Gloria Dickson | |
|---|---|
 Dickson, circa 1940s | |
| Born | Thais Alalia Dickerson (1917-08-13)August 13, 1917 Pocatello, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | April 10, 1945(1945-04-10) (aged 27) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1937–1945 |
| Spouses | |
Gloria Dickson (bornThais Alalia Dickerson; August 13, 1917[1] – April 10, 1945) was an American stage and screen actress of the 1930s and 1940s.
Born inPocatello, Idaho, Dickson was the daughter of a banker. After her father's death in 1929, the family moved to California.[2] She graduated fromLong Beach Polytechnic High School.[3]
She began acting during high school in amateur theatre productions. Encouraged by her acting coaches, she moonlighted doing dramatic readings at social clubs and onKFOX radio station inLong Beach, California.[citation needed]
In April 1936, as she worked in a production of theFederal Theatre Project,[4] she was spotted byWarner Bros.talent scout Max Arnow, who signed her to a contract. Her film debut was in 1937'sThey Won't Forget.[3]
Dickson was married to the famous makeup artistPerc Westmore on June 20, 1938, in Santa Barbara, California, then filed suit for divorce from him on May 17, 1940.[5] Their uncontested divorce was granted on June 22, 1941, in Los Angeles, California.[6]
Her second marriage, in late 1941, was to film directorRalph Murphy, whom she divorced in 1944.[7]
Later in 1944, she married William Fitzgerald, a former boxer to whom she remained married until her death at age 27 on April 10, 1945.[8]
Dickson died during a fire on April 10, 1945, at the Los Angeles home she was renting from actorSidney Toler,[9] 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 she is assumed to have attempted to escape through the bathroom window. She died fromasphyxiation; flames had seared her lungs, and her body had suffered first- and second-degree burns.[10]
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