A genuine model of sincerity, practicality and dignity in most of the roles she inhabited, actress Dorothy McGuire offered Tinseltown more talent than it probably knew what to do with. A quiet, passive beauty, she had a soothing quality to her open-faced looks and voice. She was a natural when he came to tearjerkers and she certainly had a knack ...
I had such extraordinary breaks from the moment I entered the theater.
2
When I first read the script, I realized that Katie would have to be played as a rather down-to-earth person.
3
I took it all for granted, I'm sorry to say.
4
To this day, I don't know what shapes a Hollywood career.
#
Fact
1
She was awarded the 1975 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Performance for the play, "The Night of the Iguana," at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
2
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1947 for Gentleman's Agreement.
3
McGuire died of cardiac arrest following a brief illness at the age of 85 in 2001, three days after 9/11.
4
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy McGuire has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.
5
After spending time working on the radio, eventually, she reached Broadway, first appearing as an understudy to Martha Scott in Our Town, and subsequently starring in the domestic comedy, Claudia.
6
Brought to Hollywood by producer David O. Selznick (who called her "a born actress") on the strength of her stage performance, McGuire starred in her first film, a movie adaptation of her Broadway success, Claudia, and portrayed the character of a child bride who almost destroys her marriage through her selfishness. Her inaugural screen performance was popular with both the public and critics alike and was the catalyst for not only a sequel, Claudia and David (both movies co-starring Robert Young), but also for numerous other film roles.
7
On the radio, McGuire was a member of the casts of Big Sister (playing Sue Evans) and Joyce Jordan, M.D.. She also appeared in This Is My Best (Miracle in the Rain), Screen Directors Playhouse (The Spiral Staircase) and in Theatre Guild on the Air (Hamlet[5] A Doll's House, Our Town.
8
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, McGuire was the only child of Thomas Johnson McGuire and Isabelle Flaherty McGuire. She began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse.
9
After her father's death, McGuire attended a convent school in Indianapolis, Indiana. She later attended Pine Manor Junior College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, serving as president of that school's drama club. She graduated from Pine Manor when she was 19.
In 1947, Dorothy McGuire, along with Gregory Peck and Mel Ferrer, founded the "La Jolla Playhouse", on the campus of the University of California in San Diego, California.
Starred with 2 members of the Mills family in 2 different Disney films. She played John Mills' wife in Swiss Family Robinson in 1960 and Hayley Mills' mother in Summer Magic in 1963.
In April of 2002, Dorothy's family was hurt and disappointed after Dorothy's name was unwittingly omitted by the Motion Picture Academy from the "In Memoriam" tribute of the March 2002 telecast. The demure, classy Dorothy, who had died within the calendar year and was nominated once for an Oscar for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), was one of those talented stars who avoided the sensationalism of stardom. The Academy explained that it was NOT an oversight or a slight, but that they have room only for 15-20 names in a single tribute. However, left unexplained was why they managed to include lesser film personalities such as Aaliyah.
19
Married to John Swope, an airline founder and photographer for Life magazine, until his death in 1979.
$13 Million
