Dorothy Devore

Dorothy Devore
Publicity photo of Devore from Famous Film Folk (1925)
Born	Alma Inez Williams June 22, 1899 Fort Worth, Texas
Died	September 10, 1976 (aged 77) Woodland Hills, California

Dorothy Devore (June 22, 1899 – September 10, 1976) was an American silent film actor and comedian in her time.

Early life

Born as Alma Inez Williams in Fort Worth, Texas in 1899, her family soon moved to Los Angeles when she was still a young girl. It was there where she completed her education and then joined a musical comedy company, with which she appeared for one year. She then went to Lyons and Moran comedies at Universal Pictures. It was at Universal where she was "discovered" by director/producer Al Christie, one of the most famous comedic moviemakers of the era. She began playing in small parts in films for Christie, but soon received leads and moved from one-reelers to two-reelers, which would make her a star.

Career

Dorothy became very popular in the film industry during the period of 1918 until the late 1920s. She was a talented actress, specializing in comedic roles, such as in Know Thy Wife (1918), directed by Al Christie. Dorothy was chosen as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1923. During a good deal of her career, she achieved stardom in the comedic two-reel Christie Comedies, released through Educational.

A little time after her career kicked off, Christie loaned her out to play the female lead opposite Charles Ray in 45 Minutes from Broadway (1920), in which she had great success. She made several successful films which established her as one of the screen's most talented comedians of the era. She made her last film, Take the Heir, in 1930, and began her retirement from the movies.

Personal life

She married theater owner Albert Wylie Mather in 1926. Devore died in 1976 in Woodland Hills, California, aged 77, from undisclosed causes.

Selected filmography

• The House Cleaning Horrors (1918) (*short)
• The Extra Bridegroom (1918) (*short)
• The Law of the North (1918) (*short)
• Please Hit Me (1918) (*short)
• Frenzied Film (1918) (*short)
• The Price of a Rotten Time (1918) (*short)
• Maid Wanted (1918) (*short)
• Camping Out (1918) (*short)
• Swat the Flirt (1918) (*short)
• String Beans (1918) (*uncredited)
• Know Thy Wife (1918) (*short)
• How's Your Husband? (1919) (*short)
• Sing, Rosa, Sing! (1919) (*short)
• Good Gracious, Bobby (1919) (*short)
• You Couldn't Blame Her (1919) (*short)
• 45 Minutes from Broadway (1920)
• Magnificent Brute (1921)
• Hazel from Hollywood (1923)
• When Odds are Even (1923)
• Getting Gertie's Goat (1924)
• Hold Your Breath (1924)
• The Tomboy (1924)
• The Narrow Street (1925)
• Who Cares (1925) -- (Survives Library of Congress)
• The Prairie Wife (1925)
• Three Weeks in Paris (1925)
• A Broadway Butterfly (1925)
• How Baxter Butted In (1925)
• The Man Upstairs (1926)
• Senor Daredevil (1926)
• The Social Highwayman (1926)
• Money to Burn (1926)
• The Gilded Highway (1926)
• Mountains of Manhattan (1927)
• No Babies Wanted (1928)
• Take the Heir (1930)

External links

• Dorothy Devore at the Internet Movie Database
• Literature on Dorothy Devore