Cause of death Cancer Role Film actress Name Dorothy Sebastian | Years active 1925–1948 Occupation Actress | |
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Marriage location Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Movies Our Dancing Daughters, Spite Marriage, Our Blushing Brides, A Woman of Affairs, Montana Moon Similar People William Boyd, Harry Beaumont, Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton, Grace Bradley | ||
Tribute to dorothy sebastian the very thought of you
Dorothy Sebastian (April 26, 1903 – April 8, 1957) was an American film and stage actress.
Contents
- Tribute to dorothy sebastian the very thought of you
- USA Film Dorothy Sebastian Greatest Woman Actress Hollywood Silent Film MGM
- Biography
- Songwriting
- Personal life
- Legal issues
- Legacy
- Filmography
- References
USA Film Dorothy Sebastian Greatest Woman Actress Hollywood Silent Film MGM
Biography
Sebastian was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. In her youth, she aspired to be a dancer and a film actress. Her family frowned on both ambitions, however, so she fled to New York at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in New York City, Sebastian's southern drawl was thick enough to "cut with a knife". She followed around theatrical agents before returning at night to a $12-a-month room, after being consistently rejected.
Sebastian's first contact in Hollywood was Robert Kane, who gave her a film test at United Studios. She performed in George White's Scandals and later co-starred with Joan Crawford and Anita Page in a popular series of MGM romantic dramas including Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and Our Blushing Brides (1930). Sebastian also appeared in 1929's Spite Marriage, wherein she was cast opposite her then-lover Buster Keaton.
By the mid-1930s, Sebastian was semi-retired from acting after marrying Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd. After their 1936 divorce, she returned to acting appearing in mostly bit parts. Her last onscreen appearance was in the 1948 film The Miracle of the Bells.
On April 8, 1957, Sebastian died of cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Songwriting
Sebastian is credited with co-writing the Moon Mullican blues ballad "The Leaves Mustn't Fall". Mullican recorded this in 1950 and 1958 and it has since become a bluegrass standard.
Personal life
Sebastian married actor William Boyd in December 1930 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They began a relationship after meeting on the set of His First Command in 1929. They divorced in 1936.
In 1947, Sebastian married Miami Beach businessman Harold Shapiro to whom she remained married until her death.
Legal issues
On November 7, 1938, Sebastian was found guilty of drunk driving in a Beverly Hills, California Justice Court. The night she was arrested, she had been dining at the home of Buster Keaton with her nephew. She was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and paid a fine of $75.
In 1940, Sebastian was denied an award of $10,000 from a San Diego court. She appeared at a Red Cross benefit in San Francisco in 1937, and failed to pay her hotel bill. She contended the promoter for the event should have paid the bill. An employee of the Plaza Hotel took out the suit, charging "defrauding an innkeeper". The State Supreme Court of California reversed the decision, which awarded her the money on grounds of malicious prosecution.
Legacy
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Sebastian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6655 Hollywood Boulevard.