Bergetta "Dorothy" Peterson (December 25, 1897 – October 3, 1979) was an American actress. She began her acting career on Broadway before appearing in more than eighty Hollywood films.

Early years Peterson was born in Hector, Minnesota, the daughter of Oscar Frank Peterson and Emily Johnson Peterson. She had a brother, Buford, and was raised in Zion, Illinois. She was of Swedish ancestry. She studied at a dramatic school, performing in adaptations of Greek plays, and then attended the Chicago Musical College.

Career

Billed by her birth name, Peterson acted with a company in Icebound at the Montauk Theater in Brooklyn, New York, in September 1923. For two years, Peterson toured with Borgony Hammer's Ibsen Repertory Company. She left that troupe to go to New York, where she began performing in Broadway productions. Broadway plays in which she acted included Subway Express (1929), Dracula (1927), God Loves Us (1926), Pomeroy's Past (1926), Find Daddy (1926), The Fall Guy (1925), All God's Chillun Got Wings (1924), and Cobra (1924).

She made her screen debut in Mothers Cry (1930), a domestic drama that required the 29-year-old actress to age nearly three decades in the course of the film.

Death Peterson died on October 3, 1979. She was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Zion, Illinois.

Filmography

Mothers Cry (1930) - Mary Williams Up for Murder (1931) - Mrs. Marshall Party Husband (1931) - Kate Traveling Husbands (1931) - Martha Hall The Reckless Hour (1931) - Mrs. Susie Jennison Bought! (1931) - Mrs. Dale Penrod and Sam (1931) - Mrs. Schofield Skyline (1931) - Rose Breen Way Back Home (1931) - Rose Clark Rich Man's Folly (1931) - Katherine Trumbull Emma (1932) - Mrs. Winthrop (uncredited) Forbidden (1932) - Helen The Beast of the City (1932) - Mary Fitzpatrick She Wanted a Millionaire (1932) - Mrs. Miller Business and Pleasure (1932) - Mrs. Jane Olsen Tinker So Big! (1932) - Maartje Pool When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932) - Mrs. Margaret Randall Night World (1932) - Edith Blair Attorney for the Defense (1932) - Mrs. Wallace Thrill of Youth (1932) - Seena Sherwood Life Begins (1932) - A Patient The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) - Lilly Blake Payment Deferred (1932) - Annie Marble Call Her Savage (1932) - Silas' Wife The Billion Dollar Scandal (1933) - Mrs. Jackson (scenes deleted) Reform Girl (1933) - Mrs. Putnam Hold Me Tight (1933) - Mary Shane (uncredited) The Mayor of Hell (1933) - Mrs. Smith I'm No Angel (1933) - Thelma Big Executive (1933) - Mrs. Sarah Conway Beloved (1934) - Baroness Irene von Hausmann As the Earth Turns (1934) - Mil Men in White (1934) - Nurse Mary (uncredited) Uncertain Lady (1934) - Cicily Prentiss Side Streets (1934) - Mrs. Richards Treasure Island (1934) - Mrs. Hawkins Peck's Bad Boy (1934) - Aunt Lily Clay Society Doctor (1935) - Mrs. Harrigan Sweepstake Annie (1935) - Mrs. Henry Foster Laddie (1935) - Mrs. Stanton Pursuit (1935) - Mrs. McCoy Freckles (1935) - Mrs. Duncan Man of Iron (1935) - Bessie Bennett The Country Doctor (1936) - Nurse Katherine Kennedy The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) - Mrs. Jennie Stevens (uncredited) Reunion (1936) - Katherine Kennedy Under Cover of Night (1937) - Susan Nash Her Husband Lies (1937) - Dorothy Powell Girl Loves Boy (1937) - Mrs. McCarthy Confession (1937) - Mrs. Koslov 52nd Street (1937) - Adela Rondell Hunted Men (1938) - Mary Harris Breaking the Ice (1938) - Annie Decker Girls on Probation (1938) - Jane Lennox The Flying Irishman (1939) - Mrs. Edith Corrigan - Doug's Mother (uncredited) Dark Victory (1939) - Miss Wainwright Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939) - Mrs. Pepper Two Bright Boys (1939) - Kathleen O'Donnell Sabotage (1939) - Edith Grayson Five Little Peppers at Home (1940) - Mrs. Pepper Too Many Husbands (1940) - Gertrude Houlihan Lillian Russell (1940) - Cynthia Leonard Women in War (1940) - Sister Frances Out West with the Peppers (1940) - Mrs. Pepper Five Little Peppers in Trouble (1940) - Mrs. Pepper Ride, Kelly, Ride (1941) - Mrs. Martin Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941) - Mrs. Bishop Henry Aldrich for President (1941) - Mrs. Aldrich Uncle Joe (1941) - Margaret Day Saboteur (1942) - Mrs. Mason The Man in the Trunk (1942) - Lola DeWinters Air Force (1943) - Mrs. Chester (uncredited) The Moon Is Down (1943) - Mother (uncredited) This Is the Army (1943) - Mrs. