Doris Singleton (1919 - 2012)

Doris Singleton Dorthea “Doris” Singleton (September 28, 1919 – June 26, 2012) Early life and career Singleton, born in New York City, trained as a classical ballerina, dancing for three seasons in the mid-1930s with the newly formed “Ballet Theatre”, later to become the American Ballet Theatre. She began her career in show business as […]

Doris Vinton (1970 - 1989)

Actress. She appeared in the original productions of “The Manhattaners” (1927), “Say When” (1928), “Luckee Girl” (1928), and “Orchids Preferred” (1937). She appeared as Herself in the television film “W.C. Fields: Straight Up” (1986). (bio by: Ginny M)

Doris Wells (1941 - 1988)

Actress. Born Doris Marina Buonafina in Caripito, a little oil town of Monagas State, Venezuela, at 15 years of age, and coinciding with the migration of her family to Caracas, she became a student of the Juana Sujo’s School of Theater, graduating in 1960. Her debut in television was in the polemic Venezuelan TV series […]

Doro Merande (1892 - 1975)

Actress. Born Dora Matthews, she appeared in 25 Broadway plays, most famously in the original 1938 production of “Our Town.” This was the part that brought her to Hollywood in 1940, where Merande appeared in dozens of Hollywood-based TV and movie character roles, including the loud mouthed housekeeper in “The Gazebo” (1959) and the strident […]

Dorothea Dix (1802 - 1887)

Born in the town of Hampden, Maine, she grew up first in Worcester, Massachusetts. At the age of twelve, she sought refuge with her wealthy grandmother in Boston to get away from her alcoholic parents and abusive father. She was the first child of three born to Joseph Dix and Mary Bigelow, who had deep […]

Dorothea Kent (1916 - 1990)

Actress. Leggy, platinum-haired supporting player. She came to Hollywood in 1934 after some modeling experience in St. Louis, and was successively under contract to Columbia Pictures, Universal, and 20th Century-Fox. A scene-stealing comedienne and, when given the opportunity, a capable romantic lead, Kent was mostly pegged as a dumb blonde in B programmers. She is […]

Dorothea Neff (1903 - 1986)

Actress. Born in Munich Germany, her early performances were on the German stage as a young heroine and lover, later became a character actress. Performed with the Deutschen Volkstheater (German National Theater) in Vienna (made honorary member in 1978), and from 1973 to 1976 performed at the Burgtheater (among other roles, as Elizabeth in “Maria […]

Dorothea Tanning (1910 - 2012)

Dorothea Tanning was born and raised in Galesburg, Illinois. After attending Knox College for two years (1928–30), she moved to Chicago in 1930 and then to New York in 1935. There she supported herself as a commercial artist while pursuing her own painting, and discovered Surrealism at the Museum of Modern Art’s seminal 1936 exhibition, […]

Dorothy “Dottie” Coonan Wellman (1913 - 2009)

Actress and Dancer. She appeared in a number of films in the early 1930s, and was the fifth, and last, wife of director William Wellman. Raised in Los Angeles from early childhood, she quit school at 14 to persue her dream of becoming a dancer. After joining the troupe of choreographer Busby Berkeley, she danced […]

Dorothy Abbott (1920 - 1968)

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Abbott appeared in many films between the 1940s and 1960s as an extra. In Las Vegas she was a showgirl at the Flamingo Hotel and was known as “the girl with the golden arm”. She also appeared in guest roles on The Ford Television Theatre, Leave It to Beaver, and […]

Dorothy Arnold (1917 - 1984)

Actress. Born Dorothy Arnoldine Olson, she was performing by the age of 12 on amateur nights at Duluth’s Lyric Theater and with the local Salvation Army Band. Her first theatrical job was with the Band Box Revue, out of Chicago. She studied at Paramount School in New York and played bits in pictures as a […]

Dorothy Arzner (1897 - 1979)

American Film Director. Her career in feature films spanned from the silent era of the late 1920s into the early 1940s. She was one of the very few women who established a name for herself as a director in the film industry during this time. Her body of work remains to this day the largest […]

Dorothy Burgess (1907 - 1961)

Actress. After learning her art on the stage, she appeared in several dozen Hollywood features during the 1930s. Raised initially in Los Angeles where her father was in the transportation business, she studied painting and sculpture in New York, then got her theatrical start as a bit-player and dancer in productions that featured her maternal […]

Dorothy Burgess (1907 - 1961)

Actress. After learning her art on the stage, she appeared in several dozen Hollywood features during the 1930s. Raised initially in Los Angeles where her father was in the transportation business, she studied painting and sculpture in New York, then got her theatrical start as a bit-player and dancer in productions that featured her maternal […]

Dorothy Burgess (1907 - 1961)

Actress. After learning her art on the stage, she appeared in several dozen Hollywood features during the 1930s. Raised initially in Los Angeles where her father was in the transportation business, she studied painting and sculpture in New York, then got her theatrical start as a bit-player and dancer in productions that featured her maternal […]

Dorothy Coburn (1904 - 1978)

