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Dorothy McGuire
Publicity photo of McGuire, 1940s
Born	Dorothy Hackett McGuire (1916-06-14)June 14, 1916 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	September 13, 2001(2001-09-13) (aged 85) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Other names	Dorothy McGuire Swope
Years active	1943–1990
Known for	Swiss Family Robinson Gentleman's Agreement Friendly Persuasion The Enchanted Cottage Rich Man, Poor Man
Spouse	John Swope ​ ​(m. 1943; died 1979)​
Children	2, including Topo Swope

Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress for Friendly Persuasion (1956). She starred as the mother in the popular films Old Yeller (1957) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960).

Life and career

Early years

McGuire was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the only child of Isabelle Flaherty McGuire and Thomas Johnson McGuire. She made her stage debut at age 13 at the local community playhouse in Barrie's A Kiss for Cinderella. Her co-star was Henry Fonda, who was also born in Nebraska and was making a return visit to his home town after becoming a success on Broadway.

After her father's death, McGuire attended a convent school in Indianapolis, Indiana. She later attended Pine Manor Junior College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, serving as president of that school's drama club. She graduated from Pine Manor when she was 19.

Theatre and Modeling

McGuire was one of the most sought after models under Walter Thornton's management. She appeared in summer stock at Deertrees, Maine, in 1937 before going to New York.

McGuire acted on radio, playing Sue in the serial Big Sister (1937) and took part in an experimental television broadcast, The Mysterious Mummy Case (1938). She was hired by producer Jed Harris to understudy the ingenue in a Broadway play, Stop Over (1938), which ran only 23 performances. McGuire was an understudy to Martha Scott in Our Town in 1938, eventually taking over Scott's role.

McGuire toured in My Dear Children opposite John Barrymore, and in 1939, was in a revue with Benny Goodman, Swingin' the Dream. She had a role in the short-lived Medicine Show (1940), and a part in the longer-running revival of Kind Lady (1940).

McGuire gained attention on Broadway when cast in the title role of the domestic comedy Claudia. It ran for 722 performances from 1941 to 1943. Brooks Atkinson wrote: "She gives a splendid performance of a part that would be irritating if it were played by a dull actress. She is personally genuine; the charm she radiates across the play is not merely theatrical mannerism."

Film

Brought to Hollywood by producer David O. Selznick (who called her "a born actress") on the strength of her stage performance, McGuire starred in her first film, Claudia (1943), a movie adaptation of her Broadway success. She portrayed a child bride who almost destroys her marriage through her selfishness. Selznick developed the project, which co-starred Robert Young, then sold it to 20th Century Fox; under this deal, Selznick would share McGuire's contract with Fox.

RKO reunited McGuire with Young in The Enchanted Cottage (1945), which was a box-office success.

At age 28, she played the mother in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), replacing Gene Tierney, who had become pregnant. Under the direction of Elia Kazan at 20th Century Fox, the film was a big success. So, too, was The Spiral Staircase (1946) in which McGuire played the lead role, a mute. It was originally prepared by Selznick, who envisioned Ingrid Bergman in the lead; Selznick sold the project to RKO along with the services for his producer Dore Schary.

McGuire and Young made a third film together, Claudia and David (1946), a sequel to Claudia, which was less well received. Schary and RKO put her in Till the End of Time (also 1946), a hit with audiences. She later said: "I fought the hardest for this role and it was my least successful. I went right back to playing nice girls and faithful wives. "

She was offered the lead in Anna and the King of Siam (1946), but turned it down to go travelling with her family.

McGuire was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) directed by Kazan for Fox. The film was a surprise hit.

Following this film, McGuire, co-star Gregory Peck, and some other actors helped form the La Jolla Playhouse. She appeared in productions of The Importance of Being Earnest, I Am a Camera, The Winslow Boy, and Tonight at 8:30, then went to live in Italy for a year.

