Dorothy Comingore

Mary Louise Comingore (August 24, 1913 – December 30, 1971), known professionally as Dorothy Comingore, was an American film actress. She starred as Susan Alexander Kane in Citizen Kane (1941), the critically acclaimed debut film of Orson Welles. In earlier films she was credited as Linda Winters, and she had appeared on the stage as Kay Winters. Her career ended when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist. She declined to answer questions when she was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952.

Dorothy Comingore
Dorothy Comingore in 1941
Born
Margaret Louise Comingore

(1913-08-24)August 24, 1913
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 30, 1971(1971-12-30) (aged 58)
Stonington, Connecticut, U.S.
Other namesKay Winters
Linda Winters
OccupationActress
Years active1934–1952
Spouses
Children3

Early years

Margaret Louise Comingore was born in Los Angeles, California and was described as "a one-time Oakland school girl."[1] She attended the University of California, Berkeley.[2] Her father was an electrotyper; her sister Lucille operated a nightclub in San Francisco.[3]

From 1934 to 1940, Comingore was billed in her stage appearances as Kay Winters and then Linda Winters as a film actress.[4]

Film

Dorothy Comingore was discovered by Charles Chaplin when she was acting in a small playhouse in Carmel. Whether Chaplin played any role in her career is questionable. In 1938, Comingore denied being Chaplin's protégé and indicated that press reports had exaggerated the limited contact that she had with Chaplin and one of his assistants.[1]

Dorothy Comingore on the set of Citizen Kane, in the trailer for the film (1940)
Ray Collins, Dorothy Comingore, Orson Welles and Ruth Warrick in Citizen Kane
Dorothy Comingore, Orson Welles and Ray Collins in Citizen Kane

Comingore played bit parts in Hollywood movies until Orson Welles cast her as Susan Alexander, the second wife of press tycoon Charles Foster Kane, in his debut feature film Citizen Kane (1941). Her performance garnered rave reviews; the Los Angeles Times, in an otherwise mixed review of the film, said that Comingore "is an important acquisition for pictures".[5] "(She) is put through a range of emotions that would try any actress one could name", wrote The Hollywood Reporter.

In-demand from other studios but refused loanouts by her home studio of RKO, Comingore fell ill, was ordered to go on bedrest, was suspended by RKO, and found no work on her return. Hearst’s newspapers had damaged her reputation and Comingore had ended up on a government watch list for "distributing Communist literature to negroes." Comingore had canvassed door-to-door for actor and state Assembly hopeful Albert Dekker; worked with musician Lead Belly and singer Paul Robeson to desegregate whites-only USO clubs; and promoted "union solidarity". A few years later, the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) gained power, and the FBI had much information on Comingore’s activities.

According to author Kathleen Sharp, “The star also had acquired a powerful enemy - the 78-year-old Hearst. The media mogul so hated Dorothy's portrayal of his mistress, 44-year-old Marion Davies, that he used his chain of newspapers and radio stations to smear the young woman. Hearst's columnists Hedda Hopper and Walter Winchell publicly accused Dorothy of belonging to the "Party" (the Communist Party), and borrowed Orwellian "newspeak" to malign her."[6]

Comingore's supposed Communist connections played a role in a legal battle for custody of her two children with Richard J. Collins.[7] Although Collins was a member of the Communist Party, he later asked to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee and revealed the names of communist colleagues. As a result, he was favored in the custody battle.[8]

According to Peter Bogdanovich in his DVD commentary on Citizen Kane, she impaired her subsequent career by turning down too many roles that she felt were uninteresting. She appeared in the film version of the Eugene O'Neill play The Hairy Ape (1944) with William Bendix, Susan Hayward and John Loder. Comingore's last movie appearance was in a supporting role in The Big Night (1951) starring John Drew Barrymore. Her career ended in 1951, when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist. The following year she was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee about her alleged Communist connections, and she declined to answer on constitutional grounds. Soon after she was accused of heavy drinking in custody hearings for her children, and on March 19, 1953, she was arrested for prostitution in West Hollywood.[9] The arrest is believed by many to have been part of a revenge scheme orchestrated by the police, offended that she mocked the HUAC.[10] Comingore also said that her 1953 arrest on a prostitution charge was "all a part of my being an 'unfriendly witness.'"[11]

Comingore was one of the contributors to Citizen Kane who was personally interviewed by Dr. Howard Suber of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. His research was used by Pauline Kael for her 1971 essay, "Raising Kane". A copy of the interview is in the collection of the Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington.[12]: 157, 161, 166 [13]

Personal life

Comingore was married to screenwriter Richard Meltzer.[14] She also married screenwriter Richard J. Collins, with whom she had a daughter, Judith, and a son, Michael. They were divorced in 1946.[7] Her other husbands were screenwriter Theodore Strauss[15] and John W. Crowe,[16] a post office employee, from 1962 until her death in 1971.

