Doro Merande

Doro Merande (March 31, 1892 – November 1, 1975) was an American actress who appeared in film, stage and television.

Stage actress

Born in Columbus, Kansas, as Dora Matthews^[1] and grew up in boarding schools in Michigan. Orphaned at a young age, she later headed to New York City to become an actress. She found her first part in a small summer company in Massachusetts. She coveted Broadway parts during the Great Depression. Her career began with the Jules Levanthal Company. She debuted on Broadway as "Sophie Tuttle" in Loose Moments in 1935. Soon she was cast in One Good Year, Red Harvest, and Angel Island. Her first major stage role was playing the gossip in Our Town by Thornton Wilder repeating her performance in the 1940 film. Merande later appeared with Leo G. Carroll in Lo and Behold, The Rat Race with Betty Field, and in The Silver Whistle, with José Ferrer. She performed with Clifton Webb (in Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell), Walter Huston (in Apple of His Eye), and Franchot Tone (in Hope For Your Best). Her final Broadway appearance was in the 1969 revival of The Front Page, playing the cleaning woman, as she had also done in the film and television versions.

Films/TV

Merande appeared onscreen in bit parts starting in the early 1930s and had her first substantial role in 1940, reprising her role as the gossip in the film adaptation of Our Town. Other film credits include:

• The Snake Pit (1948)
• Cover Up (1949)
• The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951)
• The Seven Year Itch (1954)
• The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
• The Gazebo (1959)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)
• Hurry Sundown (1967)
• Skidoo (1968)
• Change of Habit (1969)
• The Front Page (1974)

Television

• The Jackie Gleason Show (2 episodes, 1967–70, as "Aunt Ethel")
• The United States Steel Hour (1957)
• Valiant Lady (1953)
• Kraft Television Theater (1953–1954)
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (as "Mrs. Herman" in 'Mrs. Herman and Mrs. Fenimore' with Mary Astor,1958)
• The Phil Silvers Show (1959)
• Playhouse 90 (1959)
• Steve Canyon (1959) as "Mrs. Turtin"
• Bringing Up Buddy (CBS sitcom, 1960–1961) as "Aunt Iris Flower", with Frank Aletter as her nephew, Buddy Flower, a bachelor stockbroker, and Enid Markey as her sister, "Aunt Violet Flower"
• The Defenders (1962)
• Thriller (1961)
• Sam Benedict (1963)
• The Twilight Zone (1963 episode, "The Bard")
• That Was the Week That Was (TW3) (NBC satirical revue, 1964; she appeared in numerous episodes, notably with Margaret Hamilton as quirky New Hampshire voters during the year's presidential election campaign.)

Death

Doro Merande attended The Honeymooners anniversary special with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in Florida. A short time later, she died of a stroke at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, aged 83. She never married.^[2]

References

External links

• Doro Merande at the Internet Movie Database