
Dorothy Davenport
Acting
Biography
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.
Known For

After surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.
Impact

In 1869, enemies of railroad magnate Richard Strong attempt to ruin him. Richard thwarts them, largely through the help of Charles Dalton, but then Charles tries to seduce Elinor, Richard's wife. Although she rebuffs Charles, Richard accuses her of infidelity, so Elinor leaves him and goes to Paris. Richard follows her, but, caught in the middle of the 1870 riots, he cannot get near her. Charles, also in Paris, finally convinces Richard that nothing had come of his interest in Elinor, but Richard now believes that Elinor no longer loves him.
Black Friday

Richard Farquhar, the ne'er-do-well nephew of a titled Englishman, after a protracted "good time" finds himself penniless in an Algerian hotel. He expects money from England, but instead receives a cablegram stating his allowance has been stopped and that his uncle will have nothing further to do with him.
The Unknown

Story of a tuna fisherman who has been wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit. His exemplary behavior in prison ensures that he is up for early parole. He realizes, however, that his movements will be limited, and he will be unable to join and wed his beloved. The only solution is to escape and hunt down the real killer, himself.
Prison Break

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

Family drama about a father raising his motherless teenage daughter in a small town.
Tomboy

Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet he names Rhubarb. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiancée Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb.
Rhubarb

A group of people find themselves trapped in a creepy mansion, complete with secret passageways, a mad doctor and a murderous gorilla.
Who Killed Doc Robbin?

A girl marries a playboy from a rich family, expecting a life of comfort and luxury. However, her new father-in-law turns his ne'er-do-well son out into the street with no money, and promises the girl that if she can make a man out of her new husband, the father will give her $10,000 and see that she gets a quick divorce.
Redhead

A publisher bets an author that he won't be able to write a romantic adventure novel while on a walking trip from New York to San Francisco.
Honeymoon Limited

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

The enemy's success in smuggling a spy through the lines places the Stratiria armies in a dangerous position. The spy is intercepted and killed by Pettrus Baariot, the telegraph operator, who then succeeds in sending a message that saves the Stratiria forces from defeat. For his heroism, Pettrus is promised a promotion, but after his recovery from his severe wounds, he is humiliated through the treachery of Danick Rysson, a government official who desires to marry Floria Natarre, Pettrus' beloved. Bitter, Pettrus listens to the overtures of one of the enemy and steals the new telegraph code.
Treason

A Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid who discovers that her employer may have killed his first wife.
Footsteps in the Fog

A rich nobleman steals a perfume merchant's wife just prior to the French Revolution, in which the perfumer is a leader of the peasants. His priest made him swear an oath to leave vengeance to God, however.
The Oath and the Man

When a radio star is found murdered in her home, everyone assumes that the mysterious young woman discovered with her is the culprit — everyone, that is, but newspaper reporter Jerry Beall, who sets out to prove her innocence.
The Woman Condemned

Ignoring the advice of her husband, a mother indulges her son's every wish and demand all throughout his childhood. By the time she realizes her treatment of her son has spoiled him almost beyond belief, he is on trial for manslaughter.
Broken Laws

Dorothy Reid -- who before her marriage to ill-fated screen idol Wallace Reid was better known as Dorothy Davenport -- was both producer and star of Satin Woman. After the death of her husband from drug abuse in 1923, Davenport dedicated herself to helping others avoid the pitfalls of modern life by turning out a series of cautionary film fables. In Satin Woman, she endeavored to warn society women not to neglect their families for the sake of fads, foibles, and handsome younger men.
The Satin Woman

A divorced woman finds success as a fashion designer.
Women Must Dress

A wealthy businessman's irresponsible son and a down-on-her-luck model enter into a marriage of convenience, and end up falling in love.
Redhead

Teenagers try to clear a friend accused of murder.