Dorothy Abbott, a captivating and vivacious actress, model, and showgirl, was born on December 16, 1920, in Kansas City, Missouri. She began her career as a chorine with Earl Carroll's revues in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, earning the enigmatic title "The Girl with the Golden Arm". Paramount Studios discovered her and offered her a starting contract at $150 a week, grooming her for various roles as dancers, chorus girls, waitresses, stewardesses, party girls, nurses, and models.
As a cheesecake pinup, Dorothy won dubious titles such as "Miss Wilshire Club", "Miss Los Angeles Transit", and "Miss Oil Cans". Her dusky voice was usually heard in brief, speaking roles in films like The Razor's Edge (1946),Road to Rio (1947),Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948),Words and Music (1948),Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949),Little Women (1949),Neptune's Daughter (1949),Annie Get Your Gun (1950),His Kind of Woman (1951),Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952),The Las Vegas Story (1952),The Caddy (1953),There's No Business Like Show Business (1954),Love Me or Leave Me (1955),Rebel Without a Cause (1955),Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957),Jailhouse Rock (1957),South Pacific (1958),The Apartment (1960),That Touch of Mink (1962),A Gathering of Eagles (1963),and Dear Heart (1964).
Dorothy's only starring role came in the low-budget potboiler A Virgin in Hollywood (1953),where she played a star reporter seeking a seamy Hollywood story, but she was unable to capitalize on it. She worked bit parts at the studio during the day and performed on stage in little theatre shows at night. When work was scarce, she became a real estate agent in the 1950s to supplement her income. She also had guest roles in TV shows like "Leave It to Beaver" and "Ozzie and Harriet", and a recurring part as Jack Webb's girlfriend on the Dragnet series.
Dorothy married LAPD officer-turned-homicide detective Adolph Rudy Diaz in 1949, but the marriage was troubled and they eventually separated. Rudy began to pursue acting, taking on the stage name Rudy Diaz, and was seen with other women. The divorce was finalized in 1968, and Dorothy took it hard, never seeming to recover. On December 15, 1968, she committed suicide at her Los Angeles home, just one day before her 48th birthday. She was interred at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles County, California, Plot: Valley Lawn, Lot 2939.
