Barbara Davis

Born Barbara Levine in New York City,[1][2] she graduated from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, in 1951.[2]

In 1977, she established the Children's Diabetes Foundation.[2][3] Since 1978, she has organized the black-tie, invitation-only Carousel of Hope Ball every two years to raise money for juvenile diabetes.[2][3][4][5] In particular, the proceeds go to the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Aurora, Colorado and the Children's Diabetes Foundation.[4]

She also serves on the Boards of Trustees of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Massachusetts, the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, the Race to Erase MS in Los Angeles, California and the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California.[2] Additionally, she is a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel of the Los Angeles Music Center.[2]

In November, 1992, she received the 1992 Promise Ball Humanitarian Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International in New York City (JDRF).[2] In 1995, she received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Colorado.[2] In 2004, she received the Angel Award from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Los Angeles.[2]

She married Marvin Davis (1925–2004) in 1951.[2][3][4][5] They had five children:

• Patricia Davis Raynes.[5][6]
• John Davis.[5][6]
• Nancy Davis Rickel (married Nebil Zarif; they had three sons: actor Jason Davis (1984-2020), Brandon Davis and Alexander Davis; they divorced and she remarried to Ken Rickel; they had two daughters: Isabella Rickel and Mariella Rickel).[5][6]
• Gregg Davis (married actress Kim Richards; they had two children: Whitney Davis (born 1990) and Chad Davis (born 1991); they later divorced).[5][6]
• Dana Davis.[5][6]

They resided in Denver, Colorado, from 1951 to 1985.[2][4][5] In 1985, they moved to The Knoll, an estate in Beverly Hills, California.[2][5][6] Shortly after his death, she sold it for $46 million and moved into a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel.[3][6] Additionally, in 2011 she listed a condominium she owned in the Wilshire Corridor in Westwood, Los Angeles.[7]

In 2006, she was worth $2.5 billion.[6]