Dorothy Sebastian

Dorothy Sebastian

Born: April 26, 1903
Died: April 8, 1957
in Birmingham, Alabama, USA
From Wikipedia

Dorothy Sebastian (April 26, 1903 – April 8, 1957) was an American film and stage actress.

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 for 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.

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.

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.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Sebastian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6655 Hollywood Blvd.

Movies for Dorothy Sebastian...

The Miracle of the Bells
Title: The Miracle of the Bells
Character: Miss Katie Orwin (uncredited)
Released: March 27, 1948
Type: Movie
The body of a young actress is brought to her home town by the man who loved her. He knows that she wanted all the church bells to ring for three days after she was buried, but is told that this will cost a lot of money. The checks that he writes to the various churches all bounce, but it is the weekend and, in desperation, he prays that a miracle will happen before the banks reopen. It does, but not in the way he hoped.
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Among the Living
Title: Among the Living
Character: Woman in Cafe
Released: December 12, 1941
Type: Movie
A mentally unstable man, who has been kept in isolation for years, escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.
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Kansas Cyclone
Title: Kansas Cyclone
Character: Helen King
Released: June 24, 1941
Type: Movie
The irrepressible Donald Barry is twice falsely accused of murder in this typical low-budget but well-mounted Republic Western. Barry plays Jim Randall, a lawman assigned to investigate a series of gold shipment robberies. Arriving in the middle of a hold-up, Randall finds himself accused of killing the driver (Yakima Canutt). Wells Fargo agent Cal Chambers (Milton Kibbee) vouches for his innocence, however, claiming him to be a noted geologist. Along with several of the prospectors, Jim devises a plan to prove that Jud Parker (Harry Worth) is using his dummy mine as a cover for stealing ore.
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Days of Jesse James
Title: Days of Jesse James
Character: Zerilda James (uncredited)
Released: December 20, 1939
Type: Movie
Days of Jesse James is a 1939 American film directed by Joseph Kane and starring Roy Rogers. Bank robbery pulled off by the bank officials, not the usual James gang.
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The Arizona Kid
Title: The Arizona Kid
Character: Bess Warren
Released: September 28, 1939
Type: Movie
Roy is a Confederate officer stationed in Missouri during the Civil War. He must put an end to outlaw gangs working under the pretense of service to the Confederacy.
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The Women
Title: The Women
Character: Saleswoman Pat (uncredited)
Released: September 1, 1939
Type: Movie
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
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Rough Riders' Round-up
Title: Rough Riders' Round-up
Character: Rose
Released: March 13, 1939
Type: Movie
Roy Rogers is a cowboy who joins the Border Patrol, only to have his buddy Tommy get killed at a local saloon. Determined to get revenge at any cost, Roy and Rusty cross the border in search of Arizona Jack, the man responsible for Tommy's death.
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The Mysterious Pilot
Title: The Mysterious Pilot
Character: Jean McNain
Released: December 9, 1937
Type: Movie
Jim Dorn endeavors to protect Jean McNain from a man she knows has committed a murder, Carter Snowden
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The Life of Vergie Winters
Title: The Life of Vergie Winters
Character: Lulu
Released: June 14, 1934
Type: Movie
A small town politician, kept from marrying the love of his life, eventually marries another woman and his career ascends, but he secretly continues the relationship with his true love.
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Allez Oop
Title: Allez Oop
Character: Paula Stevens
Released: May 25, 1934
Type: Movie
When Buster's girlfriend falls for a trapeze artist, Buster tries to beat him at his own game.
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Ship of Wanted Men
Title: Ship of Wanted Men
Character: Irene Reynolds
Released: September 8, 1933
Type: Movie
A shipful of fugitives from justice pulls up on a Pacific Island where there are no extradition laws. The island is a magnet for the scum of the earth, as well as a few honest guys who were framed. Into this den of iniquity swims socialite Dorothy Sebastian, who jumped off a yacht after apparently murdering her lecherous host. To remain on the Island, Sebastian is told that she must pay $5,000 to head honcho Fred Kohler -- and if she hasn't got the money, it is implied, there are other methods of collection.
