Full Name Dora Matthews Role Actress Name Doro Merande | Years active 1928–1974 Occupation Actress | |
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Died November 1, 1975, Miami, Florida, United States Movies and TV shows The Man with the Golden A, Kiss Me - Stupid, Change of Habit, Our Town, Mr Belvedere Rings the Similar People Otto Preminger, William A Graham, Sam Wood, Billy Wilder, Robert Siodmak | ||
Doro Merande (born Dora Matthews, March 31, 1892 – November 1, 1975) was an American actress who appeared in film, theater, and television.
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Stage actress
Born in Columbus in Cherokee County in the southeastern corner of Kansas, as Dora Matthews and grew up in boarding schools in Michigan. Orphaned at a young age, she later headed to New York City to become an actress. She found her first part in a small summer company in Massachusetts. She coveted Broadway parts during the Great Depression. Her career began with the Jules Levanthal Company. She debuted on Broadway as "Sophie Tuttle" in Loose Moments in 1935. Soon she was cast in One Good Year, Red Harvest, and Angel Island. Her first major stage role was playing the gossip in Our Town by Thornton Wilder repeating her performance in the 1940 film. Merande later appeared with Leo G. Carroll in Lo and Behold, The Rat Race with Betty Field, and in The Silver Whistle, with José Ferrer. She performed with Clifton Webb (in Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell), Walter Huston (in Apple of His Eye), and Franchot Tone (in Hope For Your Best). Her final Broadway appearance was in the 1969 revival of The Front Page, in which she portrayed the cleaning woman, as she had also done in the film and television versions.
Films/TV
Merande appeared onscreen in bit parts starting in the early 1930s and had her first substantial role in 1940, reprising her role as the gossip in the film adaptation of Our Town. Other film credits include:
Television
Death
Doro Merande attended The Honeymooners anniversary special with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in Florida. A short time later, she died of a stroke at the age of eighty-three at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She never married.