Doris Dowling
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| Doris Dowling | |
 Doris Dowling |
|
| Born | May 15, 1923 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | June 18, 2004, Los Angeles |
After serving her time as a chorus-girl on Broadway, Detroit-born Doris Dowling followed her elder sister Constance to Hollywood. Her first credited film role was that of barfly and drinking companion Gloria to fellow alcoholic Ray Milland in the classic The Lost Weekend.
She followed up the Best Picture winning film with The Blue Dahlia starring Alan Ladd (despite her being noticeably taller than him) and Veronica Lake. However post-war work became more scarce and she emigrated to Italy to revive her career, as her sister had done.
In Italy Dowling starred in several acclaimed films including Bitter Rice and Rome, Open City. She also appeared in Orson Welles's European production of Othello in 1952 playing Bianca. Upon returning to the US, much of her work was in theatre and on television. She appeared in such well-known television shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, Perry Mason, and, late in her career, The Incredible Hulk, Kojak and finally, sadly, The Dukes of Hazzard in 1984. She also unfortunately appeared in 1977's cult horror The Car.
In 1973, Dowling shared an Outer Critics Circle award for her performance in the all-star stage production of The Women on Broadway.
Dowling was married three times, she was band leader Artie Shaw's 7th wife, by whom she had a son, Jonathan Shaw, who is/was a tattoo artist who owned Manhattan's oldest tattoo parlour until 2004. Jonathan Shaw, who was long estranged from his mercurial father, was Artie Shaw's only son. Doris' other husbands were Robert F. Blumofe (1956 - 1959) and Leonard B. Kaufman (1960 until her death in 2004).
