As noted by Los Angeles Magazine, by the 1940s, the sole surviving Mdivani brother, David, had lost any hint of his family’s glamour. Desperate for money, he launched a series of dubious and largely unsuccessful lawsuits in an effort to claw money from his estranged former in-laws.
First, he sued his former sister-in-law, Louise Van Alen, claiming that she had swindled him in a deal trading shares in an oil company for a worthless tract of land. The suit was unsuccessful, but David had enough faith in the U.S. justice system to then turn around and sue his former brother-in-law Josep Maria Sert, claiming ownership of his sister’s jewelry. This suit was also unsuccessful.
David continued to pursue wealthy women as a way to solve his financial crisis, and as noted by Women’s Wear Daily, he succeeded in 1944 when he successfully courted Virginia Sinclair, heir to a huge oil fortune. As usual, the marriage started off well and quickly went sour. According to author Michael G. Ankerich in the book “Mae Murray,” David and Virginia had a son together in 1945, and they were married for 15 years. But Virginia eventually sued for divorce in 1959, claiming “cruel and inhumane treatment.” David’s response was to sue a woman he believed to be his wife’s lover, Virginia Catherwood, claiming she had “alienated the affections” of his wife. This worked — Virginia dropped the divorce. But they separated again in 1963, and finally divorced in 1964.
