Dorothy Malone | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dorothy Malone, 1963 | |
| Born | Mary Dorothy Maloney (1924-01-29)January 29, 1924 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 2018(2018-01-19) (aged 93) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Southern Methodist University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1943–1992 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Robert B. Maloney (brother) |
Dorothy Malone (bornMary Dorothy Maloney; January 29, 1924 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly inB-movies, with the exception of a supporting role inThe Big Sleep (1946). After a decade, she changed her image, particularly after her role inWritten on the Wind (1956), for which she won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Her career reached its peak by the beginning of the 1960s, and she achieved later success with her television role asConstance MacKenzie onPeyton Place (1964–1968). Less active in her later years, Malone's last screen appearance was inBasic Instinct in 1992.[1]
Malone was born Mary Dorothy Maloney[2] on January 29, 1924[2] inChicago, one of five children born to Esther Emma "Eloise" Smith[3] and her husband Robert Ignatius Maloney,[4] an auditor forAT&T company.[3][5][self-published source?]
When she was six months old, her family moved toDallas, Texas.[3][6] There she modeled forNeiman Marcus and attendedUrsuline Academy of Dallas,Highland Park High School, Hockaday Junior College, and later,Southern Methodist University (SMU). She originally considered becoming a nurse.[7][3] While performing in a play at SMU,[8] she was spotted by a talent scout, Eddie Rubin,[3] who had been looking to find and cast a male actor.
Malone recalled in 1981,
"I was minoring in drama because I always seemed to be in the plays produced in high school and college. ... I did some scenes with this boy the agent had found and pictures of the scenes were taken of the boy and also of me. A few weeks later, a 13-week [studio] contract arrived by mail with a six-year option."[7]
Malone was signed byRKO at age 18 as Dorothy Maloney.[9][10] She made her film debut inGildersleeve on Broadway (1943).[11][12] She was credited as Dorothy Maloney inThe Falcon and the Co-eds (1943), released shortly thereafter.[10] She later recalled, "I was a bridesmaid at a wedding in one picture. In another film, I was the leader of an all-girl orchestra. The only thing I did at RKO of any note was lose my Texas accent."[13] Her RKO appearances includedHigher and Higher (1943) withFrank Sinatra,Seven Days Ashore (1944),Show Business (1944) withEddie Cantor,Step Lively (1944) again with Sinatra, andYouth Runs Wild (1944) for producerVal Lewton.[14] RKO elected not to renew her contract.[15] She made a brief uncredited appearance inOne Mysterious Night (1944), aBoston Blackie film for Columbia.[16]
She then signed a contract withWarner Bros. The studio, she said in 1985, changed her surname "from Maloney to Malone. They placed my picture in the newspaper and they gave me a raise."[13]
Malone's early Warner movies includedHollywood Canteen (1944),Too Young to Know (1945), andFrontier Days (1945). She first achieved notice whenHoward Hawks cast her as the bespectacled bookstore clerk inThe Big Sleep (1946) withHumphrey Bogart. Warner gave her bigger parts inJanie Gets Married (1945),Night and Day (1946), andTo the Victor (1946), withDennis Morgan.[17] Her first lead wasTwo Guys from Texas (1948) with Morgan andJack Carson; this film, in her words, established her onscreen persona as "the all-American girl watching the all-American boy do all sorts of things."[18]
She appeared inOne Sunday Afternoon (1948) withDennis Morgan andJanis Paige for directorRaoul Walsh; this was a remake ofThe Strawberry Blonde (1941), with Malone playing the part played byOlivia de Havilland in the original. She was billed third inFlaxy Martin (1949) withVirginia Mayo andZachary Scott, then played a good girl in a Western withJoel McCrea,South of St Louis (1949). McCrea and she were re-teamed inColorado Territory (1949), a remake ofHigh Sierra (1941), also for Walsh, her last film before she left the studio.[19]
