Dorothy Coburn

Biography

Brunette, curvaceous Dorothy Coburn was the daughter of western actor/producer Wallace G. Coburn. Her grandfather Robert, a pioneer cattleman, had founded the famous Montana Circle C Ranch in 1886. Dorothy appeared in silent comedy shorts for Hal Roach -- often as the quintessential flapper, society lady or nurse. A feisty personality, she was ideally cast as a perennial foil for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Her best-known appearances with the famous duo include The Second 100 Years (1927) (where Stan inadvertently covers her bottom with white paint); Putting Pants on Philip (1927) (in which she is being chased by an over-amorous, kilt-wearing Stan Laurel around town); and as a dentist's nurse in Leave 'em Laughing (1928). A genuine trooper, Dorothy cheerfully took every indignity inflicted upon her in her stride, whether it was falling into a pit of whitewash in The Finishing Touch (1928), being pied in The Battle of the Century (1927), or covered in mud in Should Married Men Go Home? (1928). Also an accomplished rider and a fit athlete, Dorothy (billed as 'Dottie Coburn') occasionally worked as a stunt performer in westerns, doubling for the likes of Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea. After the advent of sound, she was sometimes engaged as a stand-in for Ginger Rogers at RKO. After leaving the movie business in 1936, she found employment as a receptionist for an insurance agency.