While still in Alabama, Dorothy saved money she made selling her paintings and crafts, so when she got to NYC she
was able to rent a $12 a month apartment. By sharing the apartment with another girl she was able to half her rent to
$6!
Being constantly turned down by theatrical agents did not deter her ambition and her first venture in New York was a
Ned Wayburn fashion show. Using her last few dollars, Dot also took acrobatic dance lessons at Wayburn's dance
school. Ned Wayburn's school was considered to be THE launching point for any career in dance.
The fashion show kept her busy for a short time but Dorothy decided it was time to try the theater again. She went to a
casting call for George White's "Scandals" - a musical revue - and got the job that day. Even though the casting was
closed, a chance meeting with George White, sheer determination and her thick Southern accent got her a place in the
chorus. She also got a nickname from White that stuck with her throughout her career "Little Alabam".
George White's Scandals of 1924 ran from June 30, 1924 to December 13, 1924 (198 performances total) at the Apollo
Theatre and Dorothy was part of the opening night cast. The costumes worn by the girls were very risqué thus the title
of the show. All of the costumes and even the curtains were designed by Erte and made in Paris, France by Max Welty.
One critic went as far as describing the outfits as such: "There were large quantities of gorgeous costumes much of
them on the girls of the chorus from the neck up and the shoes down."
In a 1929 interview, Dorothy spoke of how she was too proud to ask for an advance on her paycheck from George
White. For six weeks before the show opened, Dot lived on $60 that also paid for rent and dancing lessons. The
company went to Atlantic City to perform before it opened in New York - by that time she was completely broke. Every
day on the way to the theater Dorothy passed a candy shop and made up her mind that the first thing she'd purchase
when the pay started coming in was a pound of fudge and eat it all herself. Well she did, and then was too sick to eat for
three days afterward!
Along with Dorothy, the 1924 cast of Scandals included Dolores Costello, Winnie Lightner and Louise Brooks who grew
fond of Dorothy and the two became friends. They shared some interesting adventures in The Big Apple.
According to Dorothy: "So I was a Scandals Girl for a while. I met butter-and-egg men, hobohemians who threw red
ink parties, Middle Western bankers whose wives misunderstood 'em, and college boys from Princeton, Dartmouth,
Harvard, New York, New Haven and Hartford. It took me two months to realize that all this wining and dining was
the bunk. But chorus served my purpose. It brought me publicity in the Sunday roto sections and in a few magazines.
(Alfred) Cheney Johnston took my picture and that helped too. I figured it all added to my chance of getting into
pictures".
It was during this time she met the people with the connections and got her movie contract. According to actress and
fellow Scandals Girl Louise Brooks here is how it happened:
"When I was in Scandals naturally all the girls looked forward to
becoming movie stars, and in The Ritz Hotel, most of the very famous,
very rich men about town in New York kept apartments year-round
where they would give parties. One of these belonged to Otto Kahn,
though of course they would lend them to each other. "I was invited to
a party night with some of the girls from Scandals, and among them
were Walter Wanger and Joe Schenck and Lord Beaverbrook (William
Maxwell Aitken - British newspaper baron and cabinet minister).
So we - all the girls - went up to this little grey suite in the Ritz and we
were introduced and we had drinks and we talked, and I saw that Lord
Beaverbrook was very, very interested in the girl I liked most in the
Scandals. She was a darling girl from the South, a darling girl - and they
were talking and very cosy, and I watched very discretely and they did
disappear into the little grey bedroom in the little grey suite in the Ritz,
and then they came out a little while later and a few days later she told
me that she had a contract at MGM and she did go to MGM and she did
do very well, and I say hooray for Lord Beaverbrook!"
The reason this is known to be Dorothy is that Louise was inconsistent
in keeping identities a secret - in one interview she kept Dorothy's
name secret and in another she kept Lord Beaverbrook's identity secret.
was able to rent a $12 a month apartment. By sharing the apartment with another girl she was able to half her rent to
$6!
Being constantly turned down by theatrical agents did not deter her ambition and her first venture in New York was a
Ned Wayburn fashion show. Using her last few dollars, Dot also took acrobatic dance lessons at Wayburn's dance
school. Ned Wayburn's school was considered to be THE launching point for any career in dance.
The fashion show kept her busy for a short time but Dorothy decided it was time to try the theater again. She went to a
casting call for George White's "Scandals" - a musical revue - and got the job that day. Even though the casting was
closed, a chance meeting with George White, sheer determination and her thick Southern accent got her a place in the
chorus. She also got a nickname from White that stuck with her throughout her career "Little Alabam".