Columbia used Malone to playRandolph Scott's leading lady inThe Man from Nevada (1950). She stayed at that studio forConvicted (1950) andThe Killer That Stalked New York (1950). She madeMrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1951) atMGM and playedTim Holt's love interest in RKO'sSaddle Legion (1951)[20] andJohn Ireland's love interest inThe Bushwackers (1951). She began acting on television while continuing to appear in films, guest-starring on shows such asThe Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse ("Education of a Fullback", 1951), andKraft Theatre ("The Golden Slate", 1951).[18]
She relocated to New York City for several months to study acting until producerHal B. Wallis called her back to appear inScared Stiff (1953) starring the comedy duo ofDean Martin andJerry Lewis.[21] Malone appeared in a war film,Torpedo Alley (1952) for Allied Artists.[22] She was a love interest in Westerns withRonald Reagan (Law and Order, 1953) andMark Stevens (Jack Slade, 1953).[21] She was also in the thrillerLoophole (1954), billed second.[22] She did episodes ofThe Doctor ("The Runaways", 1953),Omnibus ("The Horn Blows at Midnight", 1953);Four Star Theatre ("Moorings", 1953; "A Study in Panic", 1954),Fireside Theatre ("Afraid to Live", 1954; "Our Son", 1954; "Mr Onion" 1955),Lux Video Theatre ("The Hunted", 1955),The Christophers ("The World Starts with Jimmy", 1955), andGeneral Electric Theatre ("The Clown" withHenry Fonda, 1955).[22]
Film roles includedThe Lone Gun (1954), a Western withGeorge Montgomery;Pushover (1954), a thriller withFred MacMurray andKim Novak; andPrivate Hell 36 (1954) from directorDon Siegel.[22] Malone was reunited with Sinatra inYoung at Heart (1954), as a co-star. She had a leading part inBattle Cry (1955), playing a married woman who has an affair with a young soldier (Tab Hunter) during World War II, a box-office hit.[23]She again co-starred with Ireland inThe Fast and the Furious (1955), directed by Ireland but perhaps best remembered for being the first film produced byRoger Corman, who would later recount that Malone "had left her agent and, having no work, accepted a part for next to nothing."[24] He cast her as the female lead in his directorial debut,Five Guns West (1955). At Warner Bros., Malone made a Western withRandolph Scott,Tall Man Riding (1955), then was cast asLiberace's love interest in the unsuccessful filmSincerely Yours (1955). More successful was the Paramount musical comedyArtists and Models (1955), a reunion withMartin and Lewis, where she played the love interest of Martin's character. She then returned to Westerns:At Gunpoint (1955), with MacMurray;Tension at Table Rock (1956), withRichard Egan; andPillars of the Sky (1956) withJeff Chandler.[22]
.jpg)
Malone transformed herself into aplatinum blonde and shed her "good girl" image when she co-starred withRock Hudson,Lauren Bacall, andRobert Stack in directorDouglas Sirk's dramaWritten on the Wind (1956). Her portrayal of the dipso-nymphomaniac daughter of a Texas oilbaron won her theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[25]
As a result, she was offered more substantial roles in such films asMan of a Thousand Faces (1957), a biopic ofLon Chaney withJames Cagney andTip on a Dead Jockey (1957) withRobert Taylor.Quantez (1957) was another "girl in a Western" part, supportingFred MacMurray, butThe Tarnished Angels (1957) reunited her successfully with Hudson, Sirk, Stack, and producerAlbert Zugsmith. Malone was given the important role ofDiana Barrymore in the biopicToo Much, Too Soon (1958), but the film was not a success.[26] Malone appeared inWarlock (1959), but went back to guest starring on such television programs asCimarron City ("A Respectable Girl", 1958) andAlcoa Theatre ("The Last Flight Out", 1960). Malone made a third film with Stack,The Last Voyage (1960), and a third with Hudson,The Last Sunset (1961).[27]