Selznick announced a variety of films to star McGuire that were not made, including Dark Medallion, A Doll's House Wings of the Dove and Sands of Time.

Radio

McGuire was a member of the cast of Big Sister (playing Sue Evans), and Joyce Jordan, M.D.. She also appeared in This Is My Best (Miracle in the Rain), Screen Directors Playhouse (The Spiral Staircase) and in Theatre Guild on the Air (Hamlet A Doll's House, Our Town).

Later films

McGuire spent some time away from screens before returning in two movies for Fox, Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950) and Mister 880 (1950). Neither was particularly popular.

She made her TV debut in Robert Montgomery Presents, an adaptation of Dark Victory, with McGuire playing the Bette Davis role. Schary had become head of production at MGM, where McGuire appeared in Callaway Went Thataway (1951), which lost money. She did I Want You (1951) for Sam Goldwyn, then returned to Broadway for Legend of Lovers (1951–52), but it only had a short run.

McGuire made Invitation (1952) at MGM, which flopped, and Make Haste to Live (1954) at Republic. She had a huge hit with Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) at Fox, and appeared in episodes of The United States Steel Hour, Lux Video Theatre, The Best of Broadway (an adaptation of The Philadelphia Story, as Tracey Lord), and Climax!.

At MGM, she was in Trial (1955), playing Glenn Ford's love interest. The movie was a hit.

Mother roles

McGuire was cast as Gary Cooper's wife in Friendly Persuasion (1956), directed by William Wyler. The success of this performance led her to being cast in a series of "mother" roles, continuing with Old Yeller (1957) at Disney.

McGuire returned to Broadway in Winesburg, Ohio (1958), which had a short run, then she played a wife and mother in The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959) at Fox.

She played the matriarch in some melodramas: This Earth Is Mine (1959) with Jean Simmons at Universal; A Summer Place (1959) for Delmer Daves with Richard Egan, Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue at Warner Bros., a big success; and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960).

She returned to Disney with Swiss Family Robinson (1960), one of the most popular films of the year. She made a second film with Daves and Donahue, Susan Slade (1961), playing a mother who passed off her daughter's illegitimate child as her own. She was a mother in Disney's Summer Magic (1963).

McGuire played the Virgin Mary in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). She was off screen for a number of years before returning in a British family film, Flight of the Doves (1971).

Television

McGuire appeared in some TV movies, She Waits (1972) and a PBS adaptation of Another Part of the Forest (1972). She provided voice work for Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973), and made one final appearance on Broadway in a revival of The Night of the Iguana (1976–77) alongside Richard Chamberlain.

Most of McGuire's later career work was for the small screen: The Runaways (1975), Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), the pilot for Little Women (1976), The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel (1979), Ghost Dancing (1983), Amos (1985), Between the Darkness and the Dawn (1985), American Geisha (1986), Caroline? (1990), and The Last Best Year (1990).

She was also in episodes of Fantasy Island, Hotel, The Love Boat, Glitter, St. Elsewhere, and Highway to Heaven. She provided the narration for Summer Heat (1987), and toured in 1987 in I Never Sang for My Father. In 1984–85, McGuire played Cora Miller on the long-running CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Cora was the estranged mother of tycoon Victor Newman, played by Eric Braeden

In 1982, she said, "I love my career, but I never felt much about it – about how to nurture it...It's been very erratic, after all ... To this day, I don't know what shapes a Hollywood career ... I was never a classic beauty. I had no image, so I found myself in a lot of things accidentally."

McGuire retired from acting after suffering a hip injury in the early 1990s.

Personal life and death

McGuire was married to Life magazine photographer John Swope for more than 35 years, with whom she had a son, photographer Mark Swope (1953–2016), and a daughter, actress Topo Swope (b. 1949).

McGuire died in Santa Monica, California, on September 13, 2001, at the age of 85; she developed arrhythmia weeks after sustaining a broken leg.

Recognition

For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Dorothy McGuire has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.

