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Dorothy Malone Profile
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| (Dorothy Eloise Maloney) |
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| 30 January 25 | is born in Chicago, Illinois, into a tightly knit Catholic family to Eloise and Robert Maloney. Her father’s an auditor for AT&T. |
| July 25 | her family moves to Dallas |
| ? | her two older sisters die from polio complications |
| ? | a devout Catholic, she attends public school, Ursuline Convent, Highland Park High School, and the Hockaday School for Girls in Dallas |
| ? | studies dancing as a child and models for Neiman-Marcus |
| ? | attends Southern Methodist University, Texas, planning to become a nurse |
| ? | is a winning diver and swimmer at Southern Methodist University |
| ? | is discovered by RKO talent scout Eddie Rubin while on stage in a school play, Starbound, and gets signed to a contract |
| ? | lives at the Studio Club in Hollywood |
| 13 April 45 | is on the cover of Yank, the Army Weekly |
| 18 May 45 | is on the cover of Yank, the Army Weekly |
| ? | studies dancing and speech under RKO auspices without getting a chance to go before the cameras |
| 46 | her RKO contract expires after two years |
| ? | is in the play Lassies Unmasked and is discovered by Solly Baiano, Warner Brothers casting director and ex-official scout |
| May 46 | the press announces that she has troubles. "She has been phoned and lettered that three boyfriends from Dallas, San Francisco and Chicago, will come to visit her in June in Hollywood. They tell her they're coming to see the sights. She's afraid they're coming to be in fights!" |
| November 47 | promotes the Friendship Train, due to leave Los Angeles on November 7. The train will travel cross country collecting individual donations for Europe's hungry at every stop. |
| May 48 | columnist Harrison Carroll notes "the handsome gent with Dorothy Malone at Ciro's was Ed Carlson of Texas. Is he the secret admirer she has been hiding?" |
| June 48 | is expected to return home to Dallas upon finishing South of St. Louis |
| September 48 | she, not Viveca Lindfors, gets the part opposite Joel McCrea in Colorado Territory. "Dorothy is coming up fast. She's pretty, natural, and has no artificial airs." |
| December 48 | denies that diamond solitaire on her right hand is from Dr. Phillip Montgomery |
| 49 | her Warner contract ends, and she returns to Dallas, planning to marry a local physician. Once there, she changes her mind. |
| ? | takes a public relation job with an insurance agency and tours 36 states, speaking at conventions |
| ? | goes to New York, where she rents an apartment with two other women and begins studies at the Theater Wing |
| Early May 49 | columnist Erskine Johnson expects her to marry her childhood sweetheart, Dr. Phillip Montgomery, on June 11 in Dallas |
| May 49 | will live in Dallas and commute to Hollywood for film work when she becomes the wife of Dr. Phillip Montgomery next month |
| April 50 | columnist Walter Winchell writes "the Scott Brady-Dorothy Malone idyll is getting serious in Movietown..." |
| May 50 | is among the ringsiders applauding the Charlivels at Ciro's. Others are Cleatus Caldwell and Robert Hutton, Anatole Litvak, Nancy Guild, and Cubby Broccoli. |
| July 50 | Scott Brady has switched from her to Barbara Lawrence |
| August 50 | Scott Brady explains to Sheila Graham why he could not drive Dorothy to Texas as planned: "I've been told to stay in Hollywood by Universal-International because another picture is coming up," he says. Once, when a columnist printed that Dotty was going to marry a doctor, her mother sent out the wedding invitations. "She believes every word she reads," says Scott, "so please don't say we have set the date to be married." |
| August 51 | is among the celebrities attending the fifth annual "Out-Of-This-World-Series" baseball game sponsored by the Hollywood Junior Chamber of Commerce. Others are Tony Curtis, Jane Russell, Gail Robbins, and Mona Freeman. Danny Thomas is master of ceremonies. |
| columnist Harrison Carroll writes that the Dorothy Malone-Scott Brady wooing is serious, but Dorothy's only answer so far is "maybe next year" |
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| October 51 | Scott Brady is reported phoning her practically every night "and so have actor Bill Holmes and a very rich lad from Texas..." |