Actress. Fondly remembered as the dentist’s nurse in Laurel and Hardy’s “Leave ‘Em Laughing,” (1928) “The Battle of the Century” (1927) and “The Second 100 Years.” Coburn retired from acting at the advent of sound but later worked as a stunt double and became a stand-in for Ginger Rogers. Coburn died of Emphysema. (bio by: […]

Dorothy Collins (1926 - 1994)

As a youngster, Dorothy Collins sang on radio stations in Windsor and Detroit. In 1940, at age 14, she and her family were introduced to bandleader/composer Raymond Scott in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, she became Scott’s protégée. In early 1942, at age 15, she became a featured vocalist with Scott’s orchestra, performing on radio and on […]

Dorothy Comingore (1913 - 1971)

Born Margaret Louise Comingore in Los Angeles, California, Dorothy Comingore was discovered by Charles Chaplin when she was acting in a small playhouse in Carmel. Comingore played bit parts in Hollywood movies until Orson Welles cast her as Susan Alexander Kane|Susan Alexander, the second wife of press tycoon Charles Foster Kane, in his debut feature film […]

Dorothy Dale (1883 - 1957)

American stage and screen actress. Her career ended when makeup she painted on her face for the role of an Egyptian girl in the film ‘The Ten Commandments’ (1923) caused severe facial scars, sending her into retirement.  Family links:  Spouse:  Jacob Hyman (1871 – 1942)* *Calculated relationship

Dorothy Dare (1911 - 1981)

Actress,  Singer. Signed by Warner Brothers in 1934,  Dare, whose last name was changed from Herskind, initially appeared in several Vitagraph Shorts before moving on to supporting roles in such films as “Happiness Ahead” (1934), “The Saint Louis Kid” (1934), “Maybe It’s Love” (1935), “Gold Diggers of 1935” (1935) and “Front Page Woman” (1935). However […]

Dorothy Davenport (1895 - 1977)

Dorothy Davenport’s family was well known in the theater. Her grandfather Edward Loomis Davenport was a famous 19th century character actor and the patriarch of the family; his daughter and Dorothy’s aunt, Fanny Davenport, was considered one of the great actresses of the time. Her father, Harry Davenport, was a Broadway star. With her background […]

Dorothy Day (1897 - 1980)

Dorothy Day, Obl.S.B., (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist, and Catholic convert. Day initially lived a bohemian lifestyle before gaining fame as a social activist after her conversion. She later became a key figure in the Catholic Worker Movement and earned a national reputation as a political radical, perhaps […]

Dorothy DeBorba (1925 - 2010)

Actress. She appeared as a child performer in some 30 Hollywood films, memorably as the Little Rascal Dorothy in two dozen “Our Gang” comedy shorts. The child of a musician in Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, little Dorothy made her silver screen bow with the 1930 “A Royal Romance” and was spotted by “Our Gang” producer Hal […]

Dorothy DeBorba (1925 - 2010)

Actress. She appeared as a child performer in some 30 Hollywood films, memorably as the Little Rascal Dorothy in two dozen “Our Gang” comedy shorts. The child of a musician in Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, little Dorothy made her silver screen bow with the 1930 “A Royal Romance” and was spotted by “Our Gang” producer Hal […]

Dorothy DeBorba (1925 - 2010)

Actress. She appeared as a child performer in some 30 Hollywood films, memorably as the Little Rascal Dorothy in two dozen “Our Gang” comedy shorts. The child of a musician in Paul Whiteman’s orchestra, little Dorothy made her silver screen bow with the 1930 “A Royal Romance” and was spotted by “Our Gang” producer Hal […]

Dorothy Dell (1915 - 1934)

Actress who made three movies in 1934 (“Wharf Angel,” “Little Miss Marker,” and “Shoot the Works”) before dying in an automobile accident that summer. (bio by: Find A Grave)

Dorothy Dene (1859 - 1899)

Dorothy Dene was born in New Cross, London, in 1859; he birth name was Ada Alice Pullen.  She came from a large family of girls, a number of whom earned their living from acting on stage. She lived with her four sisters in an apartment in South Kensington, London. She lived with her four sisters in […]

Dorothy Earle (1892 - 1958)

Dorothy Earle Dorothy Earle was born on September 4, 1892 in New Jersey, USA as Esther Lucille Elmendorf. She was an actress and writer, known for Pioneers of the West (1927), Pinched (1921) and Sweet Daddy (1921). She was married to Harry Burton Comber de Mattos and Marcel Perez. She died on July 5, 1958 […]

Dorothy Fay (1915 - 2003)

Dorothy Fay was born Dorothy Fay Southworth in Prescott, Arizona, the daughter of Harry T. Southworth and Harriet Fay Fox. Her father was a medical doctor. Fay attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She began her motion picture career […]

Dorothy Fay Southworth Ritter (1915 - 2003)

Actress. A native of Prescott, Arizona, she was born Dorothy Fay on April 4, 1915. She was married to cowboy actor and singer, Tex Ritter from June 14, 1941, until his death on January 2, 1974, with whom she had 2 children. Between 1938 and 1941 she appeared in many films including ‘B’ movies with […]