Filmography

Complete TV credits

Radio appearances

References

1. ^ "Dorothy McGuire Actress who was often cast as a mother and had the talent, but not the will, for stardom". The Daily Telegraph. September 18, 2001. p. 29.
2. ^ Katz, Ephraim (1979). The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume. Perigee Books. ISBN 0-399-50601-2. pp. 755–756.
3. ^ Severo, Richard (September 15, 2001). "Dorothy McGuire, Steadfast Heroine of Film, Dies at 83". New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
4. "She's Striking". The Racine Journal Times. 1938. p. 2.
5. Johnson, Erskine (May 18, 1943). "Hollywood Column". The Escanaba Daily Press. p. 2. Retrieved May 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "SELZNICK ASSETS ACQUIRED BY FOX: Latter Buys Rights to 'Keys of the Kingdom,' 'Claudia' and Script of 'Jane Eyre' PLAYERS' SERVICES IN DEAL Joan Fontaine and Dorothy McGuire Included -- Many Contracts Involved". New York Times. November 16, 1942. p. 15.
7. ^ Richard B. Jewell, Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures, Uni of California, 2016
8. "60 Top Grossers of 1946", Variety 8 January 1947 p. 8
9. ^ Vallance, Tom (September 17, 2001). "Obituary: Dorothy McGuire". The Independent. p. 6.
10. Rosenfield, Paul (February 7, 1982). "STAGE: FATE TAKES A HAND AGAIN FOR MCGUIRE". Los Angeles Times. p. l52.
11. "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
12. "'DARK MEDALLION' SOLD TO SELZNICK: Ethel Barrymore and Dorothy McGuire Expected to Star in Film of Langley Novel Plans Arthurian Picture". THE NEW YORK TIMES. November 11, 1946. p. 50.
13. THOMAS F. BRADY (April 22, 1947). "SELZNICK TO FILM A STORY BY IBSEN: Planning to Do 'Doll's House,' With Dorothy McGuire – Clears Foreign Rights". THE NEW YORK TIMES. p. 34.
14. THOMAS F. BRADY (January 28, 1947). "SELZNICK TO FILM VICKI BAUM STORY: ' Sands of Time' to Have Cary Grant and Dorothy McGuire in the Leading Roles". THE NEW YORK TIMES. p. 27.
15. "Say Hello To ..." (PDF). Radio and Television Mirror. December 1939. p. 43. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
16. "What's Playing?" (PDF). Radio Life. December 10, 1944. p. 25. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
17. Dunning, John. (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. pp. 86, 376, 600, 662.
18. "KECA mike memos" (PDF). Radio Life. March 23, 1947. p. 10. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
19. Bergan, Ronald (September 17, 2001). "Obituary: Dorothy McGuire: Actor of intelligence, integrity and charm on and off the screen". The Guardian. p. 1.20.
20. Beck, Marilyn (March 30, 1975). "Dorothy Mcguire..: A name from the past reappears for TV special". Chicago Tribune. p. i3.
21. ALLAN HUNTER (September 20, 2001). "Dorothy McGuire Obituary". The Scotsman (FINAL ed.). p. 14.
22. McLELLAN, DENNIS (September 15, 2001). "Obituaries; Dorothy McGuire, 85; Favorite Leading Lady". Los Angeles Times. p. B.10.
23. "Gets Distaff Lead". The Times Recorder. October 3, 1971. p. 8. Retrieved May 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "Dorothy McGuire". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
25. Reward Unlimited. Series: Motion Picture Films, 1794–1990. National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
26. Kirby, Walter (June 21, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 44. Retrieved July 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Dorothy McGuire at IMDb
• Dorothy McGuire at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dorothy McGuire at the TCM Movie Database
• Dorothy McGuire appears on What's My Line July 25, 1954

• 1916 births
• 2001 deaths
• American film actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• Actresses from Omaha, Nebraska
• 20th-century American actresses