Dorothy Short was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 actress mainly in low-budget westerns and serials

Serial (film)

Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...

 in the 1930s and 1940s.

A native of Philadelphia, she married actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 Dave O'Brien

Dave O'Brien (actor)

Dave O'Brien was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures....

 in 1936, the same year they appeared together in the low-budget exploitation cheapie Reefer Madness

Reefer Madness

Reefer Madness is a well-known 1936 American propaganda exploitation film revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try "marijuana" — from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and descent into madness...

, which in modern times has become a well-known cult film

Cult film

A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...

. She also appeared in another anti-marijuana film Assassin of Youth

Assassin of Youth

Assassin of Youth is an exploitation film directed by Elmer Clifton. It is a pre-WWII movie about the supposed ill effects of cannabis. The movie is often considered a clone of the much more famous Reefer Madness...

in 1937.

She often appeared alongside her husband in various 'B' pictures and the Pete Smith

Pete Smith

Pete Smith is the name of:* Pete Smith , Australian radio and television announcer* Pete Smith , Major League Baseball pitcher, 1962–1963...

series of comedy shorts, in which O'Brien played the lead on many occasions during the 1940s. After their divorce in 1954, Short retired from film acting, and died nine years later at age 47.

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