- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDorothy Ruth Morris
- This young, pleasant actress was under contract to MGM during the war years. Dorothy Morris was groomed by the studio starting in 1941 and for the first couple of years barely earned a screen credit. She rose gradually in the ranks to secondary ingenue roles as the daughter or friend of the star. She was pretty, delicate-looking and fairly demure along the lines of a Barbara Bates or Cathy O'Donnell, and was probably best featured in such films as Someone to Remember (1943), The Human Comedy (1943), Rationing (1944), and None Shall Escape (1944). Dorothy willingly gave up her modest career when she married a math instructor in 1943. The marriage, which produced two sons, lasted 23 years before it ended. She returned to her acting craft in the late 50s and appeared in minor roles on TV, as well as two films Macabre (1958), the William Castle 'shocker' and Seconds (1966) starring Rock Hudson. A second marriage to a minister took her, again, away from the camera lights and this time it was permanent, save for some amateur theatricals. Her sister, Caren Marsh, was an MGM dancer who also was Judy Garland's frequent stand-in.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Robert W. Moffie
- Hollywood actresses seldom came in a nicer package than Dorothy Morris, a dark-haired, comely-looking actress who showed poise and promise while under contract to MGM during the war years. She reached the top rung of stardom, however, and her career ended as gently and inconspicuously as it began.
Born Dorothy Ruth Morris on February 23, 1922, in Los Angeles, she was involved in amateur theatre shows while young. Performing in a 1940 play at Hollywood High, she was spotted by a talent agent and the gears started turning. Studying with guru Maria Ouspenskaya, a strong role in a Pasadena Playhouse stage comedy of "What a Life" led to her first film, an unbilled part, in Her First Beau (1941).
Groomed by MGM with classes and starlet bits beginning in 1941, it was a couple of years before Dorothy earned even a screen credit. She rose gradually in the ranks to secondary ingénue roles as the daughter or friend of the leading lady or man. An understated, soft-spoken presence, it took a couple of years before she was more prominently featured. After a strong role in a loanout film, Someone to Remember (1943), she received better studio parts in the films The Human Comedy (1943), Rationing (1944) and None Shall Escape (1944). But she only went so far.
Her career ended with roles in the disappointing programmers Club Havana (1945) and Little Miss Big (1946). Dorothy, who had married Marvin Moffie, a math instructor, in 1943, willingly gave up her modest career to focus on family. The marriage, which produced two sons, lasted 23 years before it ended in divorce in 1966.
A chance meeting with MGM friend/actress Frances Rafferty in the 1950s led to a re-interest in Hollywood. Finding an agent, she got back into the swing of things once again with guest appearances on such late 1950s and early 1960s series as "The Millionaire," "Wagon Train," "The Untouchables," "Casey Jones," "Rawhide," "The Donna Reed Show" and "Gunsmoke," and had a featured role in the film Macabre (1958), a William Castle "shocker". Following a small role in the film Seconds (1966) starring Rock Hudson, Dorothy once again abandoned her career in the late 1960s in favor of her second marriage to a minister, Roger E. Miller, save for maybe a few amateur theatricals.
Dorothy returned occasionally in the early 1970s with a couple episodes of "Dragnet," as well as "The Name of the Game" and "Marcus Welby, M.D." Her second marriage ended in 1972 but this time Dorothy did not return to acting. Moving to Florida to be closer to her older sister, former dancer Caren Marsh. Dorothy gracefully retired, returning to the West Coast in the 1980s. She took L.A. acting classes occasionally in the hopes of pursuing acting roles again but nothing came her way. She died in 2011 at the age of 89 in Palm Springs.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesRoger Eugene Miller(January 12, 1969 - June 1972) (divorced)Marvin Louis Moffie(April 4, 1943 - March 1966) (divorced, 2 children)
- Upon her death, she was donated to medical science at the University of California Riverside.
- She was close friends with Marsha Hunt, Mickey Rooney, Gloria DeHaven, Jacqueline White, Laraine Day, and Angela Lansbury.
- Her father, Lew, was a Hollywood stockbroker, and she had an older sister, Aileen (stage name Caren Marsh), who later became a dancer at MGM and was Judy Garland's frequent stand-in.
- Her older sister is actress Caren Marsh who survived her.
- She graduated from Hollywood High School in 1940.
- Growing up in Hollywood was such fun. My kindergarten teacher got me started acting, and once I got the feel of being someone else, I couldn't stop. I acted in everything I could all through grammar school, junior high, and then Hollywood High. I received good feedback from everyone, and being a sensitive and shy person, I found it extremely fulfilling.
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