Dorothy Wilson

Biography

This quiet, dark-haired beauty began her brief 30s career promoted as the "secretary to the stars." Dorothy Wilson started life out in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 14, 1909, born to non-professionals. She herself demonstrated little interest in an acting career growing up. Following graduation she took various secretarial jobs in the Chicago area before moving to Los Angeles in 1930, triggered by her keen interests in traveling and experiencing new places. Signing up with a number of employment agencies, she was eventually hired by RKO Pictures and worked at the studio as a secretary for two years. Taking dictation for director Gregory La Cava as part of her many assignments at RKO, LaCava, who was preparing to cast his upcoming film The Age of Consent (1932), took note of this lovely, highly photogenic "Girl Friday" and set her up for a screen test. Surprisingly, she won one of the two co-ed lead parts (the other was Arline Judge) and set down her writing pad for good. She received fine reviews opposite Richard Cromwell for her pre-Code co-starring role as a college cutie looking for romance. Dubbed a "Wampas Baby Star" of 1932, Dorothy went on to provide standard romantic interest in such films as Lucky Devils (1933), Before Dawn (1933), Scarlet River (1933), His Greatest Gamble (1934), When a Man's a Man (1935), In Old Kentucky (1935), Bad Boy (1935) and The Milky Way (1936) opposite such vast and varied leading men as Bruce Cabot, Robert Armstrong, Stuart Erwin, Preston Foster, Richard Dix Tom Keene, Will Rogers, Harold Lloyd and James Dunn. While making the film 8 Girls in a Boat (1934), Dorothy began dating the movie's scriptwriter Lewis R. Foster. The couple married in 1936. After filming Craig's Wife (1936), and Speed to Spare (1937), Dorothy abandoned her career to devote herself to husband and family. They moved to a California ranch in Reseda and went on to have two sons. Other than an unbilled bit in Whistling in Brooklyn (1943), Dorothy never even entertained the idea of returning to acting. Her husband, however, continued in the business and became an inspired composer and songwriter in addition to being a steadfast writer/director. He won an Oscar for his script of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Foster died in 1974 and Dorothy lived on for another two decades plus, passing away at age 88 in California in 1998.