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Smuggling
Title: Smuggling
Released: September 14, 1932
Type: Movie
Contrabando is an adventure film. The film tells of the millionaire Hernández who smuggles weapons from the United States into Mexico. He does this because he is planning an uprising. The hotel attendant Carlos is informed of this. Hernández and his troops are defeated by the army. Carlos is acquitted and can marry his lover Lolita. The film Contrabando was shot in locations on the border with the United States, such as Tijuana, Ensenada and Playas de Rosarito. It was shot in Spanish and in English under the title Contraband. The role of Lolita was cast for the English version with Dorothy Sebastian. Contrabando's plot was inspired by an actual 1929 rebellion led by José Gonzalo Escobar.
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They Never Come Back
Title: They Never Come Back
Character: Adele Landon
Released: May 10, 1932
Type: Movie
Prizefighter Jimmy Nolan, facing an opportunity to get a championship fight, is knocked out when he sustains what is apparently a permanent injury to his arm. From there, Nolan's path leads downhill. He is drawn into a romance with a nightclub entertainer, then is framed on a theft charge by a jealous suitor. After his prison term, Nolan makes a spectacular comeback in a fight which proves his courage and integrity, while disproving the fallacy about the old sports adage that "they never come back."
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The Wide Open Spaces
Title: The Wide Open Spaces
Character: Rose
Released: December 28, 1931
Type: Movie
A Wild West spoof by The Masquers Comedy Club of Hollywood.
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The Big Gamble
Title: The Big Gamble
Character: Beverly Ames Beckwith
Released: September 4, 1931
Type: Movie
A gambler, hopelessly in debt, agrees to pay off his debt by allowing his creditor to take out a life insurance policy on him and collecting once the one-year suicide clause has elapsed.
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Ships of Hate
Title: Ships of Hate
Character: Grace Walsh
Released: June 15, 1931
Type: Movie
A cruel sea captain (Charles Middleton) oversees a rough crew.
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Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
Title: Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
Character: Dorothy Sebastian
Released: December 1, 1930
Type: Movie
Andy Clyde plays football with the Sennett girls; Mary Pickford's miniature golf course is shown.
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The Utah Kid
Title: The Utah Kid
Character: Jennie Lee
Released: October 27, 1930
Type: Movie
The Utah Kid eludes a sheriff's posse and takes refuge in Robber's Roost, a hideout for outlaws running from the law where he meets and falls for a waylaid school teacher.
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Our Blushing Brides
Title: Our Blushing Brides
Character: Francine 'Franky' Daniels
Released: July 19, 1930
Type: Movie
Three department store girls--Connie, Franky, and Gerry--share an apartment on West 91st Street in New York City. Each earns little more than 20 dollars per week. Gerry is the sensible one, but the others throw themselves at amoral rich men in an attempt to hook one and better themselves. They end up being hurt and disappointed despite Gerry's attempts to warn them.
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Hell's Island
Title: Hell's Island
Character: Marie
Released: July 16, 1930
Type: Movie
In this adventure, trouble ensues when two American French Legionnaires fall for the same girl and begin fighting over her when one of them announces that he plans to marry her. The argument is quite heated and in the ensuing scuffle one of them is shot and wounded.
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Free and Easy
Title: Free and Easy
Character: Cave Scene
Released: March 22, 1930
Type: Movie
Gopher City Kansas hosts a beauty contest. The winner, Elvira Plunkett, and her mother go to Hollywood. The Chamber of Commerce also provides Elvira with an agent, Gopher City's own Elmer J. Butz. Elmer likes Elvira and the shy Elvira likes him, but Mrs. Plunkett, a formidable woman, has little use for hapless Elmer. On the train west, they meet movie star Larry Mitchell, who takes a shine to Elvira and helps her meet MGM directors once they get to Tinsel Town. Elmer, meanwhile, wants to help Elvira with her career and he also wants to be her man. Movie stardom does come to the Gopher City entourage, but to whom is a surprise. And who will win the lovely Elvira's hand?
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Montana Moon
Title: Montana Moon
Character: Elizabeth
Released: March 20, 1930
Type: Movie
A wild-partying flapper marries a cowboy and tries to adjust to life on a western ranch.
