Gloria Dickson

Gloria Dickson
File:GloriaDicksonLadyofBurlesquecropped.jpg from the film Lady of Burlesque (1943)
Born	Thais Alalia Dickerson (1917-08-13)August 13, 1917 Pocatello, Idaho, U.S.
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	house fire
Years active	1937-1945
Spouse(s)	Perc Westmore (m.1938-1941; divorced) Ralph Murphy (m.1941-1944; divorced) William Fitzgerald (m.1944-1945; her death)

Gloria Dickson (August 13, 1917 – April 10, 1945) was an American stage and screen actress of the 1930s and 1940s.

Life and career

Born in Pocatello, Idaho as Thais Alalia Dickerson, Dickson began acting during high school in amateur theatre productions. Encouraged by her acting coaches, she moonlighted doing dramatic readings at social clubs and on KFOX radio station in Long Beach, California. In April 1936, she was spotted by Warner Brothers talent scout Max Arnow who signed her to a Warner contract. Her film debut in 1937's They Won't Forget landed her on the top of Hollywood's short list of important up and comers, a distinction which allotted her enormous publicity. In autumn 1937, she was on many magazine covers and was the subject of several major movie magazine articles with titles like, The Luckiest Girl in the World and New Star of the Year.

Death

Dickson died during a fire at her Los Angeles home caused by an unextinguished cigarette that ignited an overstuffed chair on the main floor while she slept upstairs. Her body, and that of her pet dog, were found in the bathroom, and it was assumed that she had attempted to escape through the bathroom window. She died from asphyxiation; flames had seared her lungs, and her body had suffered first and second degree burns. She is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Filmography

• They Won't Forget (1937)
• Talent Scout (1937)
• Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)
• Racket Busters (1938)
• Heart of the North (1938)
• Secrets of an Actress (1938)
• They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
• Waterfront (1939)
• The Cowboy Quarterback (1939)
• No Place to Go (1939)
• On Your Toes (1939)
• Private Detective (1939)
• King of the Lumberjacks (1940)
• Tear Gas Squad (1940)
• I Want a Divorce (1940)
• This Thing Called Love (1940)
• The Big Boss (1941)
• Mercy Island (1941)
• The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942)
• Power of the Press (1943)
• Lady of Burlesque (1943)
• Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943)
• Rationing (1944)

Stage credits

• Wise Tomorrow (1937)

External links

• Gloria Dickson at the Internet Movie Database
• Gloria Dickson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Gloria Dickson, We Won't Forget: Essay by Dan Van Neste
• Gloria Dickson at Find a Grave