Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 - September 14, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress for Friendly Persuasion (1956).

Life and career

Early years

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, McGuire was the only child of Thomas Johnson McGuire and Isabelle Flaherty McGuire. She began her acting career on the stage at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

After her father's death, McGuire attended a convent school in Indianapolis, Indiana. She later attended Pine Manor Junior College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, serving as president of that school's drama club. She graduated from Pine Manor when she was 19.

Radio

McGuire was a member of the casts of Big Sister (playing Sue Evans) and Joyce Jordan, M.D.. She also appeared in This Is My Best (Miracle in the Rain), Screen Directors Playhouse (The Spiral Staircase) and in Theatre Guild on the Air (Hamlet A Doll's House, Our Town).

Stage

Eventually, she reached Broadway, first appearing as an understudy to Martha Scott in Our Town, and subsequently starring in the domestic comedy, Claudia.

Film

Brought to Hollywood by producer David O. Selznick (who called her "a born actress") on the strength of her stage performance, McGuire starred in her first film, a movie adaptation of her Broadway success, Claudia, and portrayed the character of a child bride who almost destroys her marriage through her selfishness. Her inaugural screen performance was popular with both the public and critics alike and was the catalyst for not only a sequel, Claudia and David (both movies co-starring Robert Young), but also for numerous other film roles.

By 1945, at the age of 29, she was already playing mother roles, in such movies as A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1947 for Gentleman's Agreement. Other notable films include Till the End of Time, The Enchanted Cottage, A Summer Place, Three Coins in the Fountain, Friendly Persuasion, Old Yeller, Swiss Family Robinson, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

McGuire had a long Hollywood career. Her versatility served her well in taut melodramas, such as The Spiral Staircase and Make Haste to Live, as well as in light, frothy comedies, such as Mother Didn't Tell Me and Mister 880.

Personal life and death

Married to Life magazine photographer John Swope (1908-1979) for more than 35 years, she had a son, photographer Mark Swope, and a daughter Topo (born 1948), who also became an actress.

McGuire died of cardiac arrest in 2001 following a brief illness at the age of 85.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy McGuire has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

Radio appearances

[ Source: Wikipedia ]