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Doro Merande

1892-03-29

The Biography

Plain, angular Doro Merande was one of those delightful character actresses you couldn't take your eyes off of, no matter how minuscule the part. She excelled at playing older than she was -- doting aunts, inveterate gossips, curt secretaries and small-minded townspeople -- all topped with an amusing warble in her voice and bristly eccentric edge. Too bad then that she wasn't used more in films, but she preferred live theater and based herself for the most part on the East Coast. She was born Dora Matthews in Kansas in 1892 and orphaned as a child. Growing up in boarding schools, she headed to New York and pursued an acting career immediately after finishing her education. She appeared long and hard on the stock stage before making it on Broadway at age 43. She settled there sparking over 25 Broadway plays in her lifetime, including a scene-stealing turn in the classic Thorton Wilder play "Our Town" which brought her to Hollywood to preserve the role on film. On and off she remained a delightful film and TV cameo player with roles in The Gazebo (1959), The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), and The Front Page (1974). She and star Enid Markey (Jane of the "Tarzan" film silents) starred together as pampering aunts in the sitcom Bringing Up Buddy (1960), but, despite promising ratings, the two veteran actresses did not get along and the series folded after only a season. Ms. Merande was also a recurring presence for Jackie Gleason on his variety show. She died, in fact, of a stroke while there in Miami to film an episode. Date of Birth 31 March 1892, Columbia, Kansas Date of Death 1 November 1975, New York City, New York  (stroke)

Doro Merande in

Movies

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The Seven Year Itch

7.072 average rating
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The Man with the Golden Arm

7.119 average rating
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The Front Page

7.3 average rating
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The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!

6.317 average rating
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The Snake Pit

7.047 average rating
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Kiss Me, Stupid

7.081 average rating
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The Cardinal

6.5 average rating
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Our Town

5.768 average rating
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Hurry Sundown

6.6 average rating
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The Gazebo

6.9 average rating
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Skidoo

4.9 average rating
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State Fair

6.2 average rating
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Bad Boy

5 average rating
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Change of Habit

5.6 average rating
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Strictly Personal

5 average rating
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Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell

6.6 average rating
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Bondage

0 average rating
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Navy Wife

5 average rating
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Cover Up

6.7 average rating
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Making It

4.5 average rating