Dorothy Comingore
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Comingore was an American film actress, best known for her portrayal of Susan Alexander in Orson Welles
's critically acclaimed movie Citizen Kane
(1941
). From 1934 to 1940, Comingore was billed in her stage appearances as Kay Winters and then Linda Winters as a film actress.
, she was discovered by Charles Chaplin when she was acting in a small playhouse. She played bit parts in Hollywood movies until Welles cast her as Susan, the fragile but fiery second wife of press tycoon Charles Foster Kane
.
Her performance is generally considered one of the best in the movie, but, according to Peter Bogdanovich
in his DVD commentary on Citizen Kane, she impaired her subsequent career by turning down too many roles that she felt were uninteresting. She appeared in the film version of the Eugene O'Neill
play The Hairy Ape
(1944
) with William Bendix
, Susan Hayward
, and John Loder
.
Her last movie appearance was in a supporting role in The Big Night
(1951) starring John Drew Barrymore
. Her career ended in 1951, when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist
. The following year she was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee
about her alleged Communist
connections, where she declined to answer on constitutional grounds. She was married to screenwriters Richard J. Collins
(b. 1914) and Theodore Strauss (1912–1989), and to John Crowe, who was not in the entertainment business, from 1958 to her death in 1971.
in Stonington, Connecticut
, at the age of 58.
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
's critically acclaimed movie Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
(1941
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
). From 1934 to 1940, Comingore was billed in her stage appearances as Kay Winters and then Linda Winters as a film actress.
Career
Born Margaret Louise Comingore in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, she was discovered by Charles Chaplin when she was acting in a small playhouse. She played bit parts in Hollywood movies until Welles cast her as Susan, the fragile but fiery second wife of press tycoon Charles Foster Kane
Charles Foster Kane
Charles Foster Kane is a fictional character and the subject of Orson Welles' 1941 film Citizen Kane. Welles played Kane , with Buddy Swan playing Kane as a child...
.
Her performance is generally considered one of the best in the movie, but, according to Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
in his DVD commentary on Citizen Kane, she impaired her subsequent career by turning down too many roles that she felt were uninteresting. She appeared in the film version of the Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
play The Hairy Ape
The Hairy Ape
-Plot :The play tells the story of a brutish, unthinking laborer known as Yank, as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich...
(1944
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) with William Bendix
William Bendix
William Bendix was an American film, radio, and television actor, best remembered in movies for the title role in the movie The Babe Ruth Story and for portraying clumsily earnest aircraft plant worker Chester A. Riley in radio and television's The Life of Riley...
, Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
, and John Loder
John Loder (actor)
John Loder was a British-American actor. He was born William John Muir Lowe in London.-Early life:Loder's father was General W. H. M. Lowe, the British officer to whom Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, surrendered...
.
Her last movie appearance was in a supporting role in The Big Night
The Big Night
The Big Night is a 1951 black-and-white film drama starring John Drew Barrymore . The film, directed by Joseph Losey, is considered to be film noir.- Reception :...
(1951) starring John Drew Barrymore
John Drew Barrymore
John Drew Barrymore was a member of the Barrymore family of actors, which included his father, John Barrymore, and his father's siblings, Lionel and Ethel...
. Her career ended in 1951, when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
. The following year she was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
about her alleged Communist
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
connections, where she declined to answer on constitutional grounds. She was married to screenwriters Richard J. Collins
Richard J. Collins
Richard "Dick" Collins was an American producer, director and screenwriter prominent in Hollywood during the 1950s and 1960s. He worked on several notable programs including Bonanza, General Electric Theater, Matlock and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre...
(b. 1914) and Theodore Strauss (1912–1989), and to John Crowe, who was not in the entertainment business, from 1958 to her death in 1971.
Death
She struggled with alcoholism during her later life, and died from a pulmonary diseasePulmonology
In medicine, pulmonology is the specialty that deals with diseases of the respiratory tract and respiratory disease. It is called chest medicine and respiratory medicine in some countries and areas...
in Stonington, Connecticut
Stonington, Connecticut
The Town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut, in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...
, at the age of 58.
External links
- Dorothy Comingore at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...