However, she was working more and more in television:Route 66 ("Fly Away Home", 1961),Checkmate ("The Heat of Passion", 1961),Death Valley Days ("The Watch", 1961),The Dick Powell Theatre ("Open Season", 1961),Dr Kildare ("The Administrator", 1962),General Electric Theatre ("Little White Lie", 1961, "Somebody Please Help Me", 1962),The Untouchables with Stack ("The Floyd Gibbons Story", 1962), andThe Greatest Show on Earth ("Where the Wire Ends", 1963).[22] Malone was in the firstBeach Party (1963) movie, doing most of her scenes withRobert Cummings.[28] She made an uncredited cameo appearance inFate Is the Hunter (1964).[22]
From 1964–1968, she played the lead role ofConstance MacKenzie on the ABC primetime serialPeyton Place except for a brief stretch where she was absent due to surgery.Lola Albright filled in until her return. Malone agreed for $3,000 a week less than ABC's offer of $10,000 weekly, if she could be home nightly for 6 pm dinner with her two daughters and no shooting on weekends. "I never turned down a mother role", said Malone. "I like playing mothers. I started out as a very young girl in Hollywood doing Westerns, portraying a mother with a couple of kids."[13]
In 1968, she was written out of the show after complaining that she was given little to do. Malone sued20th Century Fox for $1.6 million for breach of contract; it was settled out of court. She later returned to the role in the TV moviesMurder in Peyton Place (1977) andPeyton Place: The Next Generation (1985).[29]
After leavingPeyton Place, Malone went to Italy to make a thrillerThe Insatiables (1969). In Hollywood, she made a TV movie withSammy Davis Jr.,The Pigeon (1969), then returned to guest-starring on TV series such asThe Bold Ones: The New Doctors ("Is This Operation Necessary?", 1972),Ironside ("Confessions: From a Lady of the Night", 1973), andEllery Queen ("The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer" 1975).[22]
Malone had a supporting part inAbduction (1975). She featured in the miniseriesRich Man, Poor Man (1976) and guest-starred onPolice Woman ("The Trick Book", 1976) andThe Streets of San Francisco ("Child of Anger", 1977). She was in the TV movieMurder in Peyton Place (1977) and had a supporting role inGolden Rendezvous (1977).[22]
She was seen on television inThe Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries ("The House on Possessed Hill" 1978),Flying High ("A Hairy Yak Plays Musical Chairs Eagerly" 1978),Vega$ ("Love, Laugh and Die" 1978), and the TV movieKatie: Portrait of a Centerfold (1978).[22]
Malone was in the Canadian soap operaHigh Hopes (1978) and had supporting parts inGood Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979),Winter Kills (1979), andThe Day Time Ended (1980), and the miniseriesCondominium (1980).[22]
In 1981, Malone made her stage debut inButterflies Are Free in Winnipeg.[30] She was suffering financial troubles at the time due to two expensive divorces and a life-threateningpulmonary embolism.[31]
The producers ofDallas approached her to step into the role ofMiss Ellie Ewing whenBarbara Bel Geddes vacated the part in 1984 due to illness, but Malone declined. Her later appearances includedThe Littlest Hobo ("Guardian Angel" 1982),Matt Houston ("Shark Bait" 1983),The Being (1983),Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985), andRest in Pieces (1987).[22]
In her last screen appearance, she played a mother convicted of murdering her family inBasic Instinct (1992).[7]
Malone was aDemocrat and campaigned forAdlai Stevenson during the1952 presidential election.[32]
Malone, a Roman Catholic,[33] wed actorJacques Bergerac[34] on June 28, 1959, at a Catholic church in Hong Kong, where she was on location for her 1960 filmThe Last Voyage. They had two daughters, Mimi (born 1960)[3] and Diane (born 1962)[3] and divorced on December 8, 1964.[3][35]
Malone then married New York businessman and broker Robert Tomarkin on April 3, 1969, at the Silver Bells Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her second marriage was later annulled after Malone claimed that Tomarkin married her because of her money.[3]
Malone married Dallas motel chain executive Charles Huston Bell on October 2, 1971, and they divorced after three years.[3][36]
