Dorothy Layton (August 13, 1912 – June 4, 2009) was an American

film actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

of the early 1930s.

Life

Born as Dorothy Ann Wannenwetsch in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Layton was selected as one of the "

WAMPAS Baby Stars The WAMPAS Baby Stars was a promotional campaign sponsored by the United States Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers, which honored 13 (15 in 1932) young actresses each year whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. ...

" for 1932. Layton acted in eight films in 1932 and 1933, appearing several times with

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

. She appeared in the films ''

Chickens Come Home ''Chickens Come Home'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by James W. Horne and produced by Hal Roach. It was shot in January 1931 and released on February 21, 1931. It is a remake of ...

'' (1931), '' The Chimp'', '' County Hospital'', and '' Pack Up Your Troubles'' (all 1932).Dorothy Layton profile
/ref> Her London ''Telegraph'' obituary described her as their "last great female stooge." The only film she made of any prominence, however, was '' Pick-Up'' (1933), which starred

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

and

Sylvia Sidney Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy ...

. In 1934, Layton left the motion picture industry and moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, where she met and married Howard W. Taylor Jr., a Baltimore businessman who sold mattresses. The couple had two children, a son and daughter. The marriage ended in divorce. Dorothy Layton died on June 4, 2009, at a retirement home in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

, aged 96.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Layton, Dorothy 1912 births 2009 deaths American film actresses Actresses from Cincinnati 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women