Early life and career

Malone was born Dorothy Eloise Maloney in Chicago. Her family moved to Dallas, Texas, where she worked as a child model and began acting in school plays at Ursuline Convent and Highland Park High School. While performing at Southern Methodist University, she was spotted by an RKO talent agent and was signed to a studio contract, making her film debut in 1943 in The Falcon and the Co-Eds.

Much of Malone's early career was spent in supporting roles in B-movies, many of them Westerns, although on occasion she played small but memorable roles, such as the brainy, lusty, bespectacled bookstore clerk in The Big Sleep (1946) with Humphrey Bogart, and the love interest of Dean Martin in the musical-comedy Artists and Models (1955).

Transformation

By 1956, Malone transformed herself into a platinum blonde and shed her "good girl" image when she co-starred with Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, and Robert Stack in director Douglas Sirk's drama Written on the Wind. Her portrayal of the dipso-nymphomaniac daughter of a Texas oil baron won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. As a result, she was offered more substantial roles in such films as Too Much, Too Soon, where she portrayed Diana Barrymore, Man of a Thousand Faces (with James Cagney), and Warlock (with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark). Additional screen credits include The Tarnished Angels (in which she reunited with former co-stars Hudson and Stack and director Sirk), The Last Voyage (with Stack) and The Last Sunset (with Hudson).

Later career

On New Years Day 1956, she appeared with John Ericson in the episode "Mutiny" of CBS's Appointment with Adventure. She guest-starred on NBC's 1958-1959 western series, Cimarron City.

During the 1963-1964 season, Malone guest starred on ABC's circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth, starring Jack Palance. From 1964-1968, she played the lead role of Constance MacKenzie on the ABC prime time serial Peyton Place except for a brief stretch where she was absent due to surgery. Lola Albright filled in until her return. In 1968, she was written out of the show after complaining that she was given little to do. Malone sued 20th Century-Fox for $1.6 million for breach of contract; it was settled out of court. She would later return to the role in the TV movies Murder in Peyton Place (1977) and Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985). Malone had a featured role in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976). In her last screen appearance, she played a mother convicted of murdering her family in Basic Instinct (1992) with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.

Dallas producers approached Malone to step into the role of Miss Ellie Ewing when Barbara Bel Geddes vacated the role in 1984. She declined.

