Doro Merande
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| Doro Merande | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dora Matthews March 31, 1892 Columbus, KS, USA |
| Died | November 1, 1975 (aged 83) New York, New York, USA |
| Years active | 1928-1974 |
Doro Merande (March 31, 1892 – November 1, 1975) was a comic actress who appeared in Hollywood films, on the Broadway stage, and on television. She frequently portrayed "sour, witchy old women" with her abundant talent as a character actress. She was born Dora Matthews in Columbus, Kansas[1]. Merande was orphaned at a young age.
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[edit] Stage Actress
She headed to New York City to become an actress. She found her first part in a small summer company in Massachusetts.
Merande coveted Broadway parts during the Great Depression. Often she lost roles to other actresses during rehearsals. Her career began with the Jules Levanthal Company. She debuted on Broadway as Sophie Tuttle in Loose Moments, in 1935. Soon she was cast in One Good Year, Red Harvest, and Angel Island. Her first important role was playing the gossip in Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
Merande later appeared with Leo G. Carroll in Lo and Behold, The Rat Race with Betty Field, and in The Silver Whistle, with Jose Ferrer. She also performed with Clifton Webb (in Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell), Walter Huston (in Apple of His Eye), and Franchot Tone (in Hope For Your Best). In the latter play, Merande played Tone's Down East Housekeeper.
Her final Broadway appearance was in a 1969 revival of The Front Page. She played the cleaning woman in a filthy press room. She recreated the same character in the movie and television versions. They starred Robert Ryan and George Grizzard. Merande earned good reviews in both productions.
[edit] Television and Motion Pictures
She entered films in 1940, reprising her role as the gossip in the sanitized film version of Our Town. Merande's other film credits include
[edit] Filmography
- State Fair (1933)
- The Snake Pit (1948)
- The Seven Year Itch (1954)
- The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
- The Gazebo (1959)
- The Cardinal (1963)
- The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)
- Hurry Sundown (1967)
- Change of Habit (1969)
- The Front Page (1974)
[edit] Television
- The United States Steel Hour (1957)
- Valiant Lady (1953)
- Kraft Television Theater (1953-1954)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958)
- The Phil Silvers Show (1959)
- Playhouse 90 (1959)
- Bringing Up Buddy (1960-1961) as Aunt Iris Flower; co-starring Frank Aletter and Enid Markey
- The Defenders (1962)
- Thriller (1961)
- Sam Benedict (1963)
- The Twilight Zone (1963, in the episode "The Bard")
She appeared regularly during the first season of NBC-TV's That Was the Week That Was (1964).
- The Jackie Gleason Show (2 episodes, 1967-1970, as Aunt Ethel)
Doro Merande attended The Honeymooners anniversary special with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in Florida. A short time later, she died of a stroke in Miami at the age of eighty-three.
[edit] References
- Doro Merande at the Internet Movie Database
- New York Times, Doro Merande, Comedian of Stage and Films, Dead, November 3, 1975, Page 38.
