Occupation Film actress Children Douglas Hart Pittera Role Actress | Name Dorothy Hart Years active 1947-1955 | |
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Born April 4, 1922 ( 1922-04-04 ) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. Spouse Frederick Pittera (m. 1954–1965) Movies The Naked City, Tarzan's Savage Fury, Calamity Jane and Sam Bass, I Was a Communist for the FBI, Loan Shark Similar Howard Duff, Mark Hellinger, Barbara Britton Died July 11, 2004 (aged 82) Asheville, North Carolina, U.S. Nationality American Zodiac Sign Aries | ||
Dorothy hart an inscrutable riddle
Dorothy Hart (April 4, 1922 – July 11, 2004) was an American screen actress, known mostly for her supporting roles. She is best remembered as Howard Duff's fiancée in the 1948 film The Naked City.
Contents
- Dorothy hart an inscrutable riddle
- Dorothy Hart This Is Your Life
- Background
- Career
- Personal life
- Filmography
- References
Dorothy Hart - This Is Your Life
Background
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she became a model in her late teens, and was signed by Columbia in 1946. Her contract stipulated "A-movies only". Although considered one of the top supporting actresses of her day, she was frequently cast in B movies. Dorothy was attractive, standing 5 ft 6 in, with green eyes and auburn hair.
She graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a B.A. degree. She was also a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. After gaining some experience at the Cleveland Play House she resolved on a singing career. In 1944, a newspaper friend submitted her photo in the Columbia Pictures "National Cinderella Cover Girl Contest of 1944." Miss Hart had saved enough money to go to New York when she learned that she was high on the list of Cover Girl finalists. After winning the contest, the studio paid for her trip in August 1944, and she was given a screen test for the Rita Hayworth film "Tonight and Every Night", as her contest award.
Career
Her first big movie break came, starring alongside Randolph Scott, in the 1947 Western Gunfighters. It was a technicolor film for Columbia Pictures directed by George Waggner.
While filming in October, 1946 Hart was sent home from location with an illness which was diagnosed as influenza. In February, 1947 she was injured during horseback sequences in Arizona. Minor corrective surgery was performed at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California. The Painted Desert. was one of the main sites utilized for this movie. Barbara Britton played the female lead in the adventure drama with Hart heading up the supporting cast.
Columnist Hedda Hopper reported in a June 1947 column that Mary Pickford was suing Dorothy Hart for a sum of $79,000 because the young actress refused to accept a role in the film There Goes Lona Henry. Pickford stated in an interview that she hoped to take an unknown girl and make her into a great star. Hart refused the role because she did not want to sign away seven years of her career for a single movie opportunity.
In 1948, Hart made Larceny with Shelley Winters and The Countess of Monte Cristo with Sonja Henie, both for Universal Pictures. The Naked City, starring Barry Fitzgerald, premiered on March 10, 1948. Hart became the tenth actress to portray Jane when she appeared opposite Lex Barker as Tarzan in Tarzan's Savage Fury. She also co-starred in Outside the Wall (1950) and I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951).
Personal life
Hart was twice married and divorced. She died of Alzheimer's Disease on July 11, 2004, in Asheville, North Carolina, at age 82. She was survived by a son, a sister, and three grandchildren.