Personal life

Malone has been married and divorced twice and her marriage to New York businessman Robert Tomarkin was annulled. She has two daughters, Mimi and Diane, from her first marriage to actor Jacques Bergerac. Her star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 1718 Vine. As of 2011, Malone is retired and living in Dallas, Texas. Malone was raised Roman Catholic.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1943	Gildersleeve on Broadway	Model	(uncredited)
	The Falcons and the Co-eds	Dorothy - Co-ed
	Higher and Higher	Bridesmaid
1944	Seven Days Ashore	Betty - Pianist	(uncredited)
	Show Business	Chorine
	Step Lively	Telephone operator
	Youth Runs Wild	Girl in Booth
	One Mysterious Night	Eileen Daley
	Hollywood Canteen	Junior Hostess
1945	Too Young to Know	Mary
1946	Janie Gets Married	Sgt. Spud Lee
	Night and Day	Nancy
	The Big Sleep	Acme Book Shop Proprietress
1948	To the Victor	Miriam
	Two Guys from Texas	Joan Winston
	One Sunday Afternoon	Amy Lind
1949	Flaxy Martin	Nora Carson
	South of St. Louis	Deborah Miller
	Colorado Territory	Julie Ann Winslow
1950	The Nevadan	Karen Galt
	Convicted	Kay Knowland
	The Killer That Stalked New York	Alice Lorie
	Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone	Lola Gillway
1951	Saddle Legion	Dr. Ann F. Rollins
	The Bushwackers	Cathy Sharpe
1952	Torpedo Alley	Lt. Susan Peabody
1953	Scared Stiff	Rosie
	Law & Order	Jeannie
	Jack Slade	Virginia Maria Dale
	Omnibus	Elizabeth	Episode: "The Horn Blows at Midnight"
	Four Star Playhouse	Marie Roberts	Episode: "Moorings"
1954	Young at Heart	Fran Tuttle
	Loophole	Ruthie Donovan
	The Lone Gun	Charlotte Downing
	Pushover	Ann Stewart
	Private Hell 36	Francey Farnham
	Security Risk	Donna Weeks
	Four Star Playhouse	Ella	Episode: "A Study in Panic"
1955	Battle Cry	Mrs. Elaine Yurborough (USO Manager in San Diego)
	The Fast and the Furious	Connie Adair
	Five Guns West	Shalee
	Tall Man Riding	Corinna Ordway
	Sincerely Yours	Linda Curtis
	Artists and Models	Abigail 'Abby' Parker
	At Gunpoint	Martha Wright
	Fireside Theater	Marion Carney	Episode: Mr. Onion
	Lux Video Theatre	Intermission Guest	Episode: "The Hunted"
	G.E. True Theater	Eva Balto Kelly	Episode: "The Clown"
1956	Tension at Table Rock	Lorna Miller
	Pillars of the Sky	Calla Gaxton
	Written on the Wind	Marylee Hadley	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
	The Loretta Young Show	May Hadley	Episode: "A Ticket for May"
1957	Quantez	Chaney
	Man of a Thousand Faces	Cleva Creighton Chaney
	Tip on a Dead Jockey	Phyllis Tredman
	The Tarnished Angels	LaVerne Shumann
1958	Too Much, Too Soon	Diana Barrymore
	Cimarron City	Nora Arkins	Episode: "A Respectable Girl"
1959	Warlock	Lily Dollar
1960	The Last Voyage	Laurie Henderson
	Alcoa Theatre	Ann St. Martin	Episode: "The Last Flight Out"
1961	The Last Sunset	Belle Breckenridge
	Route 66	Christina Summers	Episode: "Fly Away Home"
	Checkmate	Lorna Shay	Episode: "The Heat of Passion"
	The Dick Powell Show	Elena Shay	Episode: "Open Season"
	G.E. True Theater	Ellen Rogers	Episode: "A Little White Lye"
1962	Dr. Kildare	Rena Ladovan	Episode: "The Administrator"
	The Untouchables	Kitty Edmonds	Episode: "The Floyd Gibbons Story"
	G.E. True Theater	Ruth Hammond	Episode: "Somebody Please Help Me!"
1963	Beach Party	Marianne
1964	The Greatest Show on Earth	Jeannie Gilbert	Episode: "Where the Wire Ends"
	Fate Is the Hunter	Lisa Bond	(uncredited)
	Arrest and Trial	Lois Janeway	Episode: "Modus Operandi"
1964-1968	Peyton Place	Constance Mackenzie Constance Mackenzie Carson	342 episodes Golden Apple Award for Most Cooperative Actress (1965) Photoplay Award for Most Popular Female Star (1965) Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star - Female (1965-1966)
1967	Insight	Edith Stein	Episode: "The Edith Stein Story"
1969	Carnal Circuit	Vanessa Brighton
	The Pigeon	Elaine Hagen	(TV movie)
1972	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Ruth McLayne	Episode: "Is This Operation Necessary?"
1973	Ironside	Agatha Mott	Episode: "Confessions: From a Lady of the Night"
1975	The Man Who Would Not Die	Paula Stafford
	Abduction	Mrs. Prescott
1976	Ellery Queen	Carol Franklin	Episode: "The Adventure of the Electric Engineer"
	Rich Man, Poor Man	Irene Goodwin	Episode: "Part VII: Chapters 10" Episode: "Part VIII: Chapters 11 and 12"
	The Streets of San Francisco	Julia Desmond	Episode: "Child of Anger"
1977	Golden Rendezvous	Mrs. Skinner
	Little Ladies of the Night	Maggie	(TV movie)
	The November Plan	Dawn Archer	(TV movie)
	Murder in Peyton Place	Constance MacKenzie	(TV movie)
1978	The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries	Mrs. Blain	Episode: "The House on Possessed Hill"
	High Hopes	Mrs. Herzog
	Vega$	Mrs. Gardner	Episode: "Love, Laugh, and Die"
	Flying High	Jane	Episode: "A Hairy Yak Plays Musical Chairs Eagerly"
	Katie: Portrait of a Centrefold	Myrte Cutler	(TV movie)
1979	The Day Time Ended	Ana Williams
	Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff	Mildred
	Winter Kills	Emma Kegan
	The Greatest Heroes of the Bible	Nagar	Episode: "Sodom and Gomorrah"
1980	The Littlest Hobo	Elena	Episode: "Guardian Angle"
	Condominium	Molly Denniver	(TV miniseries)
1982	Off Your Rocker	Shelley Delaine
1983	The Being	Marge Smith
1984	He's Not Your Son	Dr. Sullivan	(TV movie)
1985	Peyton Place: The Next Generation	Constance Carson
1987	Rest in Pieces	Catherine Boyle
1992	Basic Instinct	Hazel Dobkins

[ Source: Wikipedia ]