Dolores Casey

Dolores Casey had an average build and dark hair, a combination that made her a natural fit for the chorus lines of 1930s Hollywood. Born Margaret Dolores Katherine Casey in Brooklyn, New York, she studied journalism at Columbia University before a talent scout signed her to a United Artists contract at nineteen. That year passed with no film made, but producer Samuel Goldwyn then hired her as one of his Goldwyn Girls dancers.

Her film debut came in the musical Roman Scandals, starring Eddie Cantor and Gloria Stuart. Shortly after, she signed a lucrative Paramount contract and appeared in small parts in Dames, Big Brown Eyes, and The Case Against Mrs. Ames. In 1936 she developed a severe case of tuberculosis and spent months in the hospital, with friends like William Frawley and director Ray McCarey helping pay her medical bills. She returned to acting in 1938 in Doctor Rhythym, dated Arthur Tracy, and was briefly engaged to director Bob Linden. Her health failed again, and her final film was the 1939 drama King Of Chinatown.

On July 5, 1943, she married Lee Wynne, a doctor, and the couple lived quietly in Los Angeles. Her tuberculosis returned and her health deteriorated rapidly. She died on May 11, 1945, at age 32, and was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. Dolores Casey was American and worked as an actress for only six years, from 1933 to 1939.