Around 1971, Malone moved her daughters from Southern California to suburbanDallas, Texas, where she had been raised.[7][1]
Malone died of natural causes on January 19, 2018, 10 days before her 94th birthday, at a nursing facility in Dallas.[37][34][38] She is entombed at Calvary Hill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Dallas.[citation needed]
Malone has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 1718 Vine in the Motion Pictures section. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.[39]Malone was one of the industry deaths missing from the "In Memoriam" segment at the90th Academy Awards,[40] an omission made more prominent by the fact that she had won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the29th Academy Awards.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Gildersleeve on Broadway | Model | Uncredited[41] |
| 1943 | The Falcon and the Co-eds | Dorothy Co-ed | as Dorothy Maloney[42] |
| 1943 | Higher and Higher | Bridesmaid | Uncredited[42] |
| 1944 | Seven Days Ashore | Betty – Pianist | Uncredited[42] |
| 1944 | Show Business | Chorine | Uncredited[42] |
| 1944 | Step Lively | Telephone operator | Uncredited[42] |
| 1944 | Youth Runs Wild | Girl in Booth | Uncredited[41] |
| 1944 | One Mysterious Night | Eileen Daley | Uncredited[42] |
| 1944 | Hollywood Canteen | Junior Hostess | Uncredited[42] |
| 1945 | Too Young to Know | Mary[42] | |
| 1946 | Janie Gets Married | Sgt. Spud Lee[42] | |
| 1946 | Night and Day | Nancy[42] | |
| 1946 | The Big Sleep | Acme Book Shop Proprietress[42] | |
| 1948 | To the Victor | Miriam[42] | |
| 1948 | Two Guys from Texas | Joan Winston[42] | |
| 1948 | One Sunday Afternoon | Amy Lind[42] | |
| 1949 | Flaxy Martin | Nora Carson[42] | |
| 1949 | South of St. Louis | Deborah Miller[42] | |
| 1949 | Colorado Territory | Julie Ann Winslow[42] | |
| 1950 | The Nevadan | Karen Galt[42] | |
| 1950 | Convicted | Kay Knowland[42] | |
| 1950 | The Killer That Stalked New York | Alice Lorie[42] | |
| 1950 | Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone | Lola Gillway[42] | |
| 1951 | Saddle Legion | Dr. Ann F. Rollins[42] | |
| 1951 | The Bushwackers | Cathy Sharpe[42] | |
| 1952 | Torpedo Alley | Lt. Susan Peabody[42] | |
| 1953 | Scared Stiff | Rosie[42] | |
| 1953 | Law & Order | Jeannie[42] | |
| 1953 | Jack Slade | Virginia Maria Dale[42] | |
| 1953 | Omnibus | Elizabeth | Episode: "The Horn Blows at Midnight"[42] |
| 1953 | Four Star Playhouse | Marie Roberts | Episode: "Moorings"[42] |
| 1954 | Young at Heart | Fran Tuttle[41] | |
| 1954 | Loophole | Ruthie Donovan[42] | |
| 1954 | The Lone Gun | Charlotte Downing[42] | |
| 1954 | Pushover | Ann Stewart[42] | |
| 1954 | Private Hell 36 | Francey Farnham[42] | |
| 1954 | Security Risk | Donna Weeks[42] | |
| 1954 | Four Star Playhouse | Ella | Episode: "A Study in Panic"[42] |
| 1955 | Battle Cry | Mrs. Elaine Yarborough (USO Manager in San Diego)[42] | |
| 1955 | The Fast and the Furious | Connie Adair[42] | |
| 1955 | Five Guns West | Shalee[42] | |
| 1955 | Tall Man Riding | Corinna Ordway[42] | |
| 1955 | Sincerely Yours | Linda Curtis[42] | |
| 1955 | Artists and Models | Abigail 'Abby' Parker[42] | |
| 1955 | At Gunpoint | Martha Wright[42] | |
| 1955 | Fireside Theater | Marion Carney | Episode:Mr. Onion |
| 1955 | Lux Video Theatre | Intermission Guest | Episode: "The Hunted" |
| 1955 | G.E. True Theater | Eva Balto Kelly | Episode: "The Clown"[42] |
| 1956 | Tension at Table Rock | Lorna Miller[42] | |
| 1956 | Pillars of the Sky | Calla Gaxton[42] | |
| 1956 | Written on the Wind | Marylee Hadley | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture[42] |
| 1956 | The Loretta Young Show | May Hadley | Episode: "A Ticket for May"[42] |
| 1957 | Quantez | Chaney[42] | |
| 1957 | Man of a Thousand Faces | Cleva Creighton Chaney[42] | |
| 1957 | Tip on a Dead Jockey | Phyllis Tredman[42] | |
| 1957 | The Tarnished Angels | LaVerne Shumann[42] | |
| 1958 | Too Much, Too Soon | Diana Barrymore[42] | |
| 1958 | Cimarron City | Nora Arkins | Episode: "A Respectable Girl"[42] |
| 1959 | Warlock | Lily Dollar[42] | |
| 1960 | The Last Voyage | Laurie Henderson[42] | |
