Doro Merande
Encyclopedia
Doro Merande was an American
actress who appeared in Hollywood films, onstage and on television. A well-regarded character actress, she frequently portrayed "sour, witchy old women". She was born as Dora Matthews in Columbus, Kansas
(some sources indicate Dorothy Matthews) and orphaned at a young age.
to become an actress. She found her first part in a small summer company in Massachusetts
.
Merande coveted Broadway
parts during the Great Depression
. Her career began with the Jules Levanthal Company. She debuted on Broadway as "Sophie Tuttle" in Loose Moments in 1935. Soon she was cast in One Good Year, Red Harvest, and Angel Island. Her first important role was playing the gossip in Our Town
by Thornton Wilder
(in which role she made her film debut in 1940 in the film by the same name).
Merande later appeared with Leo G. Carroll
in Lo and Behold, The Rat Race with Betty Field
, and in The Silver Whistle, with Jose Ferrer
. She also performed with Clifton Webb
(in Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell), Walter Huston
(in Apple of His Eye), and Franchot Tone
(in Hope For Your Best). In the latter play, Merande played Tone's "Down East Housekeeper".
Her final Broadway appearance was in a 1969 revival of The Front Page
, playing the cleaning woman. She recreated the same character in the movie and television versions. They starred Robert Ryan
and George Grizzard
.
She appeared regularly during the first season of NBC-TV's That Was the Week That Was
(1964).
anniversary special with Jackie Gleason
and Art Carney
in Florida
. A short time later, she died of a stroke
in Miami, aged 83.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress who appeared in Hollywood films, onstage and on television. A well-regarded character actress, she frequently portrayed "sour, witchy old women". She was born as Dora Matthews in Columbus, Kansas
Columbus, Kansas
Columbus is the second largest city and county seat of Cherokee County, Kansas, United States, 15 miles south-southwest of Pittsburg, Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,312.-History:...
(some sources indicate Dorothy Matthews) and orphaned at a young age.
Stage actress
Born in Columbus, Kansas and named Dora Matthews, the girl was orphaned at a young age. When old enough, she headed to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to become an actress. She found her first part in a small summer company in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Merande coveted Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
parts during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Her career began with the Jules Levanthal Company. She debuted on Broadway as "Sophie Tuttle" in Loose Moments in 1935. Soon she was cast in One Good Year, Red Harvest, and Angel Island. Her first important role was playing the gossip in Our Town
Our Town
Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
by Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
(in which role she made her film debut in 1940 in the film by the same name).
Merande later appeared with Leo G. Carroll
Leo G. Carroll
Leo Gratten Carroll was an English-born actor. He was best known for his roles in several Hitchcock films and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Topper.-Early life:...
in Lo and Behold, The Rat Race with Betty Field
Betty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
, and in The Silver Whistle, with Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
. She also performed with Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
(in Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell), Walter Huston
Walter Huston
Walter Thomas Huston was a Canadian-born American actor. He was the father of actor and director John Huston and the grandfather of actress Anjelica Huston and actor Danny Huston.-Life and career:...
(in Apple of His Eye), and Franchot Tone
Franchot Tone
Franchot Tone was an American stage, film, and television actor, star of Mutiny on the Bounty and many other films through the 1960s...
(in Hope For Your Best). In the latter play, Merande played Tone's "Down East Housekeeper".
Her final Broadway appearance was in a 1969 revival of The Front Page
The Front Page
The Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
, playing the cleaning woman. She recreated the same character in the movie and television versions. They starred Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
and George Grizzard
George Grizzard
George Cooper Grizzard, Jr. was an American actor of film and stage. He appeared in more than 40 films, dozens of television programs and a number of Broadway plays.-Life and career:...
.
Films/TV
Merande debuted in films in 1940, reprising her role as the gossip in the film adaptation of Our Town. Other film credits include:- The Snake PitThe Snake PitThe Snake Pit is a 1948 American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak. The film tells the story of a woman who finds herself in an insane asylum and cannot remember how she got there, and stars Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm, Beulah Bondi, and Lee Patrick.The film was...