| December 51 | has retired to live in Texas, but now she’s on the scene again. “Scott Brady started calling on her the moment she arrived.” |
| ? | becomes goodwill ambassador for Braniff Airlines |
| December 51 | is still ready with Scott Brady |
| ? | Brady chaffs at her frequent Dallas escapes |
| ? | dates Richard Egan, Sidney Chaplin, Eddie Granger and Roger Corman |
| 52 | becomes officially engaged to Scott Brady |
| February 52 | is credited with straightening out the behavior of Lawrence Tierney, Scott Brady's brother |
| April 52 | she and Brady are noted among the hand holders at the 400 |
| May 52 | will tour Texas during May on behalf of Texas Week on the French Riviera celebration from June 13 to 20. She will visit Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Dallas to extend the French Government Tourist Office to Texans. She visited France last year. |
| June 52 | is reported planeing into Los Angeles with her 14-year-old brother, Bill, who hopes to become a professional baseball player. Carroll writes: "She was having lunch at Lucey's with her faithful admirer, Scott Brady. 'She didn't come to see me’, said Scott, 'she came to appear in the Martin and Lewis picture for Hal Wallis.' Later in the summer, Dorothy goes to France to be the official Lone Star State representative in Texas Week on the Riviera." |
| October 52 | Brady explains to Carroll, who's checking him on the rumor that they made up their quarrels: "Look. This is a wonderful girl, the only one for me if she'll have me." She objected to me chasing around nights so much, he says. "She put it to me pretty straight." "And are you a changed man?" Carroll asks. "I am," replies Scott. "And be careful what you say. Don't louse me up." |
| is at the opening of the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas with Scott Brady. They are chaperoned by elderly Sue Deggie, a friend of Dorothy's family in Texas. |
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| December 52 | her romance with Brady is apparently finished. "She spends Christmas in Texas. He finishes his picture in time to join her, but won't." |
| Early August 53 | is noted dancing cheek to cheek with Bill Holmes, an actor-rancher, to Garwood Van's music in Reno |
| August 53 | is reported back from visiting wealthy Bill Holmes' family in Reno. “He goes to Texas next month to visit Dorothy's folk. Watch this. It could be serious." |
| September 53 | is out again with agent Alain Bernheim but tells Carroll that Bill Holmes is still her steady. He had to go to Reno for a few days. "Holmes, who is very wealthy, expects to play a part with Dorothy in Donald Barry's forthcoming Jesse James. They'll probably shoot the picture in Mississippi. Afterwards, Holmes will go to Texas to meet Dorothy's family." |
| October 53 | is expected to marry Holmes before or around Christmas |
| August 54 | columnist Earl Wilson tells that she's Sinatra's latest steady |
| September 54 | columnist Erskine Johnson predicts her "trouping in Young at Heart will bring her bigger and better roles" |
| October 54 | Winchell tells she's "getting her mink the hard way. Bought a Montana mink ranch..." |
| advertises for Hollywood Bread |
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| 55 | is swimming in Robert Stack’s pool when the call comes that her younger brother, Will, has been killed at age sixteen by lightning on a Dallas golf course |
| ? | signs a contract with Universal-International at a salary of $90,000 per year and purchases a home in Beverly Hills |
| February 55 | she and Scott Brady date at Chez Lucie |
| is selected "National Buddy Poppy Girl" by the Veterans of Foreign Wars |
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| May 55 | is reported the adored of George Knox, Dallas oilionaire |
| columnist Jimmy Fidler writes: "The Hollywood romance sceners say Dorothy Malone and Tab Hunter are that way..." |
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| June 55 | dates Roger Corman |
| August 55 | columnist Lee Mortimer writes that she likes to be "alone with Frietas Seeligson. (And I hope she knows him.)" |
| October 55 | while filming Sincerely Yours opposite Liberace, she receives 37 letters warning her to treat the artist right "or else" |
| attends the premiere of Desperate Hours wearing "a Gypsy Rose Lee-type fringed frock that shows off the best places in the best way" |
