Dorothy Hart
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Hart was an American
screen actress, known mostly for her supporting roles.
, she became a model in her late-teens, and was signed by Columbia
in 1946. Her contract stipulated "A-movies only". Although considered one of the top supporting actresses of her day, she was frequently cast in B movies
. Dorothy was attractive, standing 5 ft 6 in, with green eyes and auburn hair.
She graduated from Case Western Reserve University
with a B.A. degree. After gaining some experience at the Cleveland Playhouse she resolved on a singing career. Miss Hart had saved enough money to go to New York when she learned that she was high on the list of Cover Girl finalists. A newspaper friend had submitted her photo in the Columbia Pictures
contest. The studio paid for her trip.
Gunfighters, starring alongside Randolph Scott
, after winning the 1944 National Cinderella Cover Girl Contest. She is most popularly remembered for being Howard Duff
's fiancée in the 1948 film The Naked City
.
being directed by George Waggner. Her illness was diagnosed as influenza
. She was injured while on location filming horseback sequences in Arizona
in February 1947 and minor corrective surgery was performed at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California
. The film, Gunfighters, starred Randolph Scott
and was filmed in the Painted Desert
. Barbara Britton played the female lead in the adventure drama with Hart heading up the supporting cast.
reported in a June 1947 column that Mary Pickford
was suing Dorothy Hart for a sum of $79,000 because the young actress refused to accept a role in the film There Goes Lona Henry. Pickford stated in an interview that she hoped to take an unknown girl and make her into a great star. Hart refused the role because she did not want to sign away seven years of her career for a single movie opportunity.
and The Countess of Monte Cristo
with Sonja Henie
, both for Universal Pictures
. The Naked City, starring Barry Fitzgerald, premiered on March 10, 1948. Hart became the tenth actress to portray Jane
when she appeared opposite Lex Barker
as Tarzan
in Tarzan's Savage Fury.
She was married to Frederick Pittera in 1954. He was a former Military pilot instructor on Bomber Aircraft and test pilot .In 1958 Pittera was awarded the U.S.Air Force Certificate of Appreciation' the highest award bestowed on a civilian for his efforts on behalf of U.S. Air Force reserve between 1950 and 1955. He is an international producer of trade and public fairs from New York.
Hart was survived by their son, Douglas Hart Pittera, a Fincial Officer for the Union Bank of Switzerland. Douglas, married to Cheryll Pittera, has three children, Nicole, Richard and David. They currently live in Fairfield, Connecticut.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screen actress, known mostly for her supporting roles.
Background
Born in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, she became a model in her late-teens, and was signed by Columbia
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
in 1946. Her contract stipulated "A-movies only". Although considered one of the top supporting actresses of her day, she was frequently cast in B movies
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
. Dorothy was attractive, standing 5 ft 6 in, with green eyes and auburn hair.
She graduated from Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
with a B.A. degree. After gaining some experience at the Cleveland Playhouse she resolved on a singing career. Miss Hart had saved enough money to go to New York when she learned that she was high on the list of Cover Girl finalists. A newspaper friend had submitted her photo in the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
contest. The studio paid for her trip.
Movies
Her first big movie break came in the 1947 westernWestern (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
Gunfighters, starring alongside Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
, after winning the 1944 National Cinderella Cover Girl Contest. She is most popularly remembered for being Howard Duff
Howard Duff
Howard Green Duff was an American actor of film, television, stage, and radio.Duff was born in Charleston, Washington, now a part of Bremerton. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1932 where he began acting in school plays only after he was cut from the basketball team...
's fiancée in the 1948 film The Naked City
The Naked City
The Naked City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot partially in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City, featuring landmarks such as the Williamsburg Bridge the Whitehall Building and an apartment building on West 83rd...
.
Illness
In October 1946 Hart was sent home while filming a technicolor western for Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
being directed by George Waggner. Her illness was diagnosed as influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
. She was injured while on location filming horseback sequences in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in February 1947 and minor corrective surgery was performed at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California
Los 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...
. The film, Gunfighters, starred Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
and was filmed in the Painted Desert
Painted Desert
Painted Desert may refer to:In places:* Painted Desert, Arizona, an area of badlands in the southwestern United States* Painted Desert , a mountainous area in south-central Australia...
. Barbara Britton played the female lead in the adventure drama with Hart heading up the supporting cast.
Missed Opportunity
Columnist Hedda HopperHedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
reported in a June 1947 column that Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
was suing Dorothy Hart for a sum of $79,000 because the young actress refused to accept a role in the film There Goes Lona Henry. Pickford stated in an interview that she hoped to take an unknown girl and make her into a great star. Hart refused the role because she did not want to sign away seven years of her career for a single movie opportunity.
Later Films
In 1948, Hart made Larceny with Shelley WintersShelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
and The Countess of Monte Cristo
The Countess of Monte Cristo (1948 film)
The Countess of Monte Cristo is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Frederick De Cordova and starring Sonja Henie, Olga San Juan and Dorothy Hart.-Cast:* Sonja Henie - Karen Kirsten* Olga San Juan - Jenny Johnsen* Dorothy Hart - Peg Manning...
with Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion . Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater...
, both for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
. The Naked City, starring Barry Fitzgerald, premiered on March 10, 1948. Hart became the tenth actress to portray Jane
Jane Porter (Tarzan)
Jane Porter is a major character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film.- In the novels :...
when she appeared opposite Lex Barker
Lex Barker
Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...
as Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
in Tarzan's Savage Fury.
Marriage and death
Dorothy Hart died on July 11, 2004, aged 82, and is buried in Asheville, North Carolina.She was married to Frederick Pittera in 1954. He was a former Military pilot instructor on Bomber Aircraft and test pilot .In 1958 Pittera was awarded the U.S.Air Force Certificate of Appreciation' the highest award bestowed on a civilian for his efforts on behalf of U.S. Air Force reserve between 1950 and 1955. He is an international producer of trade and public fairs from New York.
Hart was survived by their son, Douglas Hart Pittera, a Fincial Officer for the Union Bank of Switzerland. Douglas, married to Cheryll Pittera, has three children, Nicole, Richard and David. They currently live in Fairfield, Connecticut.