Gloria Dickson (born Thais Alalia Dickerson; August 13, 1917 – April 10, 1945) was an American stage and screen actress of the 1930s and 1940s.

Early years

Born in

Pocatello, Idaho Pocatello () is the county seat of and the largest city in Bannock County, Idaho, Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, Idaho, Power County, containing the city's airport. It is t ...

, Dickson was the daughter of a banker. After her father's death in 1929, the family moved to California. She graduated from

Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

. She began acting during high school in amateur theatre productions. Encouraged by her acting coaches, she moonlighted doing dramatic readings at social clubs and on KFOX radio station in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Career

In April 1936, as she worked in a production of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal ...

, she was spotted by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

talent scout In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports, and they determine whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the s ...

Max Arnow, who signed her to a contract. Her film debut was in 1937's ''They Won't Forget''.

Personal life

Dickson was married to the famous makeup artist

Perc Westmore Percival Harry Westmore (29 October 1904 – 30 September 1970) was a prominent member of the Westmore family of Hollywood make-up artists. He rose to the position of head of the Warner Bros. make-up department, and with his brothers founded th ...

on June 20, 1938, in Santa Barbara, California, then filed suit for divorce from him on May 17, 1940. Their uncontested divorce was granted on June 22, 1941, in Los Angeles, California. Her second marriage, in late 1941, was to film director

Ralph Murphy Ralph Murphy (May 1, 1895 – February 10, 1967) was an American film and television director. Born in Rockville, Connecticut, Murphy was active in films from 1931 through 1962, with some work in television. From 1941 to 1944 he was married to G ...

, whom she divorced in 1944. Later in 1944, she married William Fitzgerald, a former boxer to whom she remained married until her death at age 27 on April 10, 1945.

Death

Dickson died during a fire on April 10, 1945, at the Los Angeles home she was renting from actor

Sidney Toler Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second non-Asian actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his portrayal ...

, caused by an unextinguished cigarette that ignited an overstuffed chair on the main floor, while she slept upstairs. Her body, and that of her pet dog, were found in the bathroom, and she is assumed to have attempted to escape through the bathroom window. She died from

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

tion; flames had seared her lungs, and her body had suffered first- and second-degree burns.

Partial filmography

* ''

They Won't Forget ''They Won't Forget'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Edward Norris, and Lana Turner, in her feature debut. It was based on a novel by Ward Greene called ''Death in the Deep So ...

'' (1937) - Sybil Hale * ''

Talent Scout In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports, and they determine whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the s ...

'' (1937) - Blonde on Bus (uncredited) * ''

Gold Diggers in Paris ''Gold Diggers in Paris'' is a 1938 Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert, and Allen Jenkins. Plot Maurice Giraud ( ...

'' (1938) - Mona Verdivere * '' Racket Busters'' (1938) - Nora Jordan * '' Secrets of an Actress'' (1938) - Carla Orr * ''

Heart of the North ''Heart of the North'' is a 1938 American adventure film directed by Lewis Seiler and written by Lee Katz and Vincent Sherman. The film stars Dick Foran, Gloria Dickson, Gale Page, Allen Jenkins, Patric Knowles, and Janet Chapman. The film was re ...

'' (1938) - Joyce MacMillan * '' They Made Me a Criminal'' (1939) - Peggy * '' Waterfront'' (1939) - Ann Stacey * '' The Cowboy Quarterback'' (1939) - Evelyn Corey * '' No Place to Go'' (1939) - Gertrude Plummer * ''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dol ...

'' (1939) - Peggy Porterfield * ''

Private Detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

'' (1939) - Mona Lannon * ''

King of the Lumberjacks ''King of the Lumberjacks'' is a 1940 American Western film directed by William Clemens and starring John Payne, Gloria Dickson and Stanley Fields.Pitts p.174 The film's sets were designed by the art director Esdras Hartley. Plot Cast * ...

'' (1940) - Tina Martin Deribault * ''

Tear Gas Squad ''Tear Gas Squad'' is a 1940 American drama film directed by Terry O. Morse and starring Dennis Morgan, John Payne and Gloria Dickson. The film was made under the working title of ''State Cop''. It includes the song ''I'm an Officer of the Law' ...

'' (1940) - Jerry Sullivan * ''

I Want a Divorce ''I Want a Divorce'' is a 1940 Paramount film directed by Ralph Murphy. The screenplay was written by Frank Butler (based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns). The film starred then-married actors Joan Blondell and Dick Powell, who would later ...

'' (1940) - Wanda Holland * '' This Thing Called Love'' (1940) - Florence Bertrand * ''

The Big Boss ''The Big Boss'' (; originally titled as ''Fists of Fury'' in the United States) is a 1971 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Lo Wei (who also wrote the film) and Wu Chi-hsiang. Bruce Lee stars in his first major film in a lead role, and ...

'' (1941) - Sue Peters * '' Mercy Island'' (1941) - Leslie Ramsey * ''

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine ''The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine'' is a 1942 American comedy crime film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Ruth Terry, and Gloria Dickson. The film is also known as ''Unforgotten Crime'' (American TV title) and ''Find Jimm ...

'' (1942) - Cleo Arden * '' Power of the Press'' (1943) - Edwina Stephens * ''

Lady of Burlesque ''Lady of Burlesque'' (also known as ''The G-String Murders'' and in the UK, ''Striptease Lady'') is a 1943 American musical comedy mystery film directed by William A. Wellman, produced by Hunt Stromberg, and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Mi ...

'' (1943) - Dolly Baxter * '' The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case'' (1943) - Mrs. Keppler / Evelyn Fenton Cartwright * ''

Rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...

'' (1944) - Miss McCue (final film role)

Stage credits

* ''Wise Tomorrow'' (1937)

References

External links

* *
Gloria Dickson, We Won't Forget: Essay by Dan Van Neste
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Gloria 1917 births 1945 deaths Actresses from Idaho People from Pocatello, Idaho American film actresses Deaths from fire in the United States Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Accidental deaths in California Deaths by smoke inhalation 20th-century American actresses Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni Federal Theatre Project people