Dorothy West (actress)

Dorothy West (August 29, 1891 – December 11, 1980) was an American stage and film actress and radio performer.

Douglas Fairbanks with West in The Habit of Happiness (1916)
Film still for 1910 Civil War drama directed by D. W. Griffith
For other people named Dorothy West, see Dorothy West (disambiguation)

Early life

She grew up in Huntsville, Alabama.[1]

Career

West was a star in Biograph silent films in New York. She later relocated to Hollywood with a group of D.W. Griffith stars that included Mary Pickford, Marion Leonard, Florence Barker, and Mack Sennett in 1909.[2][3] West, Pickford, Pickford's brother Jack, and Effie Johnson boarded together.[3]

She joined a stock theatre company in Mount Vernon, Illinois;[1] then joined the Pitt Stock Players in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;[4] and in also performed in theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[1]

West returned to film several years later. West received positive notice for her work in Griffith's His Mother's Scarf (1911)[5] Swords and Hearts (1911)[6] and The Eternal Grind (1916).[7]

West left films again to tour in theatre productions in Europe after World War I with the American Army of Occupation,[1] including in Germany.[8]

She also worked on Broadway[9] and with a theatre company called The Triangle Players.[10] She performed in the short play Sintram of Skaggerack by Sada Cowan in 1923.[11]

She made her radio debut in 1928.[1]

Selected filmography

References
  1. "From Alabam'". Burlington Hawk Eye October 28, 1928. October 28, 1928. p. 19. Retrieved April 21, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.
  2. "Hollywood's 3d of a Century". Variety. Vol. 133, no. 4. January 4, 1939. p. 5 – via Proquest.
  3. Arvidson, Linda (1969) [1925]. When the movies were young. Dover Publications.
  4. Zimmerman, M.K. (November 22, 1913). "Pittsburgh, PA". The Billboard. Vol. 25, no. 47. p. 18 – via Proquest.
  5. "Notable Attractions at the Picture House". The Syracuse Herald. April 2, 1916. Retrieved April 22, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.
  6. Denig, Lynde (April 15, 1916). "Biograph Reissues for May: More Griffith Subjects with Casts That Mean Much to Followers of the Screen". The Moving Picture World. p. 457.
  7. "Mary Pickford at Stanley". The Philadelphia Inquirer. April 11, 1916. p. 5. Retrieved April 22, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.
  8. "Dramatic Stock: American Stock in Germany". The Billboard. Vol. 19, no. 32. May 8, 1920. p. 12 – via Proquest.
  9. "Fine Triangle Films". The Billboard. Vol. 28, no. 14. April 1, 1916. p. 58 – via Proquest.
  10. "Legitimate: Little Theatres". Variety. Vol. 70, no. 13. May 17, 1923. pp. 16, 33 – via Proquest.
  11. Gillette, Don Carle (May 19, 1923). "The Triangle Players". Vol. 35, no. 20. p. 10 – via Proquest.
  12. Keil, Charlie; Singer, Ben (2009). American Cinema of the 1910s: Themes and Variations. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-4445-8.
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