A genuine model of sincerity, practicality and dignity in most of the
roles she inhabited, actress Dorothy McGuire offered Tinseltown more
talent than it probably knew what to do with. A quiet, passive beauty,
she had a soothing quality to her open-faced looks and voice. She was a
natural when he came to tearjerkers and she certainly had a knack for
opening up her film-goer's tear ducts with her arresting performances in
sentimental drama. She preferred to rest on her acting laurels than
engage in publicity-mongering to win roles. As a result, Dorothy was
surprisingly ill-served in the awards department during her over
five-decade film career, yet left a major imprint on celluloid.
Touching, complex, immaculate in poise and style, she is now and
forever etched in Hollywood's "Golden Age" annals and in the minds of
film lovers everywhere.Dorothy began inconspicuously enough in Omaha, Nebraska on Wednesday, June 14th,
1916. Her parents encouraged her early interest in acting and she made
her debut as a teenager in "A Kiss for Cinderella" at the Omaha
Community Playhouse which starred visiting alumni member
Henry Fonda. She received her education at
Omaha Junior College, Ladywood Convent in Indianapolis, and Pine Manor
Junior College in Wellesley, Massachusetts before setting her sites on
an acting career. Following summer stock she appeared in such 1938
stage productions as "Bachelor Born" and "Stopover" before
understudying the role of Emily Gibb in
Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" on
Broadway, which at the time showcased young
Martha Scott. Dorothy eventually replaced
Scott in the role.Other experiences came her way on stage with "My Dear Children"
starring John Barrymore,
"Swingin' the Dream", "Medicine Show", "The Time of Your Life" and
"Kind Lady" before she was handed the titular role of "Claudia" in
1941. This gentle comedy became a certifiable Broadway hit and Dorothy
simply incandescent as the child-like bride forced to wake up to
reality after her sudden marriage.
David O. Selznick subsequently signed
her to a film contract. Fortunately, 20th Century-Fox, untrue... to form,
took a chance on the film unknown and allowed her to recreate her stage
triumph opposite Robert Young.
Claudia (1943) was so beautifully done
and warmly received that McGuire and Young went on to recreate their
roles three years later with
Claudia and David (1946).Unbelievably, Dorothy topped herself in only her second film role.
After a pregnant Gene Tierney became
unavailable for the role of Katie Nolan in
Drzewko na Brooklynie (1945),
the part fell to Dorothy. It's now hard to believe anyone else in the
role. As the impoverished wife of a charming Irish ne'er-do-well and
inebriate, Dorothy showed amazing complexity as the detached wife and
mother whose painful but necessary decision-making alienates many
around her, especially her daughter who is the apple of her daddy's
eye. Directed by Elia Kazan, Dorothy was
shamefully overlooked at awards time. Young
Peggy Ann Garner was given a "special
juvenile Oscar" and errant husband
James Dunn picked up the Supporting
Actor trophy for his work. Dorothy was not of the mind of tooting her
own horn and it may have cost her an Oscar nomination -- better yet,
the Oscar -- for she was hands down the better performer than eventual
winner Joan Crawford, a popular
choice for Mildred Pierce (1945).Dorothy made it four film hits in a row with the success of both the
sentimental fantasy
The Enchanted Cottage (1945),
in which she reunited with
Robert Young to play two of
society's castoffs who fall in love, and the expert Hitchcockian
thriller
Kręte schody (1946)
as the mute servant who is terrorized by a serial killer. Preferring
rich characterizations over glamour, audiences saw Dorothy dolled up a
bit more than usual in
Till the End of Time (1946)
as a war widow who falls for a younger hunk
(Guy Madison). Her 40s filming was capped by
a Best Actress nomination in
Dżentelmeńska umowa (1947),
an-anti-Semitic tale that boasted a topnotch ensemble cast including
Gregory Peck,
John Garfield and
Celeste Holm, who won a supporting Oscar
for this.With nary a weak film yet on her resume, an unpretentious Dorothy still
hadn't achieved top cinematic stardom. Preferring to return to her
theater roots, she abandoned films for a couple of years and performed
in such vehicles as "Tonight at 8:30" (1947) and "Summer and Smoke"
(1950). When she did return it was to a different Hollywood and things
would not be the same. Instead forgettable fluff such as
Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950)
and
Callaway Went Thataway (1951)
were the slim pickings offered. Although she found a popular hit with
Trzy monety w fontannie (1954),
the film was more notable for its title song and sumptuous settings
than for the quality of acting of the three distaff stars -- McGuire,
Maggie McNamara and
Jean Peters.Dorothy graciously moved into pillar-of-strength mother roles as she
approached her 40s, making fine impressions as a Quaker matriarch in
Przyjacielska perswazja (1956)
and as the resourceful mom in three of Disney's endearing classics,
Żółte psisko (1957),
Szwajcarska rodzina Robinsonów (1960)
and Summer Magic (1963). Her more
flawed marital and parenting skills were displayed in the Inge film
adaptation of
Ciemność na szczycie schodów (1960),
and the huge, sudsy teen hit
A Summer Place (1959) with
Sandra Dee and
Troy Donahue as young, star-crossed lovers.
McGuire acted as Donahue's mother who rekindles an old love affair with
Dee's father (Richard Egan). The
49-year-old McGuire then played the mother of all mothers, the Virgin
Mary, in the misguided biblical epic
Opowieść wszech czasów (1965),
marred by its overlong narrative and bizarre miscasting, including
John Wayne as a Roman centurion. Her
last film, the British-made
Flight of the Doves (1971) as
an Irish granny, had little impact.In later years Dorothy found rich, rewarding work on TV and received an
Emmy nomination for the well-received mini-series
Pogoda dla bogaczy (1976).
She also played Marmee in a TV re-visitation of
Part I (1978), and
ended her career in good company with (what else?) a sentimental
tearjerker in the mini-movie
Ostatnie piękne dni (1990)
co-starring Bernadette Peters and
Mary Tyler Moore.Dorothy's longtime husband was photographer
John Swope who died in 1979. Her children by
him are Mark Swope, an artist and
photographer, and former actress Topo Swope.
Dorothy's health declined severely after she fell and broke her leg in
2001. She died of heart failure not long after in a Santa Monica
hospital on Thursday, September 13th at the age of 85.show more
