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Dorothy Wilson (actress)

{{Short description|American actress (1909–1998)}}

{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Dorothy Wilson

| image = Dorothy Wilson press photo 1935.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Wilson in Bad Boy (1935)

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|11|14|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|01|07|1909|11|14|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Lompoc, California, U.S.

| other_names =

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1932–1943

| spouse = {{marriage|Lewis R. Foster|1936|1974|reason=d.}}

| children = 2

}}

Dorothy Wilson (November 14, 1909 – January 7, 1998) was an American movie actress of the 1930s.{{Cite book |last=Lamparski |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/whateverbecameof00lamp_1 |title=Whatever became of...? 11: All new eleventh series: 100 profiles of the most-asked-about movie, TV, and media personalities ; Hundreds of never-before-published facts, dates, etc., on celebrities ; 227 then-and-now photographs |date= |publisher=Crown Publishers |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-517-57151-4 |location=New York |pages=190-191 |chapter=Dorothy Wilson}}

Early life

Wilson was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, moving to Los Angeles, California, after her high school graduation.{{Cite journal |last=Sharon |first=Mary |date=October 1932 |title="Luck Wilson": No More Typewriting for Dorothy Wilson! |url=https://archive.org/details/Silver-Screen-1932-10-Vol-2-No-12 |journal=Silver Screen |volume=2 |issue=12 |pages=20,59-60 |issn=0037-5365 |via=archive.org}} Ironically, she had no interest in acting and had moved to Los Angeles due to an urge to travel.{{cite news |title=Typist Surprised to Find She Is Cast In Lead Role |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The San Bernardino Sun |date=June 19, 1932 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2016842/dorothy_wilson_discovered/ |via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} Note: Fraternity House is an alternate title of The Age of Consent.

Career

In 1930, she began working as a secretary and applied at several employment agencies. She received a job at RKO Pictures, and for two years she worked there as a secretary.{{cite news |title=Robinson Gets Coveted Role of Little Corporal |author=Louella Parsons |author-link=Louella Parsons |newspaper=The Fresno Bee |date=December 28, 1933 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2016766/dorothy_wilson_in_louella_parsons_column/ |via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} She often took notes for director Gregory La Cava; she was noticed by the executive in charge of casting and offered a screen test for La Cava's upcoming 1932 film The Age of Consent. She won one of the two lead coed roles, opposite Richard Cromwell. Her performance in the movie received good reviews.{{Citation needed |date=July 2023}}

The same year, she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars, along with future Hollywood legend Ginger Rogers and Gloria Stuart.{{cite news |title=Here They Are Together - Hollywood's Baby Stars |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel |date=December 24, 1932 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2016909/1932_wampus_baby_stars/ |via = Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} She starred opposite some of Hollywood's biggest names, including Harold Lloyd, Richard Dix, Tom Keene, Preston Foster and Will Rogers. She appeared in 20 films between 1932 and 1937.

File:The Milky Way (1936) poster 2.jpg, and Helen Mack in a poster for The Milky Way (1936)]]

She was asked to test for the part of Melanie Hamilton in the epic movie Gone with the Wind, which she did,{{Citation needed |date=July 2023}} but she did not win the role, its being awarded to Olivia de Havilland. She starred in only two films after getting married, and then retired from acting to devote time to her family. She returned to acting only once, in an uncredited role in the 1943 film Whistling in Brooklyn.

Personal life and death

{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2023}}

In 1936, she married scriptwriter Lewis R. Foster, whom she had met while filming the 1934 movie Eight Girls in a Boat.{{Cite journal |last=Townsend |first=Leo |date=December 1936 |title=A Tour of Today's Talkies |url=https://archive.org/details/Modern-Screen-1936-12-Vol-14-No-1 |journal=Modern Screen |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=49 |issn=0026-8429 |via=archive.org}} Foster won an Oscar for his script for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, released in 1939 and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, based on Foster's book The Gentleman from Montana.

She and Foster remained together and raised a family of two children. Foster died in 1974. Dorothy never remarried and was residing in Lompoc, California, at the time of her death on January 7, 1998.

Partial filmography

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References

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External links

{{Portal|Biography}}

{{Commons category}}

  • {{IMDb name|0933333|Dorothy Wilson}}
  • {{Find a Grave|11506|Dorothy Wilson}}

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Category:American film actresses

Category:Actresses from Minneapolis

Category:1909 births

Category:1998 deaths

Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)

Category:20th-century American actresses