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
Kalte Milch und heiße Fäuste (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
Gangsterjagd 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 geht nach Washington (1939).
Foster died in 1974 and Dorothy lived on for another two decades plus,
passing away at age 88 in California in 1998.