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Officer O'Brien
Title: Officer O'Brien
Character: Ruth Dale
Released: February 15, 1930
Type: Movie
Bill O'Brien is promoted to lieutenant in the police department for his arrest of Mike Patello, gang leader and racketeer, for murder. Ruth Dale, who loves Bill, is concerned when her brother, Johnny, who witnessed the murder, proposes to testify against the racketeer. Meanwhile, Captain Antrim informs Bill that his father has just been released from prison and does not know his son is a policeman. On the way from prison, O'Brien (J. P.) meets Limo, a former cockney pal who recognizes Bill and keeps J. P. from seeing his son; later, J. P. arrives intoxicated and is enraged, forcing Bill to knock him unconscious. J. P. is arrested for robbery but returns the loot to save his son from disgrace; Johnny is killed before testifying against Patello, who is released but confronted by J. P., who proves his guilt and, when he struggles with the police, kills him. Bill plans to resign, but confident of Ruth's love, he decides to remain on the force.
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The Rounder
Title: The Rounder
Character: Ethel Dalton
Released: January 18, 1930
Type: Movie
A drunkard climbs a ladder into a bedroom in the wrong house and gets romantically involved with the woman who lives there.
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His First Command
Title: His First Command
Character: Judy Gaylord
Released: December 28, 1929
Type: Movie
A playboy is in love with a woman and enters the army thinking it will improve his chances with her.
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The Unholy Night
Title: The Unholy Night
Character: Lady Efra
Released: September 13, 1929
Type: Movie
When a rash of murders depletes their number, a billionaire's employees are brought together at an Englishman's estate.
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The Single Standard
Title: The Single Standard
Character: Mercedes
Released: July 27, 1929
Type: Movie
A bored socialite finds fleeting romance with an artist.
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Spite Marriage
Title: Spite Marriage
Character: Trilby Drew
Released: March 24, 1929
Type: Movie
An unimpressive but well-intentioned man is given the chance to marry a popular actress, of whom he has been a hopeless fan. But what he doesn't realize is that he is being used to make the actress' old flame jealous.
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The Devil's Apple Tree
Title: The Devil's Apple Tree
Released: February 20, 1929
Type: Movie
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The Spirit of Youth
Title: The Spirit of Youth
Released: February 15, 1929
Type: Movie
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Morgan's Last Raid
Title: Morgan's Last Raid
Character: Judith Rogers
Released: January 5, 1929
Type: Movie
Dan Claibourne refuses to fight against his state when Tennessee secedes during the Civil War preliminaries. His sweetheart brands him a traitor. Dan joins Morgan's raiders of the Confederate Army and gets an opportunity to rescue the girl during a raid.
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A Woman of Affairs
Title: A Woman of Affairs
Character: Constance
Released: December 15, 1928
Type: Movie
Childhood friends Diana, Neville and David are caught in a love triangle as adults. Diana and Neville have long been smitten with each other, but her father disapproves of the relationship, resulting in her eventual marriage to David. It's not long after their wedding, however, that tragedy strikes, sending Diana on a downward spiral. When Neville reappears in her life, will he be able to save her from her own misery?
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Show People
Title: Show People
Character: Self (uncredited)
Released: November 20, 1928
Type: Movie
Hollywood hopeful Peggy Pepper arrives at a major studio, from Georgia, to become a great dramatic star. Things don't go entirely according to plan.
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Our Dancing Daughters
Title: Our Dancing Daughters
Character: Beatrice 'Bea'
Released: September 1, 1928
Type: Movie
A flapper sets her hat for a man with a hard-drinking wife.
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The Adventurer
Title: The Adventurer
Character: Dolores de Silva
Released: July 14, 1928
Type: Movie
American mining engineer Jim McClellan is in love with Dolores de Silva, daughter of the deposed president of a Latin American country. He becomes involved in the revolution....
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Love
Title: Love
Character: Spectator at Race (uncredited)
Released: November 29, 1927
Type: Movie
In Imperial Russia, Anna Karenina falls in love with the dashing military officer Count Vronsky and abandons her husband and child to become his mistress.
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The Arizona Wildcat
