 then moved to a ranch on the valley.

After moving to the valley, Patsy continued to act in a local theater, changing her stage name to Patricia Joynt.  In 1936, Patsy filed for divorce, moved out of the ranch, alleging her husband of excessive drinking, failing to take her out to places and accusing her of having extramarital affairs.  After the divorce, she changed her stage name to Toneya Joynt.  In December of 1937, she married 30 year old film technician Henry F Gerzen (key grip in The Poseidon Adventure in 1972) in Yuma, AZ.  She died October 16, 1938 at the age of 28 of an undisclosed cause.