Person
Doro Merande
Columbus, Kansas, USA
Plain, angular Doro Merande was one of those delightful character actresses you couldn't take your eyes off of, no matter how minuscule the part. She excelled at playing older tha…
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Plain, angular Doro Merande was one of those delightful character actresses you couldn't take your eyes off of, no matter how minuscule the part. She excelled at playing older than she was -- doting aunts, inveterate gossips, curt secretaries and small-minded townspeople -- all topped with an amusing warble in her voice and bristly eccentric edge. Too bad then that she wasn't used more in films, but she preferred live theater and based herself for the most part on the East Coast. She was born Dora Matthews in Kansas in 1892 and orphaned as a child. Growing up in boarding schools, she headed to New York and pursued an acting career immediately after finishing her education. She appeared long and hard on the stock stage before making it on Broadway at age 43. She settled there sparking over 25 Broadway plays in her lifetime, including a scene-stealing turn in the classic Thorton Wilder play "Our Town" which brought her to Hollywood to preserve the role on film. On and off she remained a delightful film and TV cameo player with roles in The Gazebo (1959), The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), and The Front Page (1974). She and star Enid Markey (Jane of the "Tarzan" film silents) starred together as pampering aunts in the sitcom Bringing Up Buddy (1960), but, despite promising ratings, the two veteran actresses did not get along and the series folded after only a season. Ms. Merande was also a recurring presence for Jackie Gleason on his variety show. She died, in fact, of a stroke while there in Miami to film an episode. Date of Birth 31 March 1892, Columbia, Kansas Date of Death 1 November 1975, New York City, New York (stroke)
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1974
The Front Page
Movie Jennie
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1971
Making It
Movie Librarian
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1969
Change of Habit
Movie Rose
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1968
Skidoo
Movie The Mayor
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1967
Hurry Sundown
Movie Ada Hemmings
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1966
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
Movie Muriel Everett
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1964
Kiss Me, Stupid
Movie Mrs. Pettibone
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1963
The Cardinal
Movie Picket
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1962
Sam Benedict
TV show
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1961
The New Breed
TV show Miss Stewart
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1960
Bringing Up Buddy
TV show Aunt Iris Flower
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1960
Thriller
TV show Melba Pennaroyd
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1959
The Gazebo
Movie Matilda
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1959
The Twilight Zone
TV show Sadie
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1959
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
Movie Miss Haskins
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1957
If You Knew Elizabeth
Movie Mrs. Adolph
More credits
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1955
The Man with the Golden Arm
Movie Vi
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1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV show Mrs. Herman
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1955
The Seven Year Itch
Movie Waitress at Vegetarian Restaurant (uncredited)
-
1952
Omnibus
TV show
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1951
Tales of Tomorrow
TV show
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1951
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Movie Miss Pringle
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1951
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
Movie Mrs. Hammer
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1949
Cover Up
Movie Hilda
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1948
The Snake Pit
Movie Asylum Patient (uncredited)
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1940
Our Town
Movie Mrs. Soames
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1935
Bad Boy
Movie Mrs. Jackson
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1935
Navy Wife
Movie Nurse Sharpe
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1933
Moonlight and Pretzels
Movie
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1933
Zoo in Budapest
Movie Miss Fennock (uncredited)
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1933
Bondage
Movie Boarding House Matron (uncredited)
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1933
Strictly Personal
Movie Club Member
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1933
State Fair
Movie Mrs. Metcalfe's Acquaintance at Food Contest (Uncredited)
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1932
Wayward
Movie Maid (uncredited)
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1931
Personal Maid
Movie Mrs. Wurtz's Maid (uncredited)
