Doris Hill was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s, mostly in B movie

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....

s.

Born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...

, Hill moved to Hollywood in the mid-1920s to pursue an acting career. First working as a vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 dancer, she received her first film acting role in 1926 when she starred alongside George O'Hara

George O'Hara (actor)

George O'Hara was an American motion picture actor and screenwriter of the silent film era.- Biography :...

 in Is That Nice?. She starred in seventeen films from 1926 to 1929, and unlike many silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 stars, she made a successful transition to talking films.

In 1929, along with future major Hollywood star Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...

, Hill was selected as one of thirteen girls to be WAMPAS Baby Stars

WAMPAS Baby Stars

The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States which honored thirteen young women each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. They were selected from 1922 to 1934, and annual...

. On contract with Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, she starred in four films in 1930, most notably Sons of the Saddle with popular western actor Ken Maynard

Ken Maynard

Ken Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....

. Western film roles became her most common parts, with her often starring opposite Tom Tyler

Tom Tyler

Tom Tyler was an American actor in silent and sound motion pictures, best known for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the acclaimed 1941 movie serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel.-Biography:...

. In 1932, she starred in another six films, four of which were westerns. In 1933, she starred in four films, all westerns, and by 1934, her career had slowed to almost no roles.

Her last acting role was in the 1934 western Ridin' Gents opposite Jack Perrin

Jack Perrin

Jack Perrin was an American actor specializing in westerns.-Biography:He was born Lyman Wakefield Perrin in Three Rivers, Michigan; his father worked in real estate and relocated the family to Los Angeles, California shortly after the turn of the century.Perrin served in the United States Navy...

 and Ben Corbett

Ben Corbett

Ben Corbett was an American film actor. He appeared in 283 films between 1915 and 1956.He was born in Hudson, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* An Eastern Westerner...

. She retired and married actor George L. Derrick, but they divorced shortly after. She then married Hollywood director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

, producer

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

 and writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 Monte Brice, and eventually moved to Kingman, Arizona

Kingman, Arizona

Kingman is located in a desert climate on the edge of the Mojave Desert, but its higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley tempers summer high temperatures and contributes to winter cold and rare snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F ...

. She died there on March 3, 1976.

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