Born in Pocatello, Idaho as Thais Alalia Dickerson, Dickson began acting during high school in amateur theatre productions. Encouraged by her acting coaches, she moonlighted doing dramatic readings at social clubs and on KFOX radio station in Long Beach, California. In April 1936, she was spotted by Warner Brothers talent scout Max Arnow who signed her to a Warner contract. Her film debut in 1937’s They Won’t Forget landed her on the top of Hollywood’s short list of important up and comers, a distinction which allotted her enormous publicity. In autumn 1937, she was on many magazine covers and was the subject of several major movie magazine articles with titles like, The Luckiest Girl in the World and New Star of the Year.  Dickson died during a fire at her Los Angeles home caused by an unextinguished cigarette that ignited an overstuffed chair on the main floor while she slept upstairs. Her body, and that of her pet dog, were found in the bathroom, and it was assumed that she had attempted to escape through the bathroom window. She died from asphyxiation; flames had seared her lungs, and her body had suffered first and second degree burns. She is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.