Dorothy Jordan

Brunette 'Dorothy Jordan' (qv) was a graduate of Southwestern University and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Trained as a ballerina, she first graced the stage as a chorus girl in top flight musicals, like "Funny Face" (1927), with 'Fred Astaire' (qv), and "Treasure Girl" (1928), with 'Gertrude Lawrence' (qv) and 'Clifton Webb' (qv). This led to what turned out to be a fairly short and desultory movie career, beginning with a run-of-the-mill thriller, _Black Magic (1929)_ (qv). Dorothy was soon cast as assorted sultry dames in _Devil-May-Care (1929)_ (qv) and _Call of the Flesh (1930)_ (qv), opposite Latin star 'Ramon Novarro' (qv). Rather more demure was her Bianca, the overtly obedient (but deceptively cunning) younger sister of Kate ('Mary Pickford' (qv)) in _The Taming of the Shrew (1929)_ (qv). Contemporary critics were frequently unimpressed with Dorothy's acting, whether it was speaking her lines too quickly (_Hell Bound (1931)_ (qv)) or delivering them as a 'memory citation' (_Beloved Bachelor (1931)_ (qv)). She gave rather better account of herself in more downtrodden waif-like roles, notably as 'Marie Dressler' (qv)'s daughter in _Min and Bill (1930)_ (qv), as an unwed mother in _Bondage (1933)_ (qv) and as simple-minded Southern girl Betty Wright in _The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)_ (qv).After her marriage to famed producer 'Merian C. Cooper' (qv) in 1933 -- and finding decent roles ever harder to come by -- Dorothy gave up acting to raise a family. She emerged from retirement in 1937, unsuccessfully screen testing for the role of Melanie in _Gone with the Wind (1939)_ (qv). She made a second comeback upon her husband's successful entreaties to a long-term friend and collaborator, the director 'John Ford' (qv). Dorothy appeared in supporting roles in three of Ford's films, before leaving the screen for the final time. In her later years, she became somewhat reticent about discussing her career as a movie actress.::I.S.Mowis