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| Early November 55 | she and Bob Evans are reported Hollywood "on-the-town-somes" |
| Late November 55 | her mother chaperones her and Scott Brady to the star-studded premiere of Sincerely Yours |
| December 55 | columnist Earl Wilson thinks she and Scott Brady have the elopement fever |
| claims her eyes have changed from blue to green during the past year |
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| 56 | her engagement to Scott Brady fizzles |
| January 56 | writer Bob Thomas thinks she isn't impatient about getting married |
| March 56 | is a twosome with Mortimer Hall, the ex of actress Ruth Roman |
| Winchell writes: "The columns keep saying Richard Egan is Dorothy Malone's fella but Pete Rugulo won't get out of the way..." |
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| May 56 | Winchell tells "They kid Liberace but he has Margaret Lindsay and Dorothy Malone on his list." |
| dates Mac Krim while Kim Novak's in Europe |
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| June 56 | Modern Screen tells that she is sleeping alone in her peppermint pink bedroom |
| is sued by her gardener, fell out of one of her trees. He says he crippled his limb. |
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| Early June 56 | shows up with G. David Schine at the party hosted by George Gobel and Bill Dozier for Gobel's new leading lady, British import Diana Dors |
| September 56 | is noted jitterbugging barefoot at the Harwyn with Charlie Simonelli, Universal-International executive |
| reportedly she bows out of Night Passage because her name won't be billed as big as Jimmy Stewart's or Audie Murphy's |
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| December 56 | her performance in Written on the Wind wins her a new contract and star status. "Fatter salary, of course." / after Written on the Wind, her contract is renegotiated, giving her $125,000 a year for the next two years |
| takes her parents, who are on their second honeymoon, to a private screening of her upcoming Written on the Wind |
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| advertises for Clifton Hand Tooled Bags |
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| 57 | ends her romantic relationship with Brady |
| ? | becomes involved with actor Sidney Chaplin with whom she was in Pillars of the Sky and Quantez |
| March 57 | wins the Oscar as best supporting actress for her Written on the Wind |
| Early April 57 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen writes. "They say Dorothy Malone was the most surprised of the Oscar winners - although she did manage the longest speech. Just a few days before the ceremony, she expressed the feeling that her best dramatic moments in Written on the Wind had been either cut down or cut out." |
| ? | some say that her Oscar has gone to her head and that she has developed a star complex |
| July 57 | Walter Troutman has shifted from Gingers Rogers to her |
| August 57 | her latest is dress manufacturer Arthur Weber, "an Ava Gardner last season's number..." |
| September 57 | takes the role of Diana Barrymore in Too Much, Too Soon after Carroll Baker, Anne Baxter, and Ann Blyth said no |
| October 57 | Winchell writes that she "and actor Donald McKinney patched things after a summer of tiffs..." |
| shares handsome Bob Evans with Ginger Rogers |
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| November 57 | her latest date is said to be wealthy Frank Ryan, frequently linked with the widowed Marquise de Portago |
| Winchell writes: "Insiders are sure Wyatt Earp's heart is Dorothy Malone's latest exclusive..." |
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| December 57 | suffers a deep arm cut when hit by a swinging door on the set of Too Much, Too Soon |
| January 58 | gets the parachute she wore in Tarnished Angels as a keepsake and will ask her dressmaker to make something from the material |
| 12 March 58 | is with Jacques Bergerac to the Cocoanut Grove to see Sophie Tucker |
| May 58 | is seen at La Rue with Russell Birdwell |
| columnist Walter Winchell thinks her “heartistic effort is still legalite Wendell James of Spokane…” |
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| columnist Harrison Carroll reports that she will soon leave for her first trip to Hawaii. "Dorothy never has heard from Diana Barrymore about being chosen to play Diana in Too Much, Too Soon." |
