Doris Dawson — Acting | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Doris Dawson Levy was born on April 16, 1905, in Goldfield, Nevada, the child of Bonewitz Xerxes Dawson and Reba Greenwood. She was another starlet working away in low-budget silent and early sound movie comedies as well as doing some photo modeling for the fashion industry. Some Information from archive.org motion picture realm 1929: Height 5 '1", red hair, blue eyes, 103 lbs. Schooling: Miss Gildner's School for Girls, and the Virginia College in Roanoke, VA. Swimming, dancing, reading and riding. No formal training in stage. Doris Dawson got her start in 1927 in The Christie Comedies silent shorts made by Al Christie. “A girl I had known was working at the Mack Sennett studio. I went to lunch with her one day and then went back to the studio to watch her work during the afternoon. It was the first time I had ever been inside of a studio and I was quite excited. They were ‘shooting’ some swimming scenes and needed some girls who could dive.

“My chum, knowing that I could, said she would get me a job working in the picture if I wanted to. I declined at first since I had never before been given a thought to entering pictures. However, she urged me on and said we would have a lot of fun so I went to work.” Later on in 1927 she had small roles in "Gold From Weepah" and in the Tom Mix western "The Arazona Wildcat". During 1928 she was awarded the female lead opposite Harry Langdon in Heart Trouble. The role earned her a 1929 WAMPAS Baby Star nod (The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) and the trade paper Variety thought she had "more sex appeal than a lot of peaches Harry has picked in the past." Alas, Langdon's career was waning and few liked this comedy. After that she had roles in "Do Your Duty" and "The Little Wildcat" both made in 1928. Hardly anybody enjoyed her film, Hot Stuff released in August of 1928. It was a college burlesque which was set in "a little village in the state of Coma." During 1929 she had roles in "His Captive Woman", "Children Of The Ritz", "Hot Stuff" and in an early sound musical called "Broadway Scandels". After that she survived being hit by a car during September of 1929. On April 14, 1930 in Lyndhurst, New Jersey she married Pat William Rooney III the son of the famous Broadway tap dancer. Her screen career suffered a severe setback with the advent of sound due to a voice that some called "graiting". After divorcing Pat Rooney in 1934 Doris returned for a final film, the low-budget disaster "epic" Silver Streak in 1934. In 1938 she remarried to Robert Davis Levy and they both ran a dog kennel in Florida, where they raised some award winning show dogs. Doris passed on April 20, 1986, in Coral Gables, Florida, at the age of 81.