Dorothy Davenport

Born: 1895-03-13

Dorothy Davenport (March 13, 1895 – October 12, 1977) was an American actress, screenwriter, film director, and producer who appeared in silent film for Biograph Studios under the direction of D.W. Griffith. While filming on location in Oregon for The Valley of the Giants (1919), Wallace Reid was injured in a train wreck. As a remedy for the pain from this injury, studio doctors administered large doses of morphine to Reid to which he became addicted. Reid's health slowly grew worse over the next few years, and he died of the addiction in 1923. After Reid's death, Davenport and Thomas Ince co-produced the film Human Wreckage (1923) with James Kirkwood, Sr., Bessie Love and Lucille Ricksen, a film that dealt with the dangers of narcotics addiction. Davenport took Human Wreckage on a roadshow engagement, followed up with another "social conscience" picture about excessive mother-love called Broken Laws in 1924, again billed as "Mrs. Wallace Reid" to capitalize on her husband's notorious death. She then produced The Red Kimona (1925) about white slavery. On screen she opens the film in silent narration or prologue. The details of the latter film were so realistic that Davenport was successfully sued. She would later direct Linda (1929), Sucker Money (1933), Road to Ruin (1934), and The Woman Condemned (1934) and worked as a producer, writer, and dialogue director. Among her last credits are co-author of the screenplay for Footsteps in the Fog (1955), and as dialogue director for The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) with Ginger Rogers. She and husband Wallace Reid had two children. She was married to him until his death on January 18, 1923. She never remarried. Dorothy Davenport died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in 1977 in Woodland Hills, California. She is interred with her husband in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dorothy Davenport, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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The Red Kimona

as Woman Telling the Story (uncredited)
Released: 1925-11-16

A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.

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The Fighting Chance

as Leila Mortimer
Released: 1920-08-01

Sylvia Landis promises to marry the wealthy but unprincipled Quarrier because of his social...

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The Road to Ruin

as Mrs. Merrill (uncredited)
Released: 1934-05-14

A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up...

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The Unknown

as Nancy Preston
Released: 1915-12-09

Richard Farquhar, the ne'er-do-well nephew of a titled Englishman, after a protracted "good...

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The Devil's Bondwoman

as Beverly Hope
Released: 1916-11-20

After a prologue that takes place in Hell, young millionaire Mason Van Horton becomes involved...

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Pierre of the North

as Mary McKenzie - the Factor's Daughter
Released: 1913-02-10

Pierre and Baptiste, French-Canadian half-breed trappers, are enamored of Mary, the factor's...

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The Revelation

as Mrs. Burns
Released: 1913-10-10

Mr. Burns, a student of Theosophy, has a dream in the hammock. He sees himself, his wife and her...

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Barriers of Society

as Martha Gorham
Released: 1916-10-16

When penniless Westie Phillips briefly meets wealthy Martha Gorham, he falls in love, but Martha...

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Human Wreckage

as Ethel MacFarland
Released: 1923-06-17

An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.

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The Unattainable

as Bessie Gale
Released: 1916-09-04

An actress falls in love with a shepherd, to the dismay of a wealthy suitor. One reel survives...

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The Golden Supper

as Flower Girl
Released: 1910-12-12

Julian loves his cousin and foster sister Camilla, who is wooed and won by Lionel, his friend...

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A Brave Little Woman

as Clara Lyttell
Released: 1912-01-15

Daniel Lyttell is very ill, but Doctor Bozel assures Clara that the crisis is over and that her...

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Treason

as Luella Brysk
Released: 1917-05-14

The enemy's success in smuggling a spy through the lines places the Stratiria armies in a...

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The Scarlet Crystal

as Marie Delys
Released: 1917-02-05

Priscilla Worth, an innocent country girl, goes to the city to visit her aunt, who has sent for...

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A Gold Necklace

as A Friend
Released: 1910-10-06

Mazie lends her necklace to Nellie, her guest. Nellie is asleep in a hammock when Sam, her...

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Black Friday

as Elionor Rossitor
Released: 1916-09-18

In 1869, enemies of railroad magnate Richard Strong attempt to ruin him. Richard thwarts them,...

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The Satin Woman

as Mrs. Jean Taylor (as Mrs. Wallace Reid)
Released: 1927-07-24

Dorothy Reid -- who before her marriage to ill-fated screen idol Wallace Reid was better known...

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Man Hunt

as Mrs. Scott
Released: 1933-05-23

A teen detective tries to help a jewel thief's daughter.

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The Spider and Her Web

as uncredited
Released: 1914-03-26

The story concerns the reformation of a fast woman who runs a gambling establishment. Her one...

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Hellship Bronson

as Mrs. Bronson
Released: 1928-04-30

A ship's captain, believing that his wife has cheated on him, takes their young son and leaves...

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Her Indian Hero

as Veda Mead
Released: 1912-04-16

The Chief's son, Silver Water, returns from college and is met at the station by the tribe. The...

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His Only Son

as Jessie Carter
Released: 1912-10-09

Bob Madden returns home slightly intoxicated and his father angrily commands him to leave the...

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The Test of Manhood

as Ethel Crandall
Released: 1914-10-12

Harry Wentworth is the profligate son of a ranch owner. His father is tired of Harry's...

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The Heart of the Hills

as The Government Detective
Released: 1914-03-12

Two brothers live together in the Kentucky mountains. Wally, the younger, is a wood-cutter,...

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Doctor Neighbor

as Hazel Rogers
Released: 1916-05-01

Against the wishes of Doctor Neighbor, the guardian who also loves her, Hazel, who is due to...

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Mothers of Men

as Clara Madison
Released: 1917-01-01

Dorothy Davenport as Clara Madison, a prominent lawyer, wins a judgeship over fellow Attorney...

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The Squaw Man's Son

as Edith, Lady Effington
Released: 1917-07-26

Hal, now fully grown, leaves his wife Edith and his estate in England to return to the land of...

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The Den of Thieves

as Dorothy
Released: 1914-06-24

Lillian is an unfortunate woman. After leaving her baby at the door of a hospital she meets...

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In Humble Guise

as Grace Hunt
Released: 1915-07-11

After a lover's quarrel, writer Grace Hunt goes vacationing to a seaside resort where she...

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Broken Laws

as Joan Allen
Released: 1924-11-09

Ignoring the advice of her husband, a mother indulges her son's every wish and demand all...

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'Cross the Mexican Line

as Dorothy West
Released: 1914-06-17

Lieut. Wallace leaves his fiancée, Dorothy West, to cross the border with his troops into...

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The Way of the World

as Beatrice Farley
Released: 1916-07-03

Gubernatorial candidate Walter Croyden is in love with Beatrice, but he acts obnoxiously when he...

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A Yoke of Gold

as Carner
Released: 1916-08-14

During the days of the California missions, Jose Garcia becomes friends with Luis Lopez, a local...

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The Girl and the Crisis

as Ellen Wilmot
Released: 1917-02-26

Lieut. Governor Oliver Barnitz accedes to the governorship when his predecessor, failing to call...

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