Dorothy Dickson
Encyclopedia
Biography
Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome KernJerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
song "Look for the Silver Lining
Look for the Silver Lining
"Look for the Silver Lining" is a popular song with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by B.G. DeSylva. It was written in 1919 for the unsuccessful musical Zip, Goes a Million. In 1920 it was published and reused in the musical Sally whence it was popularized by Marilyn Miller...
". She was also a member of the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
and made many appearances in New York and abroad. In 1936 she co-starred with Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
in his Careless Rapture
Careless Rapture
Careless Rapture is a 'musical play' by the Welsh composer Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall. It premiered on 11 September 1936 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane...
and, in 1937, his Crest of the Wave
Crest of the Wave (musical)
Crest of the Wave is a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall.It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, on 1 September 1937, starring Novello as both hero and villain, Dorothy Dickson, Olive Gilbert, Walter Crisham and Edgar Elmes...
.
As for her film career, Dickson starred in a few silent films, including Eastward Ho! in 1919, and made her last film appearance in 1949's Paying the Piper.
During her early days on the London stage, Dickson was introduced to another future celebrity (as well as centenarian
Centenarian
A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
), whose name was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, later The Queen Mother. The two became close friends and their friendship lasted until Dickson's death at age 102.
Her daughter was the actress Dorothy Hyson
Dorothy Hyson
Dorothy Hyson, Lady Quayle was an American film and stage actress, born Dorothy Wardell Heisen in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of actress Dorothy Dickson and matinée idol Carl Hyson...
, who was married to Sir Anthony Quayle
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle, CBE was an English actor and director.-Early life:Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, in Lancashire to a Manx family....
. Dorothy Hyson Quayle died, aged 81, one year after her mother's death at age 102.
In 2006 Angus McBean
Angus McBean
Angus McBean , was a Welsh photographer, associated with surrealism.-Biography:Angus McBean was born in South Wales in June 1904. Despite the surname and the family's claim to be head of the sub-clan McBean, they had been Welsh for generations. Clem McBean was a surveyor in the mines and the family...
's photograph of Dorothy Dickson was used on the poster for an exhibition of his photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, London, as well as on the cover of the accompanying book.
Selected filmography
- Danny BoyDanny Boy (1934 film)Danny Boy is a 1934 British musical film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Frank Forbes-Robinson, Dorothy Dickson, Archie Pitt and Ronnie Hepworth...
(1934) - Sword of HonourSword of Honour (film)Sword of Honour is a 1939 British drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Geoffrey Toone, Sally Gray, Wally Patch and Peter Gawthorne...
(1939)