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Doro Merande

Doro Merande

Actor · 1892 – 1975 · Columbus, Kansas, USA

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)

Movies24

  • Movie7.0

    The Seven Year Itch

    1955 · 1K votes

  • Movie7.1
  • Movie7.3

    The Front Page

    1974 · 395 votes

  • Movie6.5

    The Cardinal

    1963 · 54 votes

  • Movie6.5
  • Movie6.4

    Hurry Sundown

    1967 · 39 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Kiss Me, Stupid

    1964 · 222 votes

  • Movie6.9

    The Gazebo

    1959 · 39 votes

  • Movie7.1

    The Snake Pit

    1948 · 118 votes

  • Movie5.4

    Change of Habit

    1969 · 29 votes

  • Movie4.7

    Skidoo

    1968 · 26 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Cover Up

    1949 · 27 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Wayward

    1932 · 3 votes

  • Movie7.2
  • Movie5.9

    Our Town

    1940 · 38 votes

  • Movie6.8
  • Movie7.1
  • Movie6.3

    State Fair

    1933 · 28 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Bondage

    1933 · 1 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie6.5

    Personal Maid

    1931 · 2 votes

  • Movie4.8

    Zoo in Budapest

    1933 · 15 votes

  • Movie7.5

    Bad Boy

    1935 · 2 votes

  • Movie6.0

    Navy Wife

    1935 · 2 votes

Series8

  • TV8.5

    The Twilight Zone

    1959 · 1.1K votes

  • TV7.8

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    1955 · 266 votes

  • TV6.7

    Thriller

    1960 · 20 votes

  • TV7.0

    Omnibus

    1952 · 4 votes

  • TV6.7

    Sam Benedict

    1962 · 3 votes

  • TV6.4

    Tales of Tomorrow

    1951 · 7 votes

  • TV7.7

    The New Breed

    1961 · 3 votes

  • TV9.0