{{short description|American actress (1922–2011)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Dorothy Morris | image = DOROTHYMorris.jpg | caption = Morris in 1946 | birth_name = Dorothy Ruth Morris | birth_date = {{birth date|1922|2|23}} | birth_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|11|20|1922|2|23}} | death_place = [[Palm Springs, California]], U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1940–1972 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Marvin Moffie|1943|1966|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Roger E. Miller|1969|1972|end=divorced}} }} | children = 2 | relatives = [[Caren Marsh Doll]] (sister) <br /> [[Bill Doll]] (brother-in-law) }}
'''Dorothy Ruth Morris''' (February 23, 1922 – November 20, 2011) was an American film and television actress known for her "[[girl next door]]" persona.
== Early life == Dorothy Ruth Morris was born and raised in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14690212/the_salt_lake_tribune/|title=Home Town Girl Wins Film Fame|date=April 9, 1944|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date=October 26, 2017|pages=42|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She attended [[Hollywood High School]] and acted in productions at the [[Pasadena Playhouse]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name="ot" /> She was a student in [[Maria Ouspenskaya]]'s School of Drama.<ref name="ot">{{cite news|title=Straight from High School to Film Stardom|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7534108/oakland_tribune|work=Oakland Tribune|date=December 6, 1942|location=California, Oakland|page=80|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=November 20, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref>
She was the younger sister of [[Caren Marsh Doll]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lentz|first1=Harris M. III|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2011|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-6994-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5X_GCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Dorothy+Morris%22+actress&pg=PA243|accessdate=November 15, 2017|language=en}}</ref> who later became a dancer and [[stand-in]] for [[Judy Garland]]. She did a screen test for the female lead in ''[[The Courtship of Andy Hardy]]'' (1942), but lost to [[Donna Reed]].{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}
== Career == Appearing in bit parts in several of the studio's more successful films, Morris was signed to a [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] contract in 1941. For one of her early film roles, ''[[Cry 'Havoc' (film)|Cry 'Havoc']]'' (1943), she affected a British accent. Her next picture was the well-received drama ''[[The Human Comedy (film)|The Human Comedy]]'', which featured a star cast, headed by [[Mickey Rooney]], [[Frank Morgan]], [[James Craig (actor)|James Craig]] and [[Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1917)|Marsha Hunt]]. Morris' role was Mary Arena; the girlfriend of [[Van Johnson]]'s character. The highlight of her career, however, came in 1945 when she starred as the doomed Ingeborg Jensen in ''[[Our Vines Have Tender Grapes]]''. Other screen roles included ''[[Someone to Remember]]'' (1943), ''[[Pilot No. 5]]'' (1943), ''[[Rationing (1944 film)|Rationing]]'' (1944) and ''[[None Shall Escape]]'' (1944).
Morris is often remembered for her featured appearances in MGM short subjects. She appeared in several of the studio's short films including the ''[[Pete Smith (film producer)|Pete Smith Specialties]]'', ''[[The Passing Parade#Parade on film|The Passing Parade]]'', and ''Crime Does Not Pay'' series. The ''Crime'' short turned out so well that MGM expanded it into a full-length feature, ''[[Main Street After Dark]]'' in 1945, for which the actress was billed as Dorothy Ruth Morris. (Morris reminisces about her short-subjects experience in the [[Turner Classic Movies]] documentary ''Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story'', first broadcast in 2002.)
== Later career == After she married in 1943, she took a hiatus from movie making. In the late 1950s, she made guest appearances on television series such as ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', ''[[The Donna Reed Show]]'', ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', ''[[Casey Jones (TV series)|Casey Jones]]'', and ''[[Wagon Train]]''. She made two film appearances during the 1950s in ''[[Macabre (1958 film)|Macabre]]'' and ''The Power of the Resurrection'' (both 1958). Her last film role was in ''[[Seconds (1966 film)|Seconds]]'' (1966) starring [[Rock Hudson]]. Her last television appearance was in a 1971 episode of ''[[Marcus Welby, M.D.]]''.
== Personal life and death == Morris was married to Marvin Moofie, a math teacher at [[Los Angeles Unified School District]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=1961 |title=Television actress teaches Sunday class |url=https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/47015/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=TESSA – Digital Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library}}</ref> They had two sons, Richard (born 1947) and Robert (born 1951).<ref name=":1" />
Morris resided in [[Palm Springs, California]] until her death on November 20, 2011, at the age of 89.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=Dorothy+Morris+burial+Scott+Wilson&pg=PA532|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|first=Scott|last=Wilson|date=September 16, 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-2599-7|via=Google Books}}</ref> Upon her death, her body was donated to [[medical science]] at the University of California Riverside.<ref name="auto" />
== Filmography == {{div col}} * ''[[Her First Beau]]'' – Shirley (uncredited) (1941) * ''[[Whistling in the Dark (1941 film)|Whistling in the Dark]]'' – Telephone Operator (uncredited) (1941) * ''[[Down in San Diego]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14689684/the_daily_herald/|title='Down in San Diego' Smartly Acted Melodrama|date=1942|work=The Daily Herald|access-date=October 26, 2017|pages=11|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> – Mildred Burnette (1941)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14690120/chicago_tribune/|title=Kid Actors in This Picture Put It Across|last=Tinee|first=Mae|date=November 16, 1941|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=October 26, 2017|pages=115|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * ''[[Babes on Broadway]]'' – Chorus Girl (uncredited) (1941)<ref name="ot" /> * ''[[Rio Rita (1942 film)|Rio Rita]]'' – Gas Station Attendant (uncredited) (1942) * ''[[This Time for Keeps]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14690470/the_pantagraph/|title=Lexington Theatre|date=August 1, 1942|work=The Pantagraph|access-date=October 26, 2017|pages=2|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> – Edith Bryant (1942) * ''[[Keeper of the Flame (film)|Keeper of the Flame]]'' – Forward American Girl (uncredited) (1942) * ''[[Seven Sweethearts]]'' – Peter van Maaster (1942) * ''[[The Youngest Profession]]'' – Secretary (1943) * ''[[The Human Comedy (film)|The Human Comedy]]''<ref name=":0" /> – Mary Arena (1943) * ''[[Someone to Remember]]'' (1943) * ''[[Cry 'Havoc' (film)|Cry 'Havoc']]'' – Sue (1943) * ''[[None Shall Escape]]'' (1944) * ''[[Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo]]'' – Jane (credited as Dorothy Ruth Morris) (1944) * ''[[Our Vines Have Tender Grapes]]'' – Ingeborg Jensen (1945) * ''[[Main Street After Dark]]'' – Rosalie Dibson (1945) * ''[[Club Havana]]'' – Lucy (1945) * ''[[Little Miss Big]]'' – Kathy Bryan (1946) * ''[[The Power of the Resurrection]]'' – [[Mary of Bethany|Mary]], sister of Lazarus (1958) * ''[[Macabre (1958 film)|Macabre]]'' – Alice Barrett (1958) * ''[[Seconds (1966 film)|Seconds]]'' -- Mrs. Filter (1966) {{div col end}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0606502}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Dorothy}} [[Category:1922 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American actresses]] [[Category:Actresses from Los Angeles]] [[Category:American film actresses]] [[Category:American television actresses]] [[Category:Actresses from Palm Springs, California]] [[Category:Western (genre) film actresses]] [[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]] [[Category:Hollywood High School alumni]]