George White's Scandals of 1924 ran from June 30, 1924 to December 13, 1924 (198 performances total) at the Apollo
Theatre and Dorothy was part of the opening night cast. The costumes worn by the girls were very risqué thus the title
of the show. All of the costumes and even the curtains were designed by Erte and made in Paris, France by Max Welty.
One critic went as far as describing the outfits as such: "There were large quantities of gorgeous costumes much of
them on the girls of the chorus from the neck up and the shoes down."
In a 1929 interview, Dorothy spoke of how she was too proud to ask for an advance on her paycheck from George
White. For six weeks before the show opened, Dot lived on $60 that also paid for rent and dancing lessons. The
company went to Atlantic City to perform before it opened in New York - by that time she was completely broke. Every
day on the way to the theater Dorothy passed a candy shop and made up her mind that the first thing she'd purchase
when the pay started coming in was a pound of fudge and eat it all herself. Well she did, and then was too sick to eat for
three days afterward!
Along with Dorothy, the 1924 cast of Scandals included Dolores Costello, Winnie Lightner and Louise Brooks who grew
fond of Dorothy and the two became friends. They shared some interesting adventures in The Big Apple.
According to Dorothy: "So I was a Scandals Girl for a while. I met butter-and-egg men, hobohemians who threw red
ink parties, Middle Western bankers whose wives misunderstood 'em, and college boys from Princeton, Dartmouth,
Harvard, New York, New Haven and Hartford. It took me two months to realize that all this wining and dining was
the bunk. But chorus served my purpose. It brought me publicity in the Sunday roto sections and in a few magazines.
(Alfred) Cheney Johnston took my picture and that helped too. I figured it all added to my chance of getting into
pictures".
It was during this time she met the people with the connections and got her movie contract. According to actress and
fellow Scandals Girl Louise Brooks here is how it happened:
"When I was in Scandals naturally all the girls looked forward to
becoming movie stars, and in The Ritz Hotel, most of the very famous,
very rich men about town in New York kept apartments year-round
where they would give parties. One of these belonged to Otto Kahn,
though of course they would lend them to each other. "I was invited to
a party night with some of the girls from Scandals, and among them
were Walter Wanger and Joe Schenck and Lord Beaverbrook (William
Maxwell Aitken - British newspaper baron and cabinet minister).
So we - all the girls - went up to this little grey suite in the Ritz and we
were introduced and we had drinks and we talked, and I saw that Lord
Beaverbrook was very, very interested in the girl I liked most in the
Scandals. She was a darling girl from the South, a darling girl - and they
were talking and very cosy, and I watched very discretely and they did
disappear into the little grey bedroom in the little grey suite in the Ritz,
and then they came out a little while later and a few days later she told
me that she had a contract at MGM and she did go to MGM and she did
do very well, and I say hooray for Lord Beaverbrook!"
The reason this is known to be Dorothy is that Louise was inconsistent
in keeping identities a secret - in one interview she kept Dorothy's
name secret and in another she kept Lord Beaverbrook's identity secret.
| During her career, Dorothy worked with many famous actors and actresses and others that were up and coming. Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Tom Mix, Anita Page, Alice Terry, Nils Asther, Anna Q. Nilsson, Viola Dana, John Gilbert, Renee Adoree, Lionel Barrymore, Norma Shearer, Lew Cody, Aileen Pringle, Tim McCoy, Roy Rogers, Johnny Mack Brown, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Jack Benny, Jack Holt, Ralph Graves, Bill Boyd, Robert Montgomery, Zazu Pitts, Regis Toomey, Lon Chaney Jr and of course, Buster Keaton. |
| Dorothy's star on Hollywood's famous "Walk of Fame" is found at 6655 Hollywood Blvd. |
| For Dorothy, getting to Hollywood would be via New York City. She had wanted to be a dancer for a long time and then an actress but her family did not approve. The first time she went to New York Dorothy claims she ran away from home but was soon brought back. The second time she went to "study art" and stay with a "maiden aunt" but Dorothy didn't go to her aunt's place. Instead, when she arrived in the City she asked a porter where a cheap place to live was and went there. Here she went from agent to agent trying to get a dancing job. Many told her to give up and go back home, others gave her some useful advice, she persisted and it worked. There are many conflicting reports of her age when she went to New York. According to a federal census report she was 20, according to her first marriage license she would have been 22 and according to Dorothy she was 15 years old. This is a continuing theme with Dorothy throughout her career, everywhere she went and every paper she filled out, she gave a different age. And Dot wasn't alone, in Hollywood everyone wants to be younger than they really are. |
An advertisement from September of 1925
1924
| A Dancer in New York City |
