Postcard from Woodlawn, AL ca 1911
Biography
A very big "THANK YOU" goes out to Delane Darby Moore and Susan Henry Darby for sharing some
great pictures and information on the relative they affectionately call "Big Dot"
Another very big "THANK YOU" goes out to Susie Hatch for sharing more wonderful
information about Dorothy's genealogy and family history!
In one magazine article interview she is quoted as saying "When, as, and if you write me up tell the truth.
From what I can gather through extensive reading, all movie stars are beautiful or handsome, strong and
noble, talented, artistic, and addicted to their hearths and firesides. Let's make this different from the
usual thing. I was not reared in a dressing room, with Modjeska as a godmother. When I was 6 years old I
did not run away from home. I haven't nursed a lifelong ambition to act ever since reciting 'Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star' at a church bazaar, and I've never spent months and months, nor even a month,
waiting on the extra bench. I wasn't discovered by D.W. Griffith, and I was never so much a runner-up in a
beauty contest." It was written that when she spoke she was open and honest (maybe to a fault sometimes)
but none-the-less a seemingly real person. The fast life with dinners, parties and drinking with a crowd that
included Joan Crawford and Renee Adoree among others, was where Dorothy liked to spend her free time.
She was popular with friends and even many in the press. "A good scout" as they would say back then. Nice
clothes, furs, perfume and jewelery were also a few of her favorite things!
According to articles from the 20's and 30's, Dorothy was
described as being 5' 3" tall, weighing between 105 and 117
pounds, having brown curly hair and depending on which
magazine you read either deep hazel eyes or brown eyes.
Some favorite hobbies of hers were history, painting, music
and interior decorating.
Bill and Dorothy eloped to Las
Vegas, Nevada on December 19,
1930. One interview has her saying:
"Sit steady" she warned
hysterically. "Hold onto
something tight. In ten minutes
Bill and I are flying off to Arizona
or New Mexico or some funny
place to get married. I told him
he'd have to make it snappy
before I changed my mind." It was
such a rush affair that they didn't
even stop to buy rings, they used
one with a star sapphire that one
had given to the other as a gift.
On August 27, 1946 Dorothy Sebastian became Dorothy Sebastian Shapiro after she married Herman Shapiro.
They remained together until her death from colon cancer in 1957. In the press Mr. Shapiro was described as
an "aircraft mechanic and a New York and Miami Hotelman". Sadly, that is all I know about Mr. Shapiro.
Dorothy with Herman,
getting kissed by her dog.
(ca late 1940's/1950's)
Dorothy's parents were Lycurgus (Lawrence) Robert
Sabiston and Stella Armstrong Sabiston. Her mother was an
artist that Dorothy complimented during an interview or
two. "My mother was a really fine painter. She used oils
and her portraits and landscapes were far from amateur. I
have always regretted that she gave it up. Whatever little
knack I have for sketching comes from her, but in  a very
modified form."

Dorothy's maternal grandparents had been missionaries in
China and Turkey. Her grandfather founded the first
Presbyterian church in Alabama. "Religion is closely related
to the drama. And preaching is related to acting. They both
require the same flair. My grandfather and grandmother
were missionaries in China. When I was a kid, collecting
gold stars for regular attendance in Sunday School, I
couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to be a
missionary or an actress. The line between them was so fine
that I couldn't make up my mind." When she was finally
allowed to go the theatre she decided then and there she
would be an actress. Something she would keep to herself as
she knew the family would not approve.

The Sabiston's had four children:  Elizabeth (Bessie)
Christine was the oldest, then Robert James, third was
Stella Dorothy and the youngest was Mary Helen. Sadly
three of the four Sabiston children would die fairly early,
two of whom were very tragic deaths.
Her second marriage was to fellow actor William Boyd. As they
do today, the movie reporters kept a watch on the couple to see
when and if they would marry. They met while filming His First
Command in 1929 and then immediately worked together again
in Officer O'Brien. This movie turned out to be somewhat of a
flop, and as the magazine story goes, they fell in love while
consoling each other. Not to mention Boyd's marriage to Elinor
Fair was ending and Dorothy's engagement to Clarence Brown
was over as was the affair with Buster Keaton. The last movie
they worked together in was The Big Gamble and by that point
they were man and wife.
Wedding day December 19, 1930 with studio photog Al
'Whitey' Schaffer and his wife.
Undated photo circa 1924
Stella Dorothy Sabiston was born on April 26, 1903 in the
Woodlawn area of Birmingham Alabama. She grew up in
what seems to have been a very normal upbringing. She was
a typical girl who liked to dance and took pride in doing
well in school. Of her first crush she commented: When I
was 15 I thought boys were bores. I tried to be very
highbrow and read books I couldn't understand. An old
bachlor friend of the family was the only one who
pretended to take me seriously, and I'm sure he deserved a
medal when I remember what a pest I must have been. I
used to tell my schoolmates that my best beau was a 'Man
who understood me'."
Alabama was her home until she headed up north to New York City to try and make it as a dancer.
Something she had wanted to do for a very long time. In order to prove to her parents she could support
herself, thus making her case to go to NYC, Dorothy would do portrait sketches, parchment lamp shades
and sew cushion covers, even going as far as opening her own little shop in an apartment in Birmingham.
"It was the best looking place. I got old rugs and had them dyed black. Then I did the place in robin's egg
blue with touches of orange. I couldn't take care of all the orders I had at the studio. But all the time in the
back of my mind was the idea of being an actress. I used to spend my lunch money on pictures- it was
always pictures more than the stage that interested me."
Dorothy has her own star on Hollywood's famous
"Walk of Fame".
It can be found at 6655 Hollywood Blvd.
Dorothy was married three times. Her first marriage was November 9, 1920 when she married Al Stafford in
Birmingham, Alabama. Their marriage ended in divorce in February 1924. I have been told that Dorothy
gave birth to a little girl during her marriage to Al and I would love to find out if this is true. After the
divorce, Dorothy made her way to NYC and then to Hollywood. After getting a taste of the movie star life,
Dorothy decided not to marry again until she felt she had succeeded in her acting career. "I'm sure that I
could never do two things well. I could not have a career and marriage both and I would not stop now to
marry. It would be a great injustice to a man, because I would always think, 'Now if I had not married I
might be at the top of my profession'. I would only marry after I have gotten where I want to be and am
ready to retire permantly from the screen". Another philosophy of hers was much more simple: "I don't
want to get married. Why spoil a good friend by making a bad husband out of him?"
"It was sweet wasn't it? Somehow it seemed lovelier than using any other sort
of ring. And Bill is everything to me - everything that lover and husband
should be." Early on the sympathetic relationship was a happy one, but since it
was more a friendship than a love match it slowly unraveled due to
incompatibility and pressure to keep up appearances of a press covered
'perfect marriage'. It ended in divorce in May 1936.
Lawrence Sabiston with then
Son-in-law Bill Boyd ca 1932.