{{short description|American actress}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Doro Merande | image = Bringing Up Buddy Cast.jpg | caption = Doro Merande, Frank Aletter, and Enid Markey in the sitcom ''Bringing Up Buddy'' (1960-1961). | birth_name = Dora Matthews | birth_date = {{birth date|1892|3|31|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Columbia, Kansas, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1921–1974 | death_date = {{death date and age|1975|11|1|1892|3|31|mf=yes}} | death_place = Miami, Florida, U.S. }}
'''Doro Merande''' (born '''Dora Matthews''', March 31, 1892 – November 1, 1975) was an American actress who appeared in film, theater, and television.
==Early years== Born in Columbia, Kansas,<ref name="sj">{{cite news |title=Doro Proved Her Friends Wrong |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sun-journal-doro-merande/166632510/ |access-date=February 25, 2025 |work=Sun-Journal |date=December 31, 1960 |location=Maine, Lewiston |page=28|via = Newspapers.com }}</ref> as Dora Matthews, she was the daughter of a minister. At age 18, while living with her family in Kansas City, Missouri, she worked as a music teacher. She later went to New York City to become an actress.{{Citation needed |date=February 2025}}
==Stage actress== Merande found her first part in a small summer company in Massachusetts. She coveted Broadway parts during the Great Depression. Her career began with the Jules Levanthal Company.{{Citation needed |date=January 2023}}
She appeared on Broadway using her birth name in ''That Ferguson Family'' (1928) and ''Montmartreas'' (1922).<ref name=ibdb>{{cite web |title=Dora Matthews |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dora-matthews-51871 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |accessdate=2 January 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102030632/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dora-matthews-51871 |archivedate=2 January 2019}}</ref> Her first Broadway appearance as Doro Merande was as "Sophie Tuttle" in ''Loose Moments'' in 1935. Soon she was cast in ''One Good Year'', ''Red Harvest'', and ''Angel Island''.<ref name=ibdb/> Her first major stage role was playing the gossip in ''Our Town'' by Thornton Wilder repeating her performance in the 1940 film. Merande later appeared with Leo G. Carroll in ''Lo and Behold'', ''The Rat Race'' with Betty Field, and in ''The Silver Whistle'', with Jose Ferrer. She performed with Clifton Webb (in ''Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell''), Walter Huston (in ''Apple of His Eye''), and Franchot Tone (in ''Hope for Your Best'').
Her final Broadway appearance was in the 1969 revival of ''The Front Page,'' in which she portrayed the cleaning woman, as she later also did in the 1970 television and the 1974 film version. The 1974 film version was her final appearance; she was directed by Billy Wilder, with whom she had previously worked in the films ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1955) and ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964).
==Filmography== Merande appeared onscreen in bit parts starting in the early 1930s and had her first substantial role in 1940, reprising her role as the gossip in the film adaptation of ''Our Town''.
===Films=== {{Div col}} * ''Interference'' (1928) - Deborah's Maid (uncredited) * ''Personal Maid'' (1931) - Mrs. Wurtz's Maid (uncredited) * ''Wayward'' (1932) - Maid (uncredited) * ''State Fair'' (1933) - Mrs. Metcalfe's Acquaintance at Food Contest (uncredited) * ''Bondage'' (1933) - Boarding House Matron (uncredited) * ''Zoo in Budapest'' (1933) - Miss Fennock, Orphanage Assistant (uncredited) * ''Moonlight and Pretzels'' (1933) - Hymn-singing Lady (uncredited) * ''Navy Wife'' (1935) - Nurse Sharpe (uncredited) * ''Bad Boy'' (1935) - Mrs. Jackson (uncredited) * ''The Star Maker'' (1939) - Gerry Society Woman * ''Our Town'' (1940) - Mrs. Soames * ''The Snake Pit'' (1948) - Inmate, First Lady of the Land (uncredited) * ''Cover Up'' (1949) - Hilda * ''Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell'' (1951) - Mrs. Hammer * ''The Whistle at Eaton Falls'' (1951) - Miss Pringle * ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1955) - Waitress at Vegetarian Restaurant (uncredited) * ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' (1955) - Vi * ''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' (1959) - Miss Haskins (uncredited) * ''The Gazebo'' (1959) - Matilda * ''The Cardinal'' (1963) - Woman Picket * ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964) - Mrs. Pettibone * ''The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'' (1966) - Muriel Everett * ''Hurry Sundown'' (1967) - Ada Hemmings * ''Skidoo'' (1968) - The Mayor * ''Change of Habit'' (1969) - Rose * ''Making It'' (1971) - Librarian * ''The Front Page'' (1974) - Jennie (final film role) {{div col end}}
===Television=== * ''Valiant Lady'' (1953) - Ivy Harper (1956-1957) * ''Kraft Television Theater'' (1953–1954) * ''The United States Steel Hour'' (1957) - Felice * ''Steve Canyon'' (1958) - Mrs. Turtin * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (Episode: "Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore", with Mary Astor, 1958) - Mrs. Herman * ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (1959) - Assistant USO Hostess / Mrs. Whitcomb * ''Playhouse 90'' (1959) - Miss Hammer / Mrs. Adolph * ''New Comedy Showcase'' (1960, Episode "The Trouble with Richard") - Aunt Julia<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/unsold_pilots_on_television_56_66/ |title=UNSOLD PILOTS ON TELEVISION, 1956–1966 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=15 August 2019 |website=tvobscurities.com |publisher=Television Obscurities |access-date= 21 June 2024}}</ref><ref name=tvobsecuritiesstatus>{{cite web |url=https://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/06/status-guide-new-comedy-showcase/ |title=Status of New Comedy Showcase |author=Robert Jay |date=13 June 2009 |website=tvobscurities.com |publisher=Television Obscurities |access-date= 4 June 2024}}</ref> * ''Bringing Up Buddy'' (CBS sitcom, 1960–1961) - Aunt Iris Flower<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=137|edition=2nd}}</ref><!-- , with Frank Aletter as her nephew, Buddy Flower, a bachelor stockbroker, and Enid Markey as her sister, "Aunt Violet Flower." --> * ''Thriller'' (1961) - Melba Pennaroyd * ''The Defenders'' (1962) - Augusta Mills * ''Sam Benedict'' (1963) - Elizabeth Campbell * ''The Twilight Zone'' (1963, Episode: "The Bard") - Sadie * ''That Was the Week That Was (TW3)''{{r|etvs|page1=1066}} (NBC satirical revue, 1964; she appeared in numerous episodes, notably with Margaret Hamilton as quirky New Hampshire voters during the year's presidential election campaign.) * ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' (1966–1970) - Emma Beauregard
==Death== Merande was scheduled to play the mother-in-law of Jackie Gleason's character Ralph Kramden in ''The Honeymooners'' 25th anniversary television special. On November 1, 1975, she died of a stroke at the age of 83 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. Templeton Fox took over the role.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/image/200147420/A{{Dead link | date=July 2025 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>Lindheim, Burton. "Doro Merande, Comedian of Stage and Films, Dead";<!-- article had wrong age at death; gave age as 65, off by a really long shot!! --> November 3, 1975, ''New York Times'', p. 38</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0580109}} * {{IBDB name|52775}} * {{iobdb name|27550}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Kansas|Michigan|New York City|Los Angeles|California|Florida|Theatre|Film|Television}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merande, Doro}} Category:1892 births Category:1975 deaths Category:Actresses from Kansas Category:Actresses from Michigan Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American television actresses Category:People from Columbus, Kansas Category:American vaudeville performers Category:20th-century American actresses