Dorothy Short
Dorothy Short
Born in Philadelphia and living in Collingswood when discovered by MGM in 1936, DOROTHY SHORT appeared in local productions at the Camden Elks Home on Cooper Street, the Camden Moose Lodge and elsewhere before going to Hollywood. She will be forever remembered in cult film circles for her starring role as Mary Lane in the 1936 epic, Reefer Madness. She also had a major role in a film of a similar nature, Assassin of Youth.
Her first screen appearance came in the 1934 production Student Tour, which starred Jimmy Durante, and also featured singer Nelson Eddy. She met actor Dave O'Brien, who appeared with her in her third film, She Married Her Boss in 1935, and in Reefer Madness the following year. The two were soon married. Later in the 1930s, as “Dave ‘Tex’ O'Brien,” he starred in a number of B-Westerns. The couple appeared in a number of these films together. In 1940 she appeared in Aloma of the South Seas with Jon Hall and Dorothy Lamour, and the following year saw her in Spooks Run Wild with Bela Lugosi, the East Side Kids (aka the Bowery Boys), and the amazing Angelo Rossitto.
In 1942, Dorothy Short and Dave O'Brien co-starred in the 1942 Columbia serial Captain Midnight. This would be her last feature film, however she appeared in nine shorts produced by Pete Smith at the MGM studios between 1946 and 1953, all but one of them opposite her husband.
Dorothy Short and Dave O'Brien had two daughters, Patty and Pam. The couple divorced in 1953, reportedly because he spent too much time indulging in his hobby — yachting and sailing. Considering the two had co-starred in short films titled I Love My Husband, But! and I Love My Wife But!, it’s not surprising that their divorce created a flurry of highly imaginative headlines at the time.
Apparently Dorothy Short then left show business. She passed away in Los Angeles CA on June 4, 1963.
Dorothy Short, Collingswood, Given Three-Month Contract
Camden Courier-Post —
A Collingswood copper-haired beauty — Dorothy Short — won her way into Screenland yesterday with an auspicious victory over 250,000 others of America's prettiest girls in a screen personality contest of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
Only 19, but a star of many amateur productions here and at the seashore, Miss Short received word while at Atlantic City that she had won the three-month contract as first prize of the contest. She was instructed to go immediately to the studios at Culver City, Calif.
She is a skilled ballet and tap dancer in addition to her other dramatic abilities. She is the daughter of Mrs. E. M. Short of 155 East Summerfield avenue, Collingswood. She is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 110 pounds, has sparkling brown eyes and a wealth of wavy, copper hair.
Six years ago Dorothy and her sister, Madeline Leone, one year her junior, won acclaim in Camden Elks Frolic as accomplished acrobatic tap dancers. At 14 she had been teaching her own originations in a Philadelphia school and had appeared in numerous school plays at the Collingswood High School. The following year the sisters were stars in the Tall Cedars of Lebanon production, given at Westmont Theatre. From then on Dorothy's rise in amateur dancing was spectacular. In 1930 she was the star in Haddonfield's American Legion show, “Pass In Review.” In 1931 she played the leading role in another Tall Cedars show, “The More the Merrier,” given at Moose Auditorium, Camden.
Sorority Will Hold June Dance Tonight
Camden Courier-Post —
The Sigma Theta Chi sorority will hold its fourth annual June dance tonight at Oakwood Country Club, Woodbury Heights.
Music for dancing will be furnished by Cliff Odendhal and his Penn Troubadours from 9 until 1 o'clock.
The committee in charge of arrangements includes Miss Grace Mauger, Miss Blanche Mauger, Miss Dorothy Short, Miss Maria Armstrong and Miss Thelma Burhanna.
Reefer Madness
Dorothy Short in Reefer Madness (1936)
Captain Midnight
Promotional poster for Captain Midnight (1942)
Filmography
Things We Can Do Without (1953) … Dave's wife
Bargain Madness (1951) (uncredited) … Dorothy
Fixin' Fool (1951) … Wife
How Come? (1949)
Let's Cogitate (1948)
Just Suppose (1948) … Wife
I Love My Mother-in-Law, But! (1948) … Wife
I Love My Wife But! (1947) (uncredited) … Wife
I Love My Husband, But! (1946)
Captain Midnight (1942) … Joyce Edwards
Bullets for Bandits (1942) … Dakota Brown
The Lone Rider Fights Back (1941) … Jean Dennison
Spooks Run Wild (1941) … Linda Mason
Aloma of the South Seas (1941) … Handmaiden
Buzzy and the Phantom Pinto (1941)
Trail of the Silver Spurs (1941) … Nancy Nordick
Pony Post (1940) … Alice Goodwin
Frontier Crusader (1940) … Jenny Mason
Phantom Rancher (1940) … Ann Markham
Daughter of the Tong (1939) … Marion Morgan
The Singing Cowgirl (1939) … Nora Pryde
Missing Daughters (1939) (uncredited) … Bee
Code of the Cactus (1939) … Joan
Wild Horse Canyon (1938) … Jean Hall
Where the Buffalo Roam (1938) … Laddie Gray
Heart of Arizona (1938) … Jacqueline Starr
Start Cheering (1938) (uncredited) … Student
The Mysterious Pilot (1937) (uncredited) … Babette, dancehall gal [Ch.1]
Brothers of the West (1937) … Annie Wade, Ed's Wife
Assassin of Youth (1937) … Marjorie Barrie … aka Marihuana
More Than a Secretary (1936) … Ann
Melody in May (1936) (uncredited) … High School Girl
Reefer Madness (1936) … Mary Lane … aka Dope Addict (USA: reissue title) … aka Doped Youth (USA: reissue title) … aka Love Madness (USA: reissue title) … aka Tell Your Children (USA: reissue title) … aka The Burning Question (USA: reissue title)
She Married Her Boss (1935) (uncredited) … Girl
The Call of the Savage (1935) … Mona Andrews … aka Savage Fury (USA: recut version)
Student Tour (1934) (uncredited) … Student