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| June 58 | columnist Dorothy Kilgallen suspects that "the one chap Dorothy really adores is that El Paso, Texas, veterinarian..." |
| 10 July 58 | attends the premiere of Gigi at the Paramount Theatre with Jacques Bergerac |
| July 58 | Winchell reports that "her beaux include Jeff Hill, social North Carolinian..." |
| says she is "sick, sick, sick" of "suffering" motion pictures and believes the public, too, is "fed up with them" |
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| August 58 | columnist Lee Mortimer thinks that her friends are convinced it's the real thing this time. "Never mooned over anyone like she does over Jacques Bergerac..." |
| columnist Dorothy Kilgallen adds that the romance with Bergerac "appears serious enough to cause Stan Hoppert great concern..." |
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| Mid-September 58 | columnist Harrison Carroll asks Bergerac: "Are you engaged?" "No, we are not," he replies. |
| she and Bergerac have a farewell dinner at the Encore before she leaves for a South American tour with her parents and brother. After finishing the final dubbing on Thunder in the Sun three days later, Bergerac leaves to join her in Rio de Janeiro. They will return early in October. |
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| October 58 | Kilgallen writes: "Jacques Bergerac and Dorothy Malone, who just happened to choose the same vacation spot - Panama - won't be far apart during their New York stay." |
| she and Bergerac attend the Gregory Peck Waldorf party after the The Big Country premiere. Columnist Earl Wilson finds them "all but smoochy." |
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| tells Carroll over the long distance telephone from New York: "Jacques is a wonderful fellow. He is great company but we have no announcement to make." |
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| 17 December 58 | makes a handsome couple with Jacques Bergerac at the preview of The Inn of the Sixth Happiness |
| 59 | does not get along with her co-star Richard Widmark during the filming of Warlock. He considers her unprofessional. |
| February 59 | is sought by Woolf Brothers for two pictures: The Nightcomers, to be shot in India, and a dramatic picture to be made in London |
| director Andrew L. Stone wants her and Stuart Whitman for his upcoming The Last Voyage |
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| May 59 | Kilgallen expects her to marry Bergerac in mid-June |
| is reported with Bergerac on location filming in Japan. Her mother is also there. Later, she and Jacques will play summer stock. |
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| 28 June 59 | marries French actor Jacques Bergerac at a Roman Catholic church in Hong Kong, where she’s on location for The Last Voyage. Bergerac has been in Hollywood since 1953 and was married to Ginger Rogers until 1957. Rogers discovered him in France working as a hotel clerk in Paris. |
| 3 - 16 August 59 | she and Bergerac make their honeymoon debut in the New York comedy smash hit Once More with Feeling at the Edgewater Beach Playhouse |
| September 59 | she and Bergerac return to Hollywood. "Dorothy firmly squelches the rumor that she is expecting a baby. Jacques reports to Allied Artists immediately to play the masculine lead in The Hypnotic Eye." |
| 60 | her annual income is below $100,000 |
| February 60 | her husband installs an elevator in their home so she doesn't have to use the stairs. Winchell asks: "Why doesn't he carry her in his manly armpits?" |
| flies to New York with Bergerac for his "Paris a la Mode" television show. "She had to get special permission from her doctor. The baby is due in April." |
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| March 60 | she and Bergerac are reported very disappointed at not being able to attend the Foreign Press Correspondents Ball in California. "Dorothy became ill in Dallas and the doctor didn't want her to fly for several days. The baby is expected soon now." |
| 3 April 60 | her daughter Mimi is born at a Santa Monica hospital |
| 61 | her annual income drops to $58,013 |
| May 61 | columnist Hedda Hopper tells that Dorothy and Joe Cotten will be back together again this summer in the comedy Say It Isn't Love. Producer Richard Aldrich wrote the story. |
