Doris Davenport

Doris Davenport

Born: January 17, 1917
Died: June 18, 1980
in Moline, Illinois, USA
From Wikipedia

Doris Davenport, also known as Doris Jordan (January 1, 1917 - June 18, 1980) was an American film actress during the 1930s and early 1940s.

Davenport was born in Moline, Illinois, but raised in Hollywood, California. She started auditioning for acting roles, and performed in her first film in 1934, titled Kids Millions.

From 1934 to 1939, she would appear in only five films, supporting herself by working in New York City as a fashion model between films. However, when she auditioned under the screen name "Doris Jordan" for the role of "Scarlett O'Hara", the lead role in the now classic Gone with the Wind, she did well enough to become one of the finalists for the role, but lost out to actress Vivien Leigh.

Despite not winning that major role, Davenport impressed MGM executive Samuel Goldwyn. In 1940, he gave a lead role to Davenport in the film The Westerner, starring opposite Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan. That same year she starred in the film Behind the News opposite Lloyd Nolan. It would be her last role. With no other offers following that film, she soon retired from acting.

She eventually settled in Santa Cruz, California, where she lived until her death on June 18, 1980, aged 63.

Movies for Doris Davenport...

Behind the News
Title: Behind the News
Character: Barbara Shaw
Released: December 20, 1940
Type: Movie
As suggested by its title, Behind the News was a "stop the presses!" yarn set in a big-city newsroom. Lloyd Nolan is top-billed as a cynical reporter with a penchant for sticking his neck out too far. Frank Albertson costars as a cub reporter fresh out of journalism school, whose presence is resented by Nolan and his fellow workers. But it is Albertson who, after running afoul of the law, is instrumental in breaking up a ring of racketeers. Behind the News was remade by Republic as Headline Hunters (55).
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The Westerner
Title: The Westerner
Character: Jane Ellen Mathews
Released: September 18, 1940
Type: Movie
Drifter Cole Harden is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean, but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away.
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Sorority House
Title: Sorority House
Character: Neva Simpson
Released: May 5, 1939
Type: Movie
A young girl begins to wonder if she really fits into the upper-class sorority she's trying to join.
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Born to Dance
Title: Born to Dance
Character: Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Released: November 27, 1936
Type: Movie
On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their relationship is jeopardized by an established Broadway star, who is also enamored by him.
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His Old Flame
Title: His Old Flame
Released: January 25, 1935
Type: Movie
Just as Charlie is running for mayor on a purity platform, an old flame threatens to show his torrid love letters to his wife if he does not withdraw from the campaign.
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Kid Millions
Title: Kid Millions
Character: Nora
Released: November 10, 1934
Type: Movie
A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but has to go to Egypt to claim it.