Adrienne Dore (born Elizabeth Himmelsbach; May 22, 1907 – November 26, 1992) was an American actress,

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

, and beauty pageant winner. She was first runner-up in the

Miss America 1925 Miss America 1925, the fifth Miss America pageant, was held at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Friday, September 11, 1925. Entrants from the West Coast, Miss California, Fay Lanphier from Oakland, and Miss Los Angeles, Adr ...

pageant, competing as Miss Los Angeles. Dore went on to have a modest career in motion pictures before retiring in 1934.

Early life

Adrienne Dore was born Elizabeth Himmelsbach in

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; french: Cœur d'Alène, lit=Heart of an stitching awl, Awl ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the largest city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolita ...

to Louis Joseph Himmelsbach and Edith Estelle Kell. The family moved to

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

and then

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

where she attended school at a

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. She performed in her first musical there at age three. Her education at Forrest Ridge Convent was in general studies but she focused on dancing and the theater.

Career

Dore moved to New York City, and pursued a career in acting under the name Adrienne Doré. She was a singer in the musical revue ''"Elliott, Comstock, and Gest"'', performing at the Cocoanut Grove, a nightclub located on the roof of the Century Theatre. She competed in the Miss Los Angeles Beauty contest in 1925, winning, and went on to the Miss America pageant, placing second in the competition. The contestants signed promissory contracts for film appearances with the

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

upon winning; Dore's was with

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

for 5 years. Adrienne Dore and Edmund Goulding

Dore returned to Los Angeles where she began acting in uncredited roles in silent pictures and two reelers such as ''Johnny's Week End'' and ''Adam's Eve'', before moving on to full feature

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

. First receiving top billing in minor pictures like ''

Beyond London Lights ''Beyond London Lights'' is a lost 1928 American silent drama film directed by Tom Terriss and starring Adrienne Dore, Lee Shumway, and Bill Elliott. It is based on John Joy Bell's 1917 novel '' Kitty Carstairs'', and is sometimes referred to by ...

'' (1928), then continuing with minor roles alongside such stars as

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

in '' The Wild Party'' (1929). In 1931, she obtained a contract with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, and had supporting roles in '' Union Depot'' (1932) and ''

The Rich Are Always with Us ''The Rich Are Always with Us'' is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, and Bette Davis. The screenplay by Austin Parker is based on the novel of the same n ...

'' (1932) with

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

. She met and married independent or

B film A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

producer

Burt Kelly Burt is a given name and also a shortened form of other names, such as Burton and Herbert, or a place name. Burt may refer to: People *Burt Alvord (1866–after 1910), American Old West lawman and outlaw * Burt Bacharach (born 1928), American co ...

, who, along with

Sam Bischoff Samuel Bischoff (August 11, 1890 – May 21, 1975) was an American film producer who was responsible for more than 400 full-length films, two-reel comedies, and serials between 1922 and 1964. Life Born to a Jewish family in Hartford, Connec ...

and William Saal, headed KBS productions. Dore's last role was in ''

Undercover Men ''Undercover Men'' is a 1934 American-Canadian action film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Charles Starrett, Adrienne Dore and Kenne Duncan.Pitts p.376 It was made in Toronto by the B-movie company Booth Productions. With a plot following the ...

'', a 1934 Kelly film.

Later life

Dore and Kelly remained married until his death in 1983. Dore died at the age of 85 and is buried in an unmarked grave in

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Chippewa Falls is a city located on the Chippewa River in Chippewa County in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 14,778 in the 2021 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the county seat of Chippewa Cou ...

Filmography

References

Bibliography

* Mayne, Judith. ''Directed by Dorothy Arzner''. Indiana University Press, 1994.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dore, Adrienne 1907 births 1992 deaths American film actresses 20th-century American actresses