Dorothy Wellman

Dorothy Coonan Wellman (November 25, 1913 – September 16, 2009) was an American actress and dancer. Wellman was the widow of film director William Wellman, to whom she was married from 1934 until his death in 1975.^[1] Wellman cast her in several of his films.

Early life[]

Wellman was born Dorothy Coonan in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[1] She moved to Los Angeles, California with her family as a child.^[1]

Career[]

Her career as a dancer began at the age of 14 with Warner Brothers Studios.^[1] Her early film credits as an on-screen dancer and actress included small, uncredited parts in early sound films such as The Broadway Melody (1929), Whoopee! (1930), Kiki (1931) Palmy Days (1931), and The Kid from Spain (1932). Her best-known films were 42nd Street (1933) and Gold Diggers of 1933.^[1] Many of the films in which she appeared were choreographed by Busby Berkeley.^[1]

Career highlight[]

Film director William Wellman cast Coonan as Sally in his 1933 film Wild Boys of the Road.^[1] This was the only role she played in which she was credited or had a character with a name. She makes an uncredited appearance in Wellman's The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) as an army nurse nicknamed Red who marries a soldier on the battlefield, only to be widowed shortly afterward.

Later life and death[]

Coonan and Wellman were married in 1934.^[1] The couple remained married until she was widowed on December 19, 1975. She died in Brentwood, California, at the age of 95 in 2009.^[1] She was survived by her seven children, 22 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.^[1]

References[]

External links[]

• Dorothy Wellman at IMDb
• Dorothy Coonan – Daily Telegraph obituary