Dorothy Dickson

Biography

Dorothy Dickson was an American-born London theater star, who popularized the song, "Look for the Silver Lining", in Britain when she introduced it in London in 1921 in the Jerome Kern musical "Sally". She appeared on the New York stage and in the Ziegfield Follies before World War II. In 1914, she married the son of German-born Carl Constantine Heisen. Carl Jr. eventually changed his surname to Hyson. He and Dickson had a daughter, future British stage and film star Dorothy Hyson, the woman to whom songwriters Rodgers and Hart reportedly dedicated their song "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". During WWII, Dickson was a leading figure behind the Stage Door Canteen, a popular London club frequented by Allied troops. In the 1950s, she appeared on the London stage with Fay Compton in "Red Letter Day" and opposite Jack Buchanan in "As Long As They're Happy". Her last stage appearance was in 1980 in a gala performance at the Duke of York's Theater to commemorate 75 years of "Peter Pan", in which she had performed a half-century earlier. She also maintained a friendship with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.