(1948) - The Seven Year ItchThe Seven Year ItchThe Seven Year Itch is a 1955 American film based on a three-act play with the same name by George Axelrod. The film was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, and starred Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, reprising his Broadway role...
(1954) - The Man with the Golden ArmThe Man with the Golden ArmThe Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a heroin addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. It stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold...
(1955) - The GazeboThe GazeboThe Gazebo is a 1959 black comedy film about a married couple who are being blackmailed. It was based on the play of the same name by Alec Coppel.Helen Rose was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White.-Plot:...
(1959) - The CardinalThe CardinalThe Cardinal is a 1963 film which was produced independently and directed by Otto Preminger, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Robert Dozier, based on the novel by Henry Morton Robinson....
(1963) - The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are ComingThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
(1966) - Hurry SundownHurry Sundown (film)Hurry Sundown is a 1967 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Horton Foote and Thomas C. Ryan is based on the 1965 novel of the same title by K.B...
(1967) - Change of HabitChange of HabitChange of Habit is a 1969 musical drama film starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore. It was Presley's 31st and final film acting role; his remaining two film appearances were concert documentaries. It was also Moore's fourth and final film under her brief Universal Pictures contract; she...
(1969) - The Front PageThe Front Page (1974 film)The Front Page is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1928 play of the same title by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, which was previously adapted for the screen under its...
(1974)
Television
- The Jackie Gleason Show (2 episodes, 1967–1970, as Aunt Ethel)
- The United States Steel HourThe United States Steel HourThe United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation....
(1957) - Valiant LadyValiant LadyValiant Lady is an American soap opera which ran daily on CBS radio and television from October 12, 1953 through August 1957 at 12:00 PM . The show's title was taken from a 1930s radio soap opera about a young woman struggling through life but is otherwise very different...
(1953) - Kraft Television Theater (1953–1954)
- Alfred Hitchcock PresentsAlfred Hitchcock PresentsAlfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
(1958) - The Phil Silvers ShowThe Phil Silvers ShowThe Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...
(1959) - Playhouse 90Playhouse 90Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
(1959) - Steve CanyonSteve CanyonSteve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon ran from January 13, 1947 until June 4, 1988, shortly after Caniff's death...
, as Mrs. Turtin, a housekeeper (1959) - Bringing Up BuddyBringing Up BuddyBringing Up Buddy is a 39-episode situation comedy television series which aired on CBS during the 1960–1961 season. In the story line, Frank Aletter, a native of Queens, New York, plays the orphaned Buddy Flower, a bachelor stockbroker, who is reared by his overprotective and meticulous aunts,...
(1960–1961) as Aunt Iris Flower; co-starring Frank AletterFrank AletterFrank Aletter was an American stage, film, and television actor.During the 1950s Aletter appeared on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing, Time Limit, and Wish You Were Here. He soon moved on to a prolific television career, appearing as a guest on numerous shows between 1956 and 1988.Aletter starred in...
and Enid MarkeyEnid MarkeyEnid Markey was an American actress of stage, film and television. She originated the role of Jane in films, playing the character twice - in 1918 .Her first film role was in The Fortunes of War... - The Defenders (1962)
- Thriller (1961)
- Sam BenedictSam BenedictSam Benedict is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from September 1962 to March 1963. The series was created and executive produced by E. Jack Neuman....
(1963) - The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
(1963, in the episode "The Bard")
She appeared regularly during the first season of NBC-TV's That Was the Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
(1964).
Death
Doro Merande attended The HoneymoonersThe Honeymooners
The Honeymooners is an American situation comedy television show, based on a recurring 1951–'55 sketch of the same name. It originally aired on the DuMont network's Cavalcade of Stars and subsequently on the CBS network's The Jackie Gleason Show hosted by Jackie Gleason, and filmed before a live...
anniversary special with Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
and Art Carney
Art Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. A short time later, she died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in Miami, aged 83.
Links
- "Doro Merande, Comedian of Stage and Films, Dead", New York Times, November 3, 1975, p. 38.