Comingore struggled with alcoholism during her later life, to the extent that she lost custody of her two children with Richard J. Collins.[15]

Death

Comingore died December 30, 1971, from a pulmonary disease in Stonington, Connecticut, at the age of 58. She had also broken her back years prior and subsequently restricted her movements, mostly confined to her seaside apartment.[16]

Cultural references

In Guilty by Suspicion, Irwin Winkler's 1991 film set during the Hollywood blacklist, Comingore inspired the character of the actress who is harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee.[17]

Radio credits
Date Title Episode Notes
June 12, 1938 Warner Bros. Academy Theatre "Desirable" Credited as Kay Winters[18][19]
June 26, 1938 Warner Bros. Academy Theatre "The House on 56th Street" Credited as Kay Winters[18]
October 6, 1941 The Orson Welles Show "The Black Pearl" [20]: 367 [21]

Film and television credits
Poster for Prison Train (1938)
Year Title Role Notes
1938 Campus Cinderella Co-ed Uncredited, Short film[22]
1938 Prison Train Louise Terris Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1938 Comet Over Broadway Miss McDermott Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1938 Trade Winds Ann Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Blondie Meets the Boss Francis Rogers Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Romance of the Redwoods Bit Role Uncredited, Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 North of the Yukon Jean Duncan Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Outside These Walls 2nd secretary Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Good Girls Go to Paris Tearoom Hostess Uncredited
1939 Coast Guard Nurse Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Five Little Peppers and How They Grew Nurse Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Golden Boy Fight Spectator Uncredited
1939 Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise June Jenkins Uncredited, Short film, credited as Linda Winters[24]
1939 Scandal Sheet Marjorie Lawe Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Woman at Station Uncredited, Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1939 The Awful Goof Charley's Fiancee Short film, credited as Linda Winters[24]
1939 Cafe Hostess Tricks Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1940 Convicted Woman May Uncredited, Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1940 Pioneers of the Frontier Joan Darcey Credited as Linda Winters[23]
1940 The Heckler Ole's Girlfriend Uncredited, Short film, credited as Linda Winters[24]
1940 Rockin' thru the Rockies Daisy Short film, credited as Linda Winters[24]
1940 Citizen Kane trailer Herself, Susan Alexander Short film[20]: 360 
1941 Citizen Kane Susan Alexander Kane [23]
1944 The Hairy Ape Helen Parker [23]
1949 Any Number Can Play Mrs. Purcell [23]
1951 The Big Night Julie Rostina [23]
1951 Fireside Theatre (TV) Rita "Handcuffed"
1952 Rebound (TV) Dotty "The Losers"
1952 The Doctor (TV) "The Red Wig", (final appearance)

References
  1. Othman, Frederick C. (April 29, 1938). "Ex-Oakland Girl Denies She's Chaplin Protege". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. Oakland Tribune. p. 36. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  2. Coons, Robbin (June 26, 1938). "Acting Once Cantalouped as Kay Winters Received Prize". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 7. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  3. "The Knave". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. Oakland Tribune. May 12, 1938. p. 9. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. Lowrance, Dee (July 19, 1942). "Lady Luck: Movieland's Best Talent Scout". The San Bernardino County Sun. The San Bernardino County Sun. The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 24. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  5. Schallert, Edwin (May 9, 1941). "Welles' 'Citizen Kane' Revolutionary Film". Los Angeles Times. p. 18. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  6. Sharp, Kathleen (October 12, 2013). "Living the Orwellian Life". Truthout. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  7. "Actress Balks on Red Party Question". The Ada Weekly News. Oklahoma, Ada. The Ada Weekly News. October 23, 1952. p. 3. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  8. "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. September 13, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  9. David Bromwich, "My son has been poisoned!". London Review of Books. Issue 34:2 (January 26, 2012). pp. 11-13.
  10. Sharp, Kathleen (September 13, 2013). "Destroyed by HUAC: The Dorothy Comingore Story". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  11. "Actress Dorothy Comingore Held". Pennsylvania, Chester. Chester Times. March 20, 1953. p. 14. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspaperarchive.com. open access
  12. Kellow, Brian (2011). Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-02312-7.
  13. Suber, Howard. "Box 82, Kael Mss". "The Evolution of the Script of Citizen Kane"; interviews with Dorothy Comingore, Sara Mankiewicz, Richard Wilson and Robert Wise (5 folders). Lilly Library, Indiana University. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  14. "How Linda Winters, Former Oakland Girl, Became Movie Queen". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. Oakland Tribune. August 16, 1938. p. 21. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  15. "Dorothy Comingore Held as Alcoholic". The Times. California, San Mateo. The Times. May 27, 1953. p. 22. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  16. "Actress Dorothy Comingore Dies". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Texas, Lubbock. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. January 2, 1972. p. 100. Retrieved January 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  17. Woo, Elaine (February 15, 2013). "Blacklisted writer later named names". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  18. "Warner Brothers Academy Theatre". RadioGOLDINdex. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  19. "Warner Brothers Academy Theatre". The Digital Deli Too. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  20. Welles, Orson; Bogdanovich, Peter; Rosenbaum, Jonathan (1992). This is Orson Welles. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-016616-9.
  21. "1941 Orson Welles Show (Lady Esther)". Internet Archive. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  22. "Campus Cinderella". Bringing Up Baby: Two-Disc Special Edition (DVD). Warner Bros. Home Video. 2005. Event occurs at 3:15. ISBN 9780780651302.
  23. "Dorothy Comingore". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  24. Okuda, Ted; Watz, Edward (1998). The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-Reel Hollywood Film Comedies, 1933–1958. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. ISBN 9781476610108.
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