Dorothy Sebastian

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Dorothy Sebastian
Born	Dorothy Sebastin April 26, 1903(1903-04-26) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Died	April 8, 1957 (aged 53) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)	William Boyd (1935-1939) Harold Shapiro (1947-1957)

Dorothy Sebastian (April 26, 1903 – April 8, 1957) was an American film and stage actress.

Early life and career

Sebastian was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. In her youth she hoped to be a dancer and later a film actress. Her family frowned on both ambitions, however, so she fled to New York at the age of 15. Upon her arrival in New York City, Sebastian's southern drawl was thick enough to "cut with a knife". She followed around theatrical agents before returning at night to a $12-a-month room, after being consistently rejected.

Her first contact in Hollywood was Robert Kane, who gave her a film test at United Studios. She performed in George White's Scandals with Joan Crawford and Anita Page for a popular series of MGM romantic dramas including Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and Our Blushing Brides (1930). Sebastian also appeared in 1929's Spite Marriage, wherein she was cast opposite her then-lover Buster Keaton.

Personal life

Sebastian went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s after marrying Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd. They wed in Las Vegas, Nevada following a romance which began on a set at Pathe Pictures. After their divorce in 1935, Sebastian attempted a comeback, appearing in much smaller parts than years before. In 1947, Sebastian married Miami Beach businessman Harold Shapiro to whom she remained married until her death.^[1]

Court appearances

In November 1938, Sebastian was found guilty of drunk driving in a Beverly Hills, California Justice Court. She blamed her crash on a reaction of garlic with three or four glasses of wine she consumed four or five hours earlier. She was dining at the home of Buster Keaton. She told the court she believed police assumed from this she had been drinking even more recently. She was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and paid a fine of $75.

Sebastian was denied an award of $10,000 from a San Diego court in 1940. She appeared at a Red Cross benefit in San Francisco in 1937, and failed to pay her hotel bill. She contended the promoter should have met the expense. An employee of the Plaza Hotel took out the suit, charging "defrauding an innkeeper". The State Supreme Court of California reversed the decision, which awarded her the money on grounds of malicious prosecution.

Death

Sebastian died of cancer in 1957 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.^[1] She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Sebastian has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6655 Hollywood Blvd.

Selected filmography

Footnotes

References

• Los Angeles Times, "Dorothy Is Gate Crasher", October 24, 1926, Page C20.
• Los Angeles Times, "Alabama Steps To Top", August 10, 1930, Page B16.
• Los Angeles Times, "Film Pair Fly Away To Marry", December 19, 1930, Page A1.
• Los Angeles Times, "Dorothy Sebastian Found Guilty of Drunk Driving", November 8, 1938, Page A2.
• Los Angeles Times, "Miss Sebastian Pays $75 Fine", December 1, 1938, Page A1.
• Los Angeles Times, "High Court Rules Against Actress", May 28, 1940, Page 9.
• Oakland Tribune, "Kin of Actress Burns To Death", May 14, 1938, Page 1.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dorothy Sebastian

• Dorothy Sebastian at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dorothy Sebastian at the Internet Movie Database
• Dorothy Sebastian at the TCM Movie Database
• DorothySebastian.com
• Dorothy Sebastian at Find a Grave