| 1960 | Alcoa Theatre | Ann St. Martin | Episode: "The Last Flight Out"[42] |
| 1961 | The Last Sunset | Belle Breckenridge[42] | |
| 1961 | Route 66 | Christina Summers | Episode: "Fly Away Home"[42] |
| 1961 | Checkmate | Lorna Shay | Episode: "The Heat of Passion"[42] |
| 1961 | The Dick Powell Show | Elena Shay | Episode: "Open Season"[42] |
| 1961 | G.E. True Theater | Ellen Rogers | Episode: "A Little White Lye"[42] |
| 1962 | Dr. Kildare | Rena Ladovan | Episode: "The Administrator"[42] |
| 1962 | The Untouchables | Kitty Edmonds | Episode: "The Floyd Gibbons Story"[42] |
| 1962 | G.E. True Theater | Ruth Hammond | Episode: "Somebody Please Help Me!"[42] |
| 1963 | Beach Party | Marianne[42] | |
| 1964 | The Greatest Show on Earth | Jeannie Gilbert | Episode: "Where the Wire Ends"[42] |
| 1964 | Fate Is the Hunter | Lisa Bond | Uncredited[42] |
| 1964 | Arrest and Trial | Lois Janeway | Episode: "Modus Operandi"[42] |
| 1964–1968 | Peyton Place | Constance MacKenzie Constance MacKenzie Carson | 342 episodes Golden Apple Award for Most Cooperative Actress (1965) Photoplay Award for Most Popular Female Star (1965) Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female (1965–1966)[42] |
| 1967 | Insight | Edith Stein | Episode: "The Edith Stein Story"[42] |
| 1969 | Carnal Circuit | Vanessa Brighton | |
| 1969 | The Pigeon | Elaine Hagen | Television film |
| 1972 | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | Ruth McLayne | Episode: "Is This Operation Necessary?"[42] |
| 1973 | Ironside | Agatha Mott | Episode: "Confessions: From a Lady of the Night"[42] |
| 1975 | The Man Who Would Not Die | Paula Stafford[42] | |
| 1975 | Abduction | Mrs. Prescott[42] | |
| 1976 | Ellery Queen | Carol Franklin | Episode: "The Adventure of the Electric Engineer"[42] |
| 1976 | Rich Man, Poor Man | Irene Goodwin | Episode: "Part VII: Chapters 10" Episode: "Part VIII: Chapters 11 and 12"[42] |
| 1976 | The Streets of San Francisco | Julia Desmond | Episode: "Child of Anger"[42] |
| 1977 | Golden Rendezvous | Mrs. Skinner[42] | |
| 1977 | Little Ladies of the Night | Maggie | Television film[41] |
| 1977 | The November Plan | Dawn Archer | Television film[41] |
| 1977 | Murder in Peyton Place | Constance MacKenzie | Television film[41] |
| 1978 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | Mrs. Blain | Episode: "The House on Possessed Hill"[42] |
| 1978 | High Hopes | Mrs. Herzog[42] | |
| 1978 | Vega$ | Mrs. Gardner | Episode: "Love, Laugh, and Die"[42] |
| 1978 | Flying High | Jane | Episode: "A Hairy Yak Plays Musical Chairs Eagerly"[42] |
| 1978 | Katie: Portrait of a Centrefold | Myrtle Cutler | Television film[41] |
| 1979 | The Day Time Ended | Ana Williams[42] | |
| 1979 | Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff | Mildred[42] | |
| 1979 | Winter Kills | Emma Kegan[42] | |
| 1979 | The Greatest Heroes of the Bible | Nagar | Episode: "Sodom and Gomorrah"[42] |
| 1980 | The Littlest Hobo | Elena | Episode: "Guardian Angle"[42] |
| 1980 | Condominium | Molly Denniver | Television film[42] |
| 1982 | Off Your Rocker | Shelley Delaine[42] | |
| 1983 | The Being | Marge Smith[42] | |
| 1984 | He's Not Your Son | Dr. Sullivan | Television film[41] |
| 1985 | Peyton Place: The Next Generation | Constance Carson[41] | |
| 1987 | Rest in Pieces[43] | ||
| 1992 | Basic Instinct | Hazel Dobkins[42] |
Dorothy Malone made her film debut [sic] in "The Falcon and the Co-Ed" [sic] under her real last name Maloney.
The film also marks the screen debut of Lawrence Tierney as a taxi driver and features Barbara Hale and Dorothy Malone in early bit parts
RKO Pictures signed the then-brunette Maloney at 18, [sic] and she made her film debut in 1943'sGildersleeve on Broadway andThe Falcon and the Co-Eds. She signed with Warner Bros. in 1945 (and by that time was officially known as Dorothy Malone) and made a splash in a small but juicy supporting role as a flirtatious bookseller opposite Humphrey Bogart in 1946'sThe Big Sleep.
Dorothy Malone, former Warner contract player, has been engaged by R.K.O. for the feminine lead opposite Tim Holt in 'Saddle Legion'(subscription required)
