biography

Dorothy Malone Born Dorothy Maloney on January 30, 1924, in Chicago, beautiful Dorothy Malone's career in films began in the early 1940s. As a child she worked as a model, and as a college student Malone was discovered for films. Signing with RKO, the young actress was given small roles in that studio's 'B' programmers, including Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943) and The Falcon Out West (1944; with Tom Conway and Barbara Hale). Upon leaving RKO and signing with Warner Bros. in 1945, Malone's fortunes improved, yet she didn't land meatier roles until the end of the decade. By then, she was acting in such films as Flaxy Martin (1949; with Virginia Mayo) and a number of westerns. Malone left Warner Bros. for Columbia in the late 1940s but quickly abandoned that studio in the early 1950s to freelance in low-budget pictures such as The Bushwhackers (1952; with John Ireland) and Private Hell 36 (1954; with Ida Lupino and Steve Cochran).

Dorothy Malone
Malone also starred in several of director Roger Corman's early American International efforts, including Five Guns West (1955). Moving into more expensive productions in the mid 1950s, Malone scored her greatest success when she won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in Written on the Wind (1956; with Rock Hudson and Grant Williams). A string of other films followed until 1959, when Malone married handsome Jacques Bergerac; the French lawyer-turned-actor is best known for his starring role in the low-budget horror flick The Hypnotic Eye (1960; with Merry Anders).

Dorothy Malone and Jacques BergeracJoy Houck, Dorothy Malone, and Lance Fuller

LEFT: Malone with first husband Jacques Bergerac in the early 1960s. RIGHT: With producer Joy Houck and actor Lance Fuller in 1955

Malone's career slowed considerably after her first marriage, as she and Jacques Bergerac welcomed two daughters. By 1963, however, she and Bergerac had separated, and Malone went back to work in the AIP film Beach Party (1963; with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello). The following year, Malone was cast in the plum role of Constance MacKenzie in the long-running television drama Peyton Place.

the films of dorothy malone

One Sunday Afternoon (1948)

Dorothy Malone and Don DeFore

With Don DeFore in the Warner Bros. musical One Sunday Afternoon

Flaxy Martin (1949)

Dorothy Malone and Zachary Scott

With Zachary Scott in the Warner Bros. crime drama Flaxy Martin

Law and Order (1953)

Dorothy Malone and Ronald Reagan in Law and Order

With Ronald Reagan in the Universal-International western Law and Order

Private Hell 36 (1954)

Howard Duff and Dorothy Malone

From the independent crime thriller Private Hell 36 with Howard Duff

Sincerely Yours (1955)

Liberace and Dorothy MaloneLiberace and Dorothy Malone

With Liberace in the Warner Bros. drama Sincerely Yours

Pillars of the Sky (1956)

Keith Andes, Jeff Chandler, and Dorothy MaloneDorothy Malone

From the Universal western Pillars of the Sky. LEFT: With Keith Andes and Jeff Chandler. RIGHT: Malone as Calla Gaxton

Written on the Wind (1956)

Dorothy Malone

From the Douglas Sirk drama Written on the Wind, released by Universal-International

Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)

Dorothy Malone

From Universal-International's biopic of Lon Chaney Man of a Thousand Faces

Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957)

Martin Gabel, Jack Lord, Dorothy Malone, and Robert Taylor in Tip on a Dead Jockey

With Martin Gabel, Jack Lord and Robert Taylor in MGM's film noir release Tip on a Dead Jockey

Quantez (1957)

John Gavin and Dorothy Malone

From the Universal-International western Quantez with John Gavin

The Tarnished Angels (1958)

Dorothy Malone and Rock HudsonDorothy Malone and Robert Stack

From the Douglas Sirk drama The Tarnished Angels. LEFT: With Rock Hudson. RIGHT With Robert Stack

Too Much, Too Soon (1958)

Martin Milner and Dorothy Malone in Too Much, Too SoonRay Danton and Dorothy MaloneErrol Flynn and Dorothy Malone

From the Diana Barrymore biopic Too Much, Too Soon, released by Warner Bros. LEFT: With Martin Milner. CENTER: With Ray Danton. RIGHT: With Errol Flynn as John Barrymore

The Last Voyage (1960)

Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack

With Robert Stack in the MGM drama The Last Voyage

Beach Party (1963)

Dorothy Malone

From American International's Beach Party

later years

Malone's marriage to Jacques Bergerac ended acrimoniously in 1964. The couple shared the responsibility in raising their two daughters, but their disagreements about custody often made headlines in the 1960s and 1970s. Malone remarried twice in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but both marriages were brief.

