Dorothy Page

Dorothy Page

Born: March 4, 1904
Died: March 26, 1961
in Northampton, Pennsylvania, USA
Dorothy Page was born March 4, 1904, in Northampton, Pennsylvania. As a college student in Pennsylvania she was picked by the Curtis Publishing Co. to be a cover model for the "Saturday Evening Post". She married a medical student in 1925, and after he became a doctor they moved to Detroit, his hometown, to start his medical practice. The Depression hit the US in the 1930s, and many families needed extra income to survive, so Dorothy--who had majored in music in college--auditioned for a singing spot in the Paul Whiteman band. She got the job, and was soon singing with Whiteman's band on his NBC Radio show. She became quite popular with audiences. In 1935 she was a regular on the "Paducah Plantation" radio program of Irvin S. Cobb. That same year she was signed to a contract by Universal Pictures, which put her in a lower-budget musical with Ricardo Cortez called Manhattan Moon (1935), which clicked with audiences. Her next film, though, King Solomon of Broadway (1935), was less successful, and she was dropped by Universal.

A few years later she tried her luck in films again with a film for Republic Pictures, Mama Runs Wild (1937), a Charles Ruggles - Mary Boland comedy, but in this film Dorothy didn't sing, and the picture didn't do well critically or financially. However, "B" studio Grand National Pictures thought that Dorothy could save their studio, which was on the financial ropes due to the disastrous Something to Sing About (1937), a million-dollar James Cagney musical that flopped big-time and cost Grand National a fortune. The studio signed Dorothy for a series of medium-budgeted musical westerns, with the gimmick of her being a singing cowgirl. However, "medium budgeted" for Grand National was "very low budgeted" anywhere else, and the films--three in all--were not particularly successful, as audiences didn't take to the idea of a singing cowgirl the way they had to a singing cowboy. After the third film Grand National dropped the series, and Dorothy as well, and the studio soon went out of business. Dorothy retired from acting to devote her time to her family. Her first marriage having ended in a divorce, she remarried again in 1939, to an attorney, but he died of a heart attack in 1941. She soon remarried a third time, to a rancher in Fresno, California, and moved there to help him run his ranching business for many years. The 1950s were not good for her, however, Her marriage broke up and later she was diagnosed with cancer. She moved to Florida after the divorce to be nearer to the hospital where she was receiving treatment for her disease, but she succumbed to it in 1961.

Movies for Dorothy Page...

Ride 'em, Cowgirl
Title: Ride 'em, Cowgirl
Character: Helen Rickson
Released: January 20, 1939
Type: Movie
Sandy Doyle, gambler and political chief of a small border town, seeks to gain control of the Bar-X Ranch, owned by Rufe Rickson, to further some undercover activities of his own. He counts on Rickson's inability to stay away from gambling as the means to his ultimate success. Government investigator Oliver Shea and his assistant, Dan Haggerty, start a fight in Doyle's place when they see Rickson being cheated and are invited to the Bar-X where Oliver and Helen Rickson, Rufe's daughter, discover interest in each other and Dan finds himself pursued by Bell, the ranch cook. Sheriff Larson brings the prize money for the $5,000 race of the Rodeo Association, and that night it is stolen.
bee
Water Rustlers
Title: Water Rustlers
Character: Shirley Martin
Released: January 6, 1939
Type: Movie
Shirley Martin finds that Weylan has diverted the water from the valley and her cattle are dying. First she and her foreman Bob Lawson go to court. This fails when Weylan's men keep the ranchers from testifying. But Shirley has a second plan to return water to the valley.
bee
The Singing Cowgirl
Title: The Singing Cowgirl
Character: Dorothy Hendricks
Released: June 2, 1938
Type: Movie
Tolen is after the Harkins ranch where his men have found gold. After they kill Harkins, Dorothy and Dick step in and discover that the gold actually washes down from Tolen's own ranch. When Harkins' brother arrives to take over they test Tolen by having the brother offer to swap ranches.
bee
Mama Runs Wild
Title: Mama Runs Wild
Character: Mrs. Hayes
Released: December 22, 1937
Type: Movie
Suburban Paradise Park becomes a heaven for social-minded Mrs. Alice Summers (Mary Boland), when she accidentally causes the apprehension of two bank robbers after walking into the bank during the robbery and one of the robbers, in taking money from her purse, left his fingerprints on the purse. She is made an honorary police captain and, with her society sisters sets about "keeping lawlessness" out of the town. From that point on, life becomes miserable for her hen-pecked husband Calvin (Ernest Truex).
bee
King Solomon of Broadway
Title: King Solomon of Broadway
Character: Sheba
Released: September 30, 1935
Type: Movie
An underworld character wins a Broadway nightclub in a card game.
bee
Manhattan Moon
Title: Manhattan Moon
Character: Yvonne / Toots Malloy
Released: July 1, 1935
Type: Movie
Night club owner Dan Moore is trying to collect a debt owed to him by playboy Reggie Van Dorn, but Reggie is a playboy with no money but lots of social connections. In lieu of the cash, Dan gets Reggie to introduce him to the swells of high society. They go to the opera and, after hearing Yvonne Malloy sing, Dan falls in love with her. Reggie introduces them, but the introduction is to Yvonne's double and stand-in, Toots. This leads to many complications for all concerned.