Dresser, Louise [neé Kerlin] (1882–1965), singer. The blue‐eyed, blonde performer was best known as a vaudevillian and identified with one song, “My Gal Sal.” She was the daughter of a railroad engineer who had once stopped some rowdies from badgering a fat newsboy on the train. That newsboy became the celebrated composer Paul Dresser, and it was he who, in grateful memory of her father, gave the singer her stage name and wrote “My Gal Sal” for her. She also performed it in many Broadway shows, including About Town (1906), The Girl Behind the Counter (1907), A Matinee Idol (1910), Broadway to Paris (1912), Potash and Perlmutter (1913), and Rock‐a‐Bye Baby (1918).
Louise Dresser
| American Theater Guide: Louise Dresser |
| Actor: Louise Dresser |
- Born: Oct 05, 1878 in Evansville, Indiana
- Died: Apr 24, 1965 in Woodland Hills, California
- Occupation: Actor
- Active: '20s-'30s
- Major Genres: Drama, Comedy Drama
- Career Highlights: The Scarlet Empress, Mammy, The Eagle
- First Major Screen Credit: Burning Sands (1922)
Biography
Louise Dresser ran away from her Indiana home at age 16 to join a travelling stock company. Graduating from stock to vaudeville and from vaudeville to Broadway, the stately, matronly Louise gained her widest audience in motion pictures. Her finest silent-film characterizations include the title character in The Goose Woman (1925) (a character based on the "Pig Woman" who testified at the Hall-Mills murder trial) and Catherine the Great--military uniform and all--in Rudolph Valentino's The Eagle (1925). Her favorite co-star was Will Rogers, with whom she appeared in State Fair (1933), Doctor Bull (1933), David Harum (1934) and The County Chairman (1935). The winner of a citation of merit at the first Academy Awards ceremony, Louise retired from films in 1937, thereafter devoting herself to raising money for the establishment of the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. One of Louise Dresser's two husbands was composer Jack Norworth, of "Shine on Harvest Moon" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide| Filmography: Louise Dresser |
| Wikipedia: Louise Dresser |
| Louise Dresser | |
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| Born | Louise Josephine Kerlin October 5, 1878 Evansville, Indiana, United States |
| Died | April 24, 1965 (aged 86) Woodland Hills, California, United States |
| Occupation | actress |
Louise Dresser (October 5, 1878 – April 24, 1965) was an American actress.
Born Louise Josephine Kerlin in Evansville, Indiana, her first film was in 1922 in The Glory of Clementina, and her first starring role was in 1924's The City that Never Sleeps.
She took her professional last name as a tribute to her good friend, songwriter Paul Dresser. Dresser, the elder brother of novelist Theodore Dreiser, was a popular songwriter of the turn of the 20th century. During the first presentations of the Academy Awards in 1929 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for A Ship Comes In.
She was married twice. Her first marriage was to Jack Gardner, who died in 1951. She was later married for a time to singer/songwriter Jack Norworth, but that relationship ended in divorce.
She also played Empress Elizabeth in The Scarlett Empress done by Paramount Pictures in 1934. Dresser's last movie was in 1937, when she made Maid of Salem. On television she appeared on an episode of Ralph Edward's program This is Your Life. She appeared on the episode spotlighting Buster Keaton whom she had known since he was a small boy with his parents in vaudeville.
She died after surgery for an intestinal ailment in Woodland Hills, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. A beautiful well rounded blond, Dresser bore no children in either of her marriages.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Louise Dresser |
- Louise Dresser at the Internet Movie Database
- Louise Dresser at Find a Grave
- Louise Dresser photo gallery NYP Library
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Jack Gardner (Actor, Romance/Drama)
- Calamity Jane (1984 Western Film)
- The Eagle (1925 Comedy Film)
- Broken Hearts of Hollywood (1926 Drama Film)
- Caught (1931 Western Film)
- City That Never Sleeps (1924 Film)
- Everybody's Acting (1926 Comedy Film)
- Fifth Avenue (1926 Film)
- The Goose Woman (1925 Drama Film)
- The Madonna of Avenue A (1929 Drama Film)
- Mr. Wu (1927 Crime Film)
- White Flannels (1927 Drama Film)
- Richard Neill (Actor, Drama/Western)
- The Scarlet Empress (1934 Historical Film)
