Dowling was born in Detroit, Michigan,[1] but grew up in New York City with siblings Robert, Richard, and Constance (who also became an actress). After graduating from Hunter College High School, she spent a short time with a Folies Bergère group in San Francisco before her mother brought her back to New York to attend Hunter College.[2]
Film
After her time as a chorus girl on Broadway, Dowling followed her elder sister Constance to Hollywood. Her first credited film role was that of Gloria, an apparent escort who takes a shine to Ray Milland in the 1945 film The Lost Weekend.
She next appeared in The Blue Dahlia, which starred Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.[3] Dowling portrayed Ladd's wife but was six inches taller so Ladd stood on ramps or boxes or, in many of their scenes together she was either sitting or lying down.
As work grew scarce after the war, she emigrated to Italy to revive her career as her sister had done.[4]
In Italy, Dowling starred in several acclaimed films, including Bitter Rice. She appeared in Orson Welles's European production of Othello in 1951, playing Bianca.[1]
Back in the United States, she returned to film in Running Target (1956)[1] and appeared in the 1977 production The Car.[5]
Dowling shared the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble Performance in 1972 - 1973 for her performance in a revival of The Women on Broadway.[8] Her other Broadway credits include Panama Hattie (1942), Banjo Eyes (1942), Beat the Band (1942), and New Faces of 1943 (1943).[9]
Personal life
Dowling dated Billy Wilder during the 1940s[10] and married three times. In 1952, she became bandleader Artie Shaw's seventh wife. They had a son, Jonathan, before divorcing in 1956. Later that year, on April 27, 1956, Dowling married film executive Robert F. Blumofe;[11] they divorced in 1959.[12] She married Leonard Kaufman on April 20, 1960, to whom she remained married until her death in 2004.[13]
^ abc"Doris Dowling". The Telegraph. June 22, 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
^Chapman, Frank (January 20, 1946). "Bad Girl -- but Good!". The Post-Standard. New York, Syracuse. The Post-Standard. p. 49. Retrieved April 20, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"Doris Dowling". The Gettysburg Times. Pennsylvania, Gettysburg. The Gettysburg Times. June 22, 2004. p. 2. Retrieved February 10, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Doris Dowling Is Married". The Kansas City Times. Missouri, Kansas City. The Kansas City Times. April 28, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved February 10, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.