| 62 | earns only $32,456. Her shrinking income puts pressure on her marriage to Bergerac. |
| 20 February 62 | her daughter Diane is born |
| November 62 | explains the rumored splituation with "he's filming in France and I want the children to live over here. I'll commute." |
| December 62 | Hopper reports her shopping for a smaller house. "She and Bergerac aren't parted but he's been in Europe since nine months. 'I have a husband in name only,' Dorothy says, 'but busy as I am now, that will have to do.' If details can be worked out, Dorothy will film a TV show in Mexico with Pedro Armendariz. She says: 'I love Mexico. It will take only three months to shoot the series, and you can't find that kind any more." |
| January 63 | Winchell thinks "everything appears to be honky-dooley again" between her and Bergerac, who's "back to Hollywood from Yurrop to stay" |
| ? | files for divorce from Bergerac charging extreme cruelty |
| May 63 | her divorce action against Bergerac is considered a surprise even to her best friends and co-workers in her current film, Beach Party. "She simply rushed home from the set the other day, moved her babies out of the house, and within a few hours filed for divorce. Up until then she had been assuring people that everything was fine and dandy with her marriage..." |
| July 63 | turns down the Beach Party preview party in New York. Columnist Earl Wilson knows: "Too many problems in Los Angeles with estranged husband Jacques Bergerac..." |
| August 63 | Bergerac wants her cited for contempt of court because, he says, she makes faces at him when he visits their two daughters. He testifies in Los Angeles court that she was trying to alienate the girls, Mimi, 3, and Diane, 18 months, from him. She and Bergerac await trial of divorce suits against each other. Her attorney is Arthur Crowley. |
| November 63 | another divorce hearing is set for January 7 |
| 21 November 64 | a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rules that testimony at her stormy divorce trial will be behind closed doors |
| 8 December 64 | after a 12-day closed-door trial, her divorce from Bergerac is finally granted, giving her custody of her two girls. He's 37; she's 36. Judge Vincent S. Dalsimer says, "there was some fault on both sides, but it's my considered opinion that the greatest fault was with Mr. Bergerac." She is awarded $250-a-month child support, but takes only alimony of $1 a year because of her high film earnings from TV's "Peyton Place." Bitter court battles over the years are to follow; she’s forbidden by court order to publicly discuss her problems with her former husband. |
| May 65 | Kilgallen notes that when Dorothy and Bergerac meet at parties, "they look away and don't speak, although they were once regarded as one of Hollywood's most loving - as well as most beautiful - married couple..." |
| is reported finding solace in the attentions of wealthy Bill Holmes. "Bill's brother, Chris, has a similar eye for beautiful ladies of the movies - he was recently married to Arlene Dahl." |
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| 23 September 65 | at about 5:15 a.m., she is rushed to the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital fighting for her life. She undergoes seven and a half hours of emergency surgery. Clots from blood vessels leading to her lungs are removed. |
| 29 September 65 | is reported "holding her own and showing progress" by attendants of the hospital. A spokesman says she continues "on the critical list and will undoubtedly remain on it for the next 48 hours." |
| 2 October 65 | is reported off the critical list. A 20th Century-Fox spokesman says another actress, as yet unnamed, will take her role in "Peyton Place." A Superior Court judge rules that custody arrangements for her children will remain virtually unchanged during her illness. |
| Mid-October 65 | is released from the hospital and returns to her Beverly Hills home |
| Mid-November 65 | is said to be completely recovered and plans to resume her role in "Peyton Place" |
| Late December 65 | columnist Winchell returns to her: "Dorothy Malone has a marriage proposal from Scott Brady..." |
| February 66 | her duet with John Ryan is reported getting serious. "He's her manager..." |
| Mid-February 66 | returns to work on "Peyton Place" |
| March 66 | columnist Earl Wilson writes "her hospital bills were more than 30Gs..." |
