Dorothy Hall was a beautiful Broadway actress who had a brief film career
She was born Dorothy E. Hall on December 3, 1897 in Bradford, Pennsylvania (she would later claim she was born in 1906). Her parents, Charles and Katherine Hall, were strict and very religious. During her childhood she earned five cents a week helping her aunt harvest vegetables in their garden. Dorothy later worked in the box-office of the local theater. Since her parents did not want her to become an actress she secretly enrolled in a New York drama school and told them she was studying interior decorating. A talent scout discovered her and she began acting with a stock company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She made her film debut in the 1921 silent drama The Price Of Possession. Dorothy went on to appear in numerous Broadway shows including The Complex, Speak Easy, and The Love Duel. In 1926 she married Neal Andrews, a wealthy cosmetics manufacturer. The following year independent producer Samuel Zierler signed her to a film contract. She starred opposite Raul Walsh in three movies - The Broadway Drifter, Back To Liberty, and The Winning Oar.
The beautiful blonde got rave reviews for her performance in the 1930 Broadway show The Greeks Had A Word For It. Paramount offered her to a contract and gave her a starring role in the 1931 pre-code comedy Working Girls directed by Dorothy Arzner. Unfortunately it was a flop and she would never get another film role. Dorothy returned to the stage appearing in Page Miss Glory and Behind Red Lights. She and her husband Neal owned a penthouse on Park Avenue and a fourteen room home in Westchester. Their marriage was rocky and they separated several times before finally divorcing in 1940. After retiring from acting she started writing plays. In 1941 her play Yesterday's Tomorrow premiered at the Pine Grove Theater in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. Dorothy continued to live in New York City where she started a business manufacturing electric irons. On December 26, 1952 she married Almon D. Heath, a diamond merchant. Just six weeks later, on February 3, 1953, she tragically died from a stroke. She was only fifty-five year old.