Unhappy with her screen time and scripts, Dorothy Malone left Peyton Place after the 1968 season. Still she did not lack for work; throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Malone made frequent appearances in made-for-television films and starred in another series, High Hopes, in 1978. Although she'd often been cast in dramas and westerns, toward the end of her career Malone acted in several 'B' horror and science fiction films, including The Day Time Ended (1980; with Jim Davis), The Being (1983; with Martin Landau), and Rest in Pieces (1987; with Scott Thompson Baker). Her final film appearance came in the then-controversial Basic Instinct (1992; with Sharon Stone). Sadyly, Dorothy Malone passed away on January 19, 2018, at the age of 93. She is survived by daughters Mimi and Diane.

filmography

FILM
Basic Instinct (1992) with Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, and Jeanne Tripplehorn
Rest in Pieces (1987) with Scott Thompson Baker
Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985) with John Beck, Christopher Connelly, Ed Nelson, Barbara Parkins, and Ruth Warrick
He's Not Your Son (1984) with Donna Mills and Ken Howard
The Being (1983) with Martin Landau, Marianne Gordon, Jose Ferrer, and Ruth Buzzi
Off Your Rocker (1982) with Milton Berle, Red Buttons, and Lou Jacobi
Condominium (1980) with Barbara Eden, Steve Forrest, Ralph Bellamy, Macdonald Carey, Virginia Leith, and Stuart Whitman
The Day Time Ended (1980) with Jim Davis
Winter Kills (1979) with Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Eli Wallach, Sterling Hayden, Ralph Meeker, and Richard Boone
Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979) with Anne Heywood, Donald Pleasence, Robert Vaughn, Earl Holliman, Carolyn Jones, Ronee Blakley, and Doris Roberts
Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold (1978) with Kim Basinger, Vivian Blaine, Fabian, Tab Hunter, and Don Stroud
Golden Rendezvous (1977) with Richard Harris, Ann Turkel, John Vernon, David Janssen, Burgess Meredith, Leigh Lawson, and John Carradine
Murder in Peyton Place (1977) with Ed Nelson, Christopher Connelly, Janet Margolin, and Stella Stevens
Little Ladies of the Night (1977) with David Soul, Louis Gossett Jr., Linda Purl, Clifton Davis, Carolyn Jones, Paul Burke, and Lana Wood
The Man Who Would Not Die (1976) with Keenan Wynn and Aldo Ray
The November Plan (1976) with Meredith Baxter, Elaine Joyce, Diane Ladd, Laurence Luckinbill, Lloyd Nolan, and Wayne Rogers
Abduction (1975) with Leif Erickson and Lawrence Tierney
The Pigeon (1969) with Sammy Davis Jr., Ricardo Montalban, Pat Boone, and Patsy Kelly
The Insatiables (1969) with Luciana Paluzzi and John Ireland
Fate Is the Hunter (1964) with Glenn Ford, Nancy Kwan, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Mark Stevens, Max Showalter, and Constance Towers
Beach Party (1963) with Robert Cummings, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Harvey Lembeck, Jody McCrea, Morey Amsterdam, Dick Dale, and Vincent Price
The Last Sunset (1961) with Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, Joseph Cotten, Carol Lynley, and Neville Brand
The Last Voyage (1960) with Robert Stack, George Sanders, Edmond O'Brien, and Woody Strode
Warlock (1959) with Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, and Richard Arlen
Too Much, Too Soon (1958) with Errol Flynn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Ray Danton, and Martin Milner
The Tarnished Angels (1958) with Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Jack Carson, and Troy Donahue
Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957) with Robert Taylor, Martin Gabel, Gia Scala, Jack Lord, Hayden Rorke, and Joyce Jameson
Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) with James Cagney, Jim Backus, Robert Evans, Jack Albertson, Roger Smith, and Rickie Sorensen
Quantez (1957) with Fred MacMurray, John Gavin, John Larch, and Michael Ansara
Written on the Wind (1956) with Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Grant Williams
Pillars of the Sky (1956) with Jeff Chandler, Ward Bond, Keith Andes, and Lee Marvin
