A genuine model of sincerity, practicality and dignity in most of the roles she inhabited, actress Dorothy McGuire offered Tinseltown more talent than it probably knew what to do with. A quiet, passive beauty, she had a soothing quality to her open-faced looks and voice. She was a natural when he came to tearjerkers and she certainly had a knack for opening up her filmgoer's tear ducts with her arresting performances in sentimental drama. She preferred to rest on her acting laurels than engage in publicity-monging to win roles. As a result, Dorothy was surprisingly ill-served in the award s department during her over five-decade film career, yet left a major imprint on celluloid. Touching, complex, immaculate in poise and style, she is now and forever etched in Hollywood's "Golden Age" annals and in the minds of film lovers everywhere. Dorothy began inconspicuously enough in Omaha, Nebraska on June 14, 1916. Her parents encouraged her early interest in acting and she made her debut as a teenager in "A Kiss for Cinderella" at the Omaha Community Playhouse which starred visiting alumni member Henry Fonda . She received her education at Omaha Junior College, Ladywood Convent in Indianapolis, and Pine Manor Junior College in Wellesley, Massachusetts before setting her sites on an acting career. Following summer stock she appeared in such 1938 stage productions as "Bachelor Born" and "Stopover" before understudying the role of Emily Gibb in Thornton Wilder 's "Our Town" on Broadway , which at the time showcased young Martha Scott . Dorothy eventually replaced Scott in the role. Other experiences came her way on stage with "My Dear Children" starring John Barrymore , "Swingin' the Dream", "Medicine Show", "The Time of Your Life" and "Kind Lady" before she was handed the titular role of "Claudia" in 1941. This gentle comedy became a certifiable Broadway hit and Dorothy simply incandescent as the child-like bride forced to wake up to reality after her sudden marriage. David O. Selznick subsequently signed her to a film contract. Fortunately, 20th Century-Fox, untrue to form, took a chance on the film unknown and allowed her to recreate her stage triumph opposite Robert Young . Claudia (1943) was so beautifully done and warmly received that McGuire and Young went on to recreate their roles three years later with Claudia and David (1946). Unbelievably, Dorothy topped herself in only her second film role. After a pregnant Gene Tierney became unavailable for the role of Katie Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), the part fell to Dorothy. It's now hard to believe anyone else in the role. As the impoverished wife of a charming Irish ne'er-do-well and inebriate, Dorothy showed amazing complexity as the detached wife and mother whose painful but necessary decision-making alienates many around her, especially her daughter who is the apple of her daddy's eye. Directed by Elia Kazan , Dorothy was shamefully overlooked at award s time. Young Peggy Ann Garner was given a "special juvenile Oscar" and errant husband James Dunn picked up the Supporting Actor trophy for his work. Dorothy was not of the mind of tooting her own horn and it may have cost her an Oscar nomination -- better yet, the Oscar -- for she was hands down the better performer than eventual winner Joan Crawford , a popular choice for Mildred Pierce (1945). Dorothy made it four film hits in a row with the success of both the sentimental fantasy The Enchanted Cottage (1945), in which she reunited with Robert Young to play two of society's castoffs who fall in love, and the expert Hitchcockian thriller The Spiral Staircase (1945) as the mute servant who is terrorized by a serial killer. Preferring rich characterizations over glamour, audiences saw Dorothy dolled up a bit more than usual in Till the End of Time (1946) as a war widow who falls for a younger hunk ( Guy Madison ). Her 40s filming was capped by a Best Actress nomination in Gentleman's Agreement (1947), an-anti-Semitic tale that boasted a topnotch ensemble cast including Gregory Peck , John Garfield and Celeste Holm , who won a supporting Oscar for this. With nary a weak film yet on her resume, an unpretentious Dorothy still hadn't achieved top cinematic stardom. Preferring to return to her theater roots, she abandoned films for a couple of years and performed in such vehicles as "Tonight at 8:30" (1947) and "Summer and Smoke" (1950). When she did return it was to a different Hollywood and things would not be the same. Instead forgettable fluff such as Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950) and Callaway Went Thataway (1951) were the slim pickings offered. Although she found a popular hit with Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), the film was more notable for its title song and sumptuous settings than for the quality of acting of the three distaff stars -- McGuire, Maggie McNamara and Jean Peters . Dorothy graciously moved into pillar-of-strength mother roles as she approached her 40s, making fine