Dawn Bender

Dawn Bender
Born (1935-02-21) February 21, 1935
Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1937–1959
Spouse(s) Warren Vanders (1953-1955)
Jerry Anderson
Emmett Jacobs

Dawn Bender (born February 21, 1935) is an American film, stage, and radio actress, most famous for the role of Margaret on the radio drama One Man's Family[1] and Betty Morgan in Teenagers from Outer Space.

Early life

Bender was born in Glendale, California. She attended Vista Colina School in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles.[2]

Film

Bender landed her first role as an infant playing the role of baby Lisa in Joe May's 1937 film Confession, where she was featured alongside such greats as Basil Rathbone, Ian Hunter and "box-office poison" Kay Francis. She was featured in a number of films, including Till We Meet Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945), George Sanders caper The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945), Suspense (1946), and John Wayne drama Island in the Sky (1953).[3]

Radio

She was a member of the "500 Club", composed of child actors who had appeared in at least 500 radio shows.

At age 7, Bender was cast as little Margaret Herbert in the popular radio drama One Man's Family. The role made her a household name, and she continued as Margaret for 17 years, through the series' conclusion in 1959. Her other roles on radio programs included Susan Fitz on His Honor the Barber, Susan Sample on Cousin Willie, and Maggie Truitt on The Trouble with the Truitts.[4] She was also a regular on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show[4]:129 and on the soap opera Bob and Victoria.[5]

Bender also appeared on Errand of Mercy [6] and Screen Directors Playhouse.[7]

Stage

Bender appeared in a number of stage plays throughout the Los Angeles area.

Personal life

On June 26, 1953,[8] Bender married fellow Pasadena City College student and future Gunsmoke actor Warren Vanders (né VanderSchuit);[9] she was only 18 at the time. The couple went their separate ways by spring of 1955, after they had both transferred to Pepperdine University.

Later career & retirement

In 1953, Bender had a supporting role in Ruth Gordon's semi-autobiographical film The Actress,[10] based on her novel Years Ago. The film was directed by hard-hitting George Cukor, and starred heavyweights Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons, and young Anthony Perkins. By 1955, Dawn was ready to settle down again, this time with Jerry Anderson, another drama student at Pepperdine; they went on to have two children during their marriage.

Dawn Bender rehearses for One Man's Family, circa 1945.

Despite her career's upswing and her status as an up-and-coming ingenue, Dawn was tiring of the acting scene, and prepared to retire to married life. In 1956, she was recruited by a friend of a friend to act in Tom Graeff's second feature Teenagers from Outer Space. Finally cast in a leading role, Dawn would play Betty Morgan, a headstrong girl who helps a rebel alien save earth from imminent destruction. She's credited in the film under the name "Dawn Anderson", using her married name to avoid strict SAG rules. (Another actor on Teenagers, King Moody, did not fare so well — in 1962 he and four other SAG actors were fined by the guild for working below pay scale.)

The film debuted in 1959 but by then, Bender's career was winding down. She starred in her last play, André Gide's The Immoralist in 1962, and retired shortly after.

She earned a teaching degree from Loyola Marymount University in the 1970s, and eventually went on to become a schoolteacher in Los Angeles county, where she taught for almost 40 years. She has since retired and still lives in the Los Angeles area with her third husband of many decades, retired Loyola professor Emmett Jacobs.

Rumors and speculation

For many years it was erroneously reported that Dawn Bender had died of alcohol-related complications in the early-1970s. This rumor probably came about because of a death from those causes of a different Dawn Bender, which occurred around the time that Ms. Bender retired from acting. This rumor was repeated in publications and articles about Teenagers from Outer Space until 2006, when a biographer located her for an interview.

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Modes Of The Moment". Texas, Corsicana. Corsicana Daily Sun. April 22, 1944. p. 2. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Carter, Peggy (March 25, 1945). "Little Girl With Two Families" (PDF). Radio Life. p. 27. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "John Wayne Due In Midway Film". Alabama, Anniston. The Anniston Star. November 8, 1953. p. 30. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4. Pp. 84-85, 151-152, 339-340.
  5. ↑ "What's New" (PDF). Radio Life. January 26, 1947. p. 13. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "(radio listing)". Michigan, Holland. The Holland Evening Sentinel. September 23, 1949. p. 5. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "In Review" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 7, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Kyle, Otto R. (July 2, 1953). "By The Way". Illinois, Decatur. The Decatur Daily Review. p. 4. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Marriages" (PDF). Billboard. July 4, 1953. p. 63. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Off-Broadway to Offer 'Immoralist'". California, Long Beach. Independent Press-Telegram. January 21, 1962. p. 70. Retrieved March 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

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