Title: The Arizona Wildcat
Character: Regina Schyler
Released: November 20, 1927
Type: Movie
Tom Mix plays a California breeder of polo ponies in love with a society gal. The cowboy saves the day when a member of her brother's polo team is injured during an important match. Mix immediately replaces him and amazes the audience with his spectacular riding stunts.
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Twelve Miles Out
Title: Twelve Miles Out
Character: Chiquita
Released: July 8, 1927
Type: Movie
Jerry always wins in his rivalry with Red over women, gunrunning, and diamond smuggling. While running booze into the U.S. during Prohibition, Jerry seizes Jane's seaside home. When she tries to turn him in, he kidnaps her and her fiance John. Jane, now in love with Jerry, must watch as Jerry and Red shoot it out on board Jerry's boat.
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On Ze Boulevard
Title: On Ze Boulevard
Character: Gaby de Sylva
Released: June 25, 1927
Type: Movie
On Ze Boulevard is a 1927 American comedy silent film directed by Harry F. Millarde and written by Earl Baldwin, William Scott Darling, Joseph Farnham and Richard Schayer. The film stars Lew Cody, Renée Adorée, Anton Vaverka, Dorothy Sebastian and Roy D'Arcy.
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California
Title: California
Character: Carlotta del Rey
Released: May 7, 1927
Type: Movie
"The war with Mexico serves to bring together American officer and Mexican senorita, the former all ardent and the latter defiant because of the fact that their countries are at war. Coincident with the American victory is the successful conquest by the 'gringo' of the girl's heart."
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The Demi-Bride
Title: The Demi-Bride
Character: Lola
Released: February 19, 1927
Type: Movie
Trouble begins when Mme. Girard steps out on her husband, Criquette's father, to fool around with rakish Phillippe Levaux. When Monsieur Girard finds out, Criquette saves her stepmother from scandal by tricking Levaux into a hasty marriage.
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The Show
Title: The Show
Character: Salvation Army Worker (uncredited)
Released: January 22, 1927
Type: Movie
Cock Robin is the swaggering ballyhoo man of a Hungarian sideshow known as the Palace of Illusions. The highlight of the show is a reenactment of Salome's dance of the seven veils, replete with the beheading of Jokanaan. The performer portraying Salome is in love with Cock Robin. Jealous, sinister The Greek is determined to eliminate that competition.
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You'd Be Surprised
Title: You'd Be Surprised
Character: Dorothy
Released: September 24, 1926
Type: Movie
A diamond is stolen at a houseboat party given by the district attorney. He gives the thief a chance to return it by putting an empty box on a table and turning out the lights. When the lights are turned back on the box is gone, and the district attorney has a knife in his back and is quite dead. The police and the coroner arrive. There are several attempts made on the life of the coroner. Ruth Whitman is found hiding in a grandfather-clock, holding the gem box. She claims the box was pushed into her hands and she was pushed into the clock. The district attorney's butler/valet tells the coroner he saw who killed his employer and a few minutes later he is also murdered. The mystery deepens.
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Bluebeard's Seven Wives
Title: Bluebeard's Seven Wives
Character: Gilda La Bray
Released: January 13, 1926
Type: Movie
Bank clerk John Hart is about to marry Mary Kelly, but she insists that before that happens he must grow a mustache. The idea of that shakes him up so much that he gets distracted at work, comes up short in his accounts and gets fired. Unable to find another job, he begins to work as an extra at a nearby film studio to earn money. One day the leading man of a picture John is working on gets into an argument with the director and storms off the set. Angered, the director sees John and, deciding that he'll show his arrogant star that he can make a movie idol out of just about anybody, picks John to replace him. As it turns out, John has a real talent for acting and before he knows it he becomes a star. Unfortunately, "stardom" isn't what John thought it would be.
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Why Women Love
Title: Why Women Love
Character: Pearl
Released: October 18, 1925
Type: Movie
Why Women Love (1925)
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Winds of Chance
Title: Winds of Chance
Character: Laura
Released: August 15, 1925
Type: Movie
A love triangle set against the turn-of-the-century gold rush.
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Sackcloth and Scarlet
Title: Sackcloth and Scarlet
Character: Polly Freeman
Released: March 22, 1925
Type: Movie
Silent Drama