impressions as a Quaker matriarch in Friendly Persuasion (1956) and as the resourceful mom in three of Disney's endearing classics, Old Yeller (1957), Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Summer Magic (1963)_. Her more flawed marital and parenting skills were displayed in the Inge film adaptation of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), and the huge, sudsy teen hit A Summer Place (1959) with Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue as young, star-crossed lovers. McGuire plays Donahue's mother who rekindles an old love affair with Dee's father ( Richard Egan ). The 49-year-old McGuire then played the mother of all mothers, the Virgin Mary, in the misguided biblical epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), marred by its overlong narrative and bizarre miscasting, including John Wayne as a Roman centurion. Her last film, the British-made Flight of the Doves (1971) as an Irish granny, had little impact. In later years Dorothy found rich, rewarding work on TV and received an Emmy nomination for the well-received mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976). She also played Marmee in a TV revisitation of "Little Women: Pilot (#1.0)" (1978), and ended her career in good company with (what else?) a sentimental tearjerker in the mini-movie The Last Best Year (1990) (TV) co-starring Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore . Dorothy's longtime husband was photographer John Swope who died in 1979. Her children by him are Mark Swope , an artist and photographer, and former actress Topo Swope . Dorothy's health declined severely after she fell and broke her leg in 2001. She died of heart failure not long after in a Santa Monica hospital on September 13th at the age of 85.
Children: son, Mark Swope , and daughter, Topo Swope .Married to John Swope , an airline founder and photographer for Life magazine, until his death in 1979.In April of 2002, Dorothy's family was hurt and disappointed after Dorothy's name was unwittingly omitted by the Motion Picture Academy from the "In Memoriam" tribute of the March 2002 telecast. The demure, classy Dorothy, who had died within the calendar year and was nominated once for an Oscar for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), was one of those talented stars who avoided the sensationalism of stardom. The Academy explained that it was NOT an oversight or a slight, but that they have room only for 15-20 names in a single tribute. However, left unexplained was why they managed to include lesser film personalities such as Aaliyah .Died just 11 days after Troy Donahue , who played her son in A Summer Place (1959).In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by Lidia Simoneschi , including Friendly Persuasion (1956). She was occasionally dubbed by Dhia Cristiani , most notably in the Oscar-winning Gentleman's Agreement (1947); Rosetta Calavetta , Rina Morelli and Andreina Pagnani .Starred with 2 members of the Mills family in 2 different Disney films. She played John Mills' wife in Swiss Family Robinson in 1960 and Hayley Mills' mother in Summer Magic in 1963.
Young Travis Coates is left to take care of the family ranch with his mother and younger brother while his father goes off on a cattle drive in the 1860's. When a yellow mongrel comes for an uninvited stay with the family, Travis reluctantly adopts the dog. After a series of scrapes involving raccoons, snakes, bears, wild hogs and wolves, Travis grows to love and respect Old Yeller, who comes to have a profound effect on the boy's life.
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The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religous sect is strongly opposed to violence and war. It's not easy for them to meet the rules of their religion in everyday life but when Southern troops pass the area they are in real trouble. Should they fight, despite their peaceful attitide?
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After the death of their mother, two children in Liverpool run away from home to escape their cruel uncle who treats them harshly. They flee to Ireland in hopes of finding love and safety with their kindly grandmother. However, their uncle is a failed actor who is a master of disguise. He uses his skill to pursue them in hopes of finding them for his own financial gain. The children must rely on their wits and the kindness of strangers to stay ahead of him or their lives will be in mortal jeopardy.
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A family in route to New Guinea is shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island. They are forced to remain on the island because of the damage to the ship and the pirates that are roaming the islands. They create a home on the island (centering around a huge tree house) and explore the island and its wildlife. Plenty of adventure ensues as the family deals with issues of survival and pirates, and the brothers must learn how to live on the island with an uncertain future.