Dorothy was 11 when her parents separated and although she lived with her father, she had always wanted a career in the theater. As a rebellious teenager, Dorothy ran away to London where she finally persuaded her father to pay for her board and lessons. Her first job was in the chorus and then she went to work in Paris. In Paris, Dorothy met a Broadway choreographer who got Dorothy a job with the Ziegfeld Follies in New York. At the follies, Dorothy became friends with Marion Davies who was also a Follies star. By 1921, Dorothy was making silents, but it would take 3 years before she became a star with ‘The Man Who Came Back (1924)’. Other successful films included ‘Chickie (1925)’, ‘Joanna (1925)’ and ‘The Dancer of Paris (1926)’. Her career continued into the beginning of sound where the silent film ‘The Barker (1928)’ was reshot as a partial talkie. But with the upheaval of the industry at that time, Dorothy’s contract with First National was not renewed when it expired in 1931, a situation that occurred with many silent film stars. Becoming a free agent, Dorothy made films at Columbia (‘Love Affair (1932)’), Paramount (‘no Man of Her Own (1932)’) and MGM (‘The Chief (1933)’). Things did not improve the next year as she made ‘The Cheaters (1934)’, the last of three quickie ‘B’ pictures. With that, Dorothy retired from pictures and took care for her invalid mother.