Happy Birthday, Dorothy Malone!

Oscar-winning actress Dorothy Malone turns 90 today.

Malone was born in Chicago on January 30, 1925, and grew up in Dallas.

Malone started out in small roles in the early '40s, breaking out of the pack of bit players with a brief yet very memorable role as a bookstore clerk who banters with Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe in the classic THE BIG SLEEP (1946).

Malone proved to be equally good as "girl next door" types, as she was portrayed in countless '40s studio publicity photos, or in more sultry or hard-edged roles. In the decade after THE BIG SLEEP, Malone appeared in over 30 films, including a significant number of Westerns.

Film historian Blake Lucas, in his recent review of the Western THE NEVADAN (1950) at 50 Westerns From the 50s, called her "an icon of the genre." I thought that was a beautiful and quite apt description.

Malone snagged a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her flashy role as a troubled woman in Douglas Sirk's WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956).

After WRITTEN ON THE WIND Malone continued to work steadily in both films and television, hitting it big again with the TV series PEYTON PLACE in 1964. In 2009 the Los Angeles Times interviewed Malone, who was then retired and living in Texas, when the series was released on DVD.

Malone had two daughters with her first husband, actor Jacques Bergerac, who passed away last summer. In the 2009 Times article, one of her daughters reported that Malone continued to receive fan mail from around the world and said, "It just brightens her day."

Dorothy Malone films reviewed at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings: HIGHER AND HIGHER (1943), THE FALCON AND THE CO-EDS (1943), ONE MYSTERIOUS NIGHT (1944), FLAXY MARTIN (1949), THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK (1950), THE NEVADAN (1950), LAW AND ORDER (1953), THE LONE GUN (1954), PUSHOVER (1954), TALL MAN RIDING (1955), WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956), QUANTEZ (1957) (also here), TIP ON A DEAD JOCKEY (1957), THE LAST VOYAGE (1960), and FATE IS THE HUNTER (1964).

Some of the notable Malone films not yet reviewed here include ONE SUNDAY AFTERNOON (1948), SOUTH OF ST. LOUIS (1949), COLORADO TERRITORY (1949), SADDLE LEGION (1951), TORPEDO ALLEY (1952), JACK SLADE (1953), LOOPHOLE (1954), YOUNG AT HEART (1954), BATTLE CRY (1955), and THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957). I anticipate reviewing several of these in the coming months.

Best wishes for a very happy birthday to an actress whose work has brought this viewer a great deal of pleasure over the years.

January 2016 Update: Here are review links for TWO GUYS FROM TEXAS (1948), SOUTH OF ST. LOUIS (1949), COLORADO TERRITORY (1949), LOOPHOLE (1954), and BEACH PARTY (1963), plus a new review of FLAXY MARTIN (1949).

January 2017 Update: Here's a review of THE BIG SLEEP (1946), in which Dorothy had her breakout role.

January 19, 2018 Update: Dorothy Malone has passed away at the age of 92.

Update: I've now reviewed JANIE GETS MARRIED (1946), SADDLE LEGION (1951), BATTLE CRY (1955), PILLARS OF THE SKY (1956), THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957), and WARLOCK (1959).

Update: Since this was first written, Malone's birthday has been updated on various websites to January 29th, 1924. A photo of her final resting place in Dallas confirms the year 1924.  That said, her obituary in the Dallas Morning News, which appears to have been written by the family, gives her birthdate as January 30, 1924.