Dorothy Peterson

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Dorothy Peterson (born December 25, 1897 in Hector , Minnesota , as Bergetta Peterson , † October 3, 1979 in New York ) was an American actress .

life and career

Dorothy Peterson was born in Hector, a small Minnesota village, to Swedish immigrants. After studying at Columbia University , she began her career as an actress in the theater. She was seen in a total of eight Broadway productions between 1924 and 1930 . Like numerous Broadway actors, she moved to Hollywood when the talkies began, because actors with speaking experience were sought there. She made her film debut in the lead role in the drama Mothers Cry . In it she played the role of the widow Mary Williams, who has to raise her four children by herself and who ages by 30 years in the course of the film. In her subsequent films, too, Peterson was often committed to the roles of a long-suffering or caring mother, although her characters were often older than herself.

In Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Saboteurs (1942), for example, she played the grieving mother of a slain worker who helps a man despite the fact that he is wanted for the murder of her son. Peterson also played the mother of Edward G. Robinson in Fritz Lang's film noir Dangerous Encounter (1944). Her other well-known films include Victims of a Great Love and The Life of Mrs. Skeffington , each with Bette Davis in the lead role. She received special praise for her role as the feminist mother of the main character in the biopic Lillian Russell (1940). After appearing as the mother of Shirley Temple in That Hagen Girl (1947), Peterson withdrew from Hollywood after having made over 80 films. In addition to her film work, she spoke for radio inter alia in 1942 - as a substitute - one of the leading roles in the popular Henry Aldrich radio comedy .

On the American east coast, however, she took on guest roles on television until the mid-1960s. She also played in the theater. She was married to actor Guinn Williams from 1943 until his death in 1963 . Dorothy Peterson died in New York City in 1979 at the age of 81.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Dorothy Peterson  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dorothy Peterson at IBDB
personal data
SURNAME Peterson, Dorothy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peterson, Bergetta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Hector , Minnesota , United States
DATE OF DEATH 3rd October 1979
Place of death New York City , New York , United States