Dorothy Sebastian
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Sebastian was an American film and stage actress.
. In her youth she hoped to be a dancer and later a film actress. Her family frowned on both ambitions, however, so she fled to New York at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in New York City
, Sebastian's southern drawl was thick enough to "cut with a knife". She followed around theatrical agents before returning at night to a $12-a-month room, after being consistently rejected.
Her first contact in Hollywood was Robert Kane, who gave her a film test at United Studios. She performed in George White's Scandals
with Joan Crawford
and Anita Page
for a popular series of MGM romantic dramas including Our Dancing Daughters
(1928) and Our Blushing Brides
(1930). Sebastian also appeared in 1929's Spite Marriage
, wherein she was cast opposite her then-lover Buster Keaton
.
star William Boyd
. They wed in Las Vegas, Nevada
following a romance which began on a set at Pathe Pictures. After their divorce in 1935, Sebastian attempted a comeback, appearing in much smaller parts than years before. In 1947, Sebastian married Miami Beach
businessman Harold Shapiro to whom she remained married until her death.
Justice Court. She blamed her crash on a reaction of garlic
with three or four glasses of wine she consumed four or five hours earlier. She was dining at the home of Buster Keaton
. She told the court she believed police assumed from this she had been drinking even more recently. She was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and paid a fine of $75.
Sebastian was denied an award of $10,000 from a San Diego court in 1940. She appeared at a Red Cross benefit in San Francisco in 1937, and failed to pay her hotel bill. She contended the promoter should have met the expense. An employee of the Plaza Hotel took out the suit, charging "defrauding an innkeeper". The State Supreme Court of California reversed the decision, which awarded her the money on grounds of malicious prosecution
.
in 1957 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
in Woodland Hills, California
. She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery
in Culver City, California
.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Sebastian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6655 Hollywood Blvd.
Early life and career
Sebastian was born and raised in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. In her youth she hoped to be a dancer and later a film actress. Her family frowned on both ambitions, however, so she fled to New York at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Sebastian's southern drawl was thick enough to "cut with a knife". She followed around theatrical agents before returning at night to a $12-a-month room, after being consistently rejected.
Her first contact in Hollywood was Robert Kane, who gave her a film test at United Studios. She performed in George White's Scandals
George White's Scandals
George White's Scandals were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modelled after the Ziegfeld Follies. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W.C. Fields, the Three Stooges, Ray Bolger, Helen Morgan, Ethel Merman, ...
with Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Anita Page
Anita Page
Anita Evelyn Pomares , better known as Anita Page, was a Salvadoran-American film actress who reached stardom in the last years of the silent film era. She became a highly popular young star, reportedly at one point receiving the most fan mail of anyone on the MGM lot...
for a popular series of MGM romantic dramas including Our Dancing Daughters
Our Dancing Daughters
Our Dancing Daughters is a 1928 MGM silent drama film starring Joan Crawford and John Mack Brown , about the "loosening of youth morals" that took place during the 1920s. The film was directed by Harry Beaumont and produced by Hunt Stromberg...
(1928) and Our Blushing Brides
Our Blushing Brides
Our Blushing Brides is a 1930 drama film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Anita Page, and Dorothy Sebastian. The film was a follow-up to Our Dancing Daughters and Our Modern Maidens , and was a commercial success when it was released.The two previous installments in the series were both...
(1930). Sebastian also appeared in 1929's Spite Marriage
Spite Marriage
Spite Marriage is a silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton and Dorothy Sebastian. Keaton and Edward Sedgwick co-directed. It is the second film Keaton made for MGM and his last silent film...
, wherein she was cast opposite her then-lover Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
.
Personal life
Sebastian went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s after marrying Hopalong CassidyHopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
star William Boyd
William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
. They wed in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
following a romance which began on a set at Pathe Pictures. After their divorce in 1935, Sebastian attempted a comeback, appearing in much smaller parts than years before. In 1947, Sebastian married Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
businessman Harold Shapiro to whom she remained married until her death.
Court appearances
In November 1938, Sebastian was found guilty of drunk driving in a Beverly Hills, CaliforniaBeverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
Justice Court. She blamed her crash on a reaction of garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
with three or four glasses of wine she consumed four or five hours earlier. She was dining at the home of Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
. She told the court she believed police assumed from this she had been drinking even more recently. She was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and paid a fine of $75.
Sebastian was denied an award of $10,000 from a San Diego court in 1940. She appeared at a Red Cross benefit in San Francisco in 1937, and failed to pay her hotel bill. She contended the promoter should have met the expense. An employee of the Plaza Hotel took out the suit, charging "defrauding an innkeeper". The State Supreme Court of California reversed the decision, which awarded her the money on grounds of malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort, while like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution...
.
Death
Sebastian died of cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1957 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
in Woodland Hills, California
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...
. She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Holy Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....
in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Sebastian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6655 Hollywood Blvd.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Sackcloth and Scarlet | Polly Freeman | |
| 1926 | You'd Be Surprised | Ruth Whitman | |
| 1927 | On Ze Boulevard | Gaby de Sylva | |
| 1927 | The Isle of Forgotten Women The Isle of Forgotten Women The Isle of Forgotten Women is a 1927 silent drama film directed by George B. Seitz. It was released as Forgotten Women in the UK.-Cast:* Conway Tearle as Bruce Paine* Dorothy Sebastian as Marua* Gibson Gowland as John Stort... |
||
| 1928 | The House of Scandal | Ann Rourke | |
| 1929 | The Unholy Night The Unholy Night The Unholy Night is a 1929 mystery film directed by Lionel Barrymore, starring Ernest Torrence and featuring Boris Karloff.-Cast:* Ernest Torrence - Dr... |
Lady Efra Cavender | Alternative title: The Green Ghost |
| 1930 | Montana Moon Montana Moon Montana Moon is a 1930 film starring Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown , and Ricardo Cortez.-Plot:Joan Prescott, , a vacuous daughter of a wealthy, Montana rancher, meets Larry , a Texas cowboy. Joan and Larry fall for one another and are engaged... |
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Prescott | |
| 1931 | The Deceiver The Deceiver (film) The Deceiver is a 1931 American mystery film directed by Louis King. The film stars Lloyd Hughes, Ian Keith and Dorothy Sebastian. John Wayne makes a minor appearance as a corpse. The film premiered on November 21, 1931.-Plot overview:... |
Ina Fontanne | |
| 1932 | They Never Come Back | Adele Landon | |
| 1933 | Ship of Wanted Men | Irene Reynolds | |
| 1934 | The Life of Vergie Winters | Lulu | |
| 1937 | The Mysterious Pilot The Mysterious Pilot The Mysterious Pilot is a Columbia movie serial based on the book by William Byron Mowery and starring the record-breaking aviator Frank Hawks... |
Jean McNain | |
| 1939 | The Arizona Kid The Arizona Kid The Arizona Kid is a 1939 American western film directed by Joseph Kane under the Republic Pictures banner. The film stars Roy Rogers as a Confederate officer in Missouri during the American Civil War.-Cast:*Roy Rogers ... Roy Rogers... |
Bess Warren | |
| 1941 | Kansas Cyclone | Helen King | |
| 1942 | True to the Army | Gloria | Uncredited |
| 1948 | The Miracle of the Bells The Miracle of the Bells The Miracle of the Bells is a 1948 film produced by RKO. It stars Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, and Lee J. Cobb. Directed by Irving Pichel, with a script by Quentin Reynolds and Ben Hecht.The film is based on a novel by Russell Janney.... |
Miss Katie Orwin | Uncredited |