Dorothy Seastrom

Dorothy Seastrom
Seastrom in 1925
Born
Dorothy Susan Seastrunk Corby

(1903-03-17)March 17, 1903
DiedJanuary 31, 1930(1930-01-31) (aged 26)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeGrove Hill Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas
OccupationActress
Years active1923–1926
SpouseFrancis Corby

Dorothy Seastrom (born Dorothy Susan Seastrunk Corby; March 17, 1903 – January 31, 1930)[citation needed] was an American silent film actress.

Early life and career

[edit]

Born in Texas, Seastrom got into acting after winning a beauty competition. Her family later relocated to Chicago. Her film career began in 1923 with the role of Eleanor Harmon in The Call of the Canyon, directed by Victor Fleming. Later she acted under the direction of Cecil B. Demille. She signed a five-year contract with First National Pictures in September 1925. Seastrom was called the "Candy Kid" at First National due to her taffy colored hair. [clarification needed]

She appeared in The Perfect Flapper with Colleen Moore and Classified with Corinne Griffith.[citation needed] Seastrom barely avoided a potentially disfiguring accident during the filming of We Moderns (1925). A shower of sparks from a short-circuited light fell upon her hair and shoulders at the United Studios. Seastrom escaped injury when assistant director James Dunne grabbed a tablecloth from a prop table and covered the actress's head. Electricians shut off the power to a light which hung from the fly system above the scene.[1] Seastrom made a full recovery from the burns she sustained. She returned to complete the film. [citation needed]

In 1926, Seastrom missed six months from acting while she had to rest in a sanitarium and "build up a physique weakened by work and worry".[2]

Death

[edit]

After being in a sanatorium, in 1926, Seastrom returned and appeared in her final film It Must Be Love. (The widower Corby wed a young script girl turned actress named Ellen Hansen in 1934; they divorced in 1944.) Seastrom died of tuberculosis in Dallas on January 31, 1930, aged 26. She was buried in Grove Hill Memorial Park in Dallas, Texas.[citation needed]

Filmography

[edit]
Year Film Role Notes
1923 The Call of the Canyon Eleanor Harmon
1924 Jonah Jones Margaret Morgan
Crushed Miss Brown
1926 Hooked Dorothy Lost film
Fifth Avenue Models Mannequin Lost film
King Cotton Lost film
Pretty Ladies Diamond Tights
We Moderns Dolly Wimple Lost film
1926 It Must Be Love Min Lost film

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Director's aide saves film girl". The Los Angeles Times. August 18, 1925. p. 17. Retrieved September 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Actress Recovers, Gets New Contract". The Minneapolis Star. August 21, 1926. p. 23. Retrieved September 26, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • Charleston Gazette, "Dorothy Seastrom On For Long Term", September 27, 1925, Page 35.
  • Frederick Daily News, "She Just Worships Vikings", Tuesday, March 24, 1925, Page 11.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Beauty Periled By Shower of Sparks", August 18, 1925, Page A1.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Actress Burned In Film Set Recovers", August 24, 1925, Page A3.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Dorothy Seastrom Will Be With First National", September 9, 1925, Page A9.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Avoirdupois is Banned on First National Lot", September 16, 1925, Page 6.
  • Los Angeles Times, "Illness Halts Film Rise", September 28, 1925, Page A10.
  • Nevada State Journal, "Behind The Screen", Sunday, May 2, 1926, Page 6.
[edit]