Many assumed that the character of Susan Alexander Kane was based on Marion Davies, Hearst's mistress whose career he managed and who Hearst promoted as a motion picture actress. This assumption was a major reason Hearst tried to destroy "Citizen Kane". Welles denied that the character was based on Davies, whom he called "an extraordinary woman—nothing like the character Dorothy Comingore played in the movie." He cited Insull's building of the Chicago Opera House, and McCormick's lavish promotion of the opera career of his second wife, Ganna Walska, as direct influences on the screenplay.