Tension at Table Rock (1956) with Richard Egan, Cameron Mitchell, DeForest Kelley, and Angie Dickinson
At Gunpoint (1955) with Fred MacMurray, Walter Brennan, Tommy Rettig, and Whit Bissell
Artists and Models (1955) with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Shirley MacLaine, Eva Gabor, and Anita Ekberg
Sincerely Yours (1955) with Liberace, Joanne Dru, William Demarest, Lurene Tuttle, Lori Nelson, Alex Nicol, and Guy Williams
Tall Man Riding (1955) with Randolph Scott and Peggie Castle
Five Guns West (1955) with Mike Connors and Jonathan Haze
Battle Cry (1955) with Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman, Nancy Olson, James Whitmore, Raymond Massey, Tab Hunter, Anne Francis, William Campbell, and John Lupton
The Fast and the Furious (1954) with John Ireland and Bruno VeSota; directed by Roger Corman
Young at Heart (1954) with Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Gig Young, and Ethel Barrymore
Private Hell 36 (1954) with Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff, Dean Jagger, and Dabbs Greer
Security Risk (1954) with John Ireland and Keith Larsen
Pushover (1954) with Fred MacMurray, Philip Carey, and Kim Novak
The Lone Gun (1954) with George Montgomery, Frank Faylen, and Neville Brand
Loophole (1954) with Barry Sullivan, Charles McGraw, and Mary Beth Hughes
Jack Slade (1953) with Mark Stevens and Lee Van Cleef
Law and Order (1953) with Ronald Reagan, Preston Foster, Alex Nicol, Russell Johnson, Jack Kelly, and Dennis Weaver
Scared Stiff (1953) with Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lizabeth Scott, and Carmen Miranda
Torpedo Alley (1953) with Mark Stevens and Bill Williams
The Bushwhackers (1952) with John Ireland, Wayne Morris, Lawrence Tierney, and Lon Chaney Jr.
Saddle Legion (1951) with Tim Holt
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1951) with Marjorie Main, James Whitmore, Ann Dvorak, Phyllis Kirk, Fred Clark, and Don Porter
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) with Evelyn Keyes, Lola Albright, and Whit Bissell
Convicted (1950) with Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Frank Faylen, and Will Geer
The Nevadan (1950) with Randolph Scott, Forrest Tucker, Frank Faylen, George Macready, and Jock Mahoney
Colorado Territory (1949) with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, and John Archer
South of St. Louis (1949) with Joel McCrea, Alexis Smith, Zachary Scott, Victor Jory, and Bob Steele
Flaxy Martin (1949) with Virginia Mayo, Zachary Scott, and Elisha Cook Jr.
One Sunday Afternoon (1948) with Dennis Morgan, Janis Paige, and Don DeFore
Two Guys from Texas (1948) with Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Penny Edwards, Forrest Tucker, Fred Clark, and Gerald Mohr
To the Victor (1948) with Dennis Morgan, Viveca Lindfors, William Conrad, and Bruce Bennett
The Big Sleep (1946) with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, Peggy Knudsen, Regis Toomey, Bob Steele, and Elisha Cook Jr.
Night and Day (1946) with Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty Woolley, Jane Wyman, and Eve Arden
Janie Gets Married (1946) with Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, Ann Harding, Hattie McDaniel, and Margaret Hamilton
Too Young to Know (1945) with Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, Rosemary DeCamp, and Craig Stevens
One Mysterious Night (1944) with Chester Morris and Janis Carter
Step Lively (1943) with Frank Sinatra, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria DeHaven, Walter Slezak, Eugene Pallette, and Anne Jeffreys

TELEVISION SERIES
High Hopes, 1978 TV series
Rich Man, Poor Man, 1976 ABC miniseries. Malone portrayed Irene Goodwin
Peyton Place, 1964-1969 ABC TV series. Malone portrayed Constance MacKenzie Carson from 1964-1968

dorothy malone film trailer

Watch the 1963 trailer for Beach Party

dorothy malone tv appearances

Watch Dorothy Malone in an April 1954 episode of Four Star Playhouse titled A Study in Panic

dorothy malone film now showing

Watch Dorothy Malone's 1950 noir thriller The Killer That Stalked New York
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