| April 66 | her trysts with Scott Brady are fewer |
| November 66 | upon request by Bergerac, she is ordered by Los Angeles Superior Court to drop the Spanish lessons for her daughters and to have them study their father's native French. She opposes the request, saying that she should have the prerogative to decide the children's schooling since she has custody of the girls, who are 6 and 4 years old. |
| August 67 | asked about her, Mr. Blackwell of the 10 Worst Dressed Women fame, says she's "a total bore. She lacks a fashion image, obviously does not know herself or her look." |
| 68 | when she learns she will be written out of “Peyton Place,” she files a $1.6 million breach of contract suit and asks the court to enjoin 20th Century-Fox from running the show until it settles |
| 27 September 68 | loses a bid for higher child support but receives permission to take her daughters to live in Dallas, Texas, even though the judge says: "I'm not sure Mrs. Bergerac is doing the children a favor by wanting to move to another area. It's tragic to separate this father from his children - they have been very close." |
| ? | leaves her acting career and returns to Dallas |
| 3 April 69 | marries New York broker / businessman Robert Tomarkin in a post-midnight candlelight ceremony at the Silver Bells wedding chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. He's 37; she's 44. They show up at the county courthouse in a limousine chauffeured from Los Angeles. Twenty minutes after receiving their license at 12:10 a.m., they are married by the Reverend James Whitehead. Tomarkin, former escort of Hedy Lamarr, was divorced in 1960 in Miami and lists his home as New York City. She lists her home as Dallas, Texas. |
| c. early May 69 | the marriage is annulled after only four weeks when she claims that he married her only for her money and tried to swindle her out of her savings. In 1974 he will plead guilty to grand larceny charges stemming from a $2 million swindle of Franklin National Bank and will serve 40 months in Greenhaven Prison, New York. |
| 69 | is off to Rome for the filming of Femmine insaziabili, a.k.a. The Insatiables |
| September 69 | she and Pat Boone are reported cooking up a deal |
| ? | dates singer Jim Nabors |
| July 70 | columnist Suzy reports: "Jacques Bergerac is staying at Earl Blackwell's New York penthouse with his two daughters. The little girls arrived from Dallas (where Dorothy lives) en route to Biarritz to visit their paternal grandparents." |
| 2 October 71 | marries Dallas motel chain executive Charles Huston Bell. He's 39; she's 46. The marriage is reported the second for each. |
| January 74 | now a Revlon executive in France, Bergerac commissions Elaine Stein to sell his Beverly Glen home, which he only uses when he sees his daughters. He still isn't on speaking terms with Dorothy. After rumors he might marry the Duchess of Windsor, he marries Edith Brennan in June 1975. |
| c. 74 | divorces Bell after a three-year marriage |
| 91 | is single and in the real estate business |
| 19 January 18 | dies at age 92 in Dallas, Texas |
| Sources: "Dorothy Malone - The Ambivalent Texan" by Pam Munter in Classic Images, Hollywood Players: The Forties by James Robert Parish, Made in Heaven by Victoria Houseman, Screenland, Screen Annual 1956, Motion Picture, Screen Stories, Modern Screen, Silver Screen, Celebrity Sleuth, The Mexia Daily News, Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star, Pottstown Mercury, The Era, Indiana Evening Gazette, Portland Press Herald, Dixon Evening Telegraph, The Coshocton Tribune, Syracuse Herald-Journal, The Monessen Daily Independent, Independent-Journal, Humboldt Standard, Nevada State Journal, The Kerrville Times, Chronicle-Telegram, The Times Recorder, Nevada State Journal, Council Bluffs Iowa Nonpareil, The Great Bend Daily Tribune, The Zanesville Signal, The Post-Standard, Pasadena Independent, The Lima News, The Independent, The Hammond Times, Burlington Daily Times-News, The Newark Advocate, The Vidette-Messenger, The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, The Odessa American, Mansfield News-Journal, Tri-City Herald, The Valley Independent, The Post-Crescent, Family Weekly, The Port Arthur News, Oakland Tribune, Lincoln Sunday Journal and Star, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: | |
| Links: Filmography JSR Pages: Dorothy Malone Brian's Drive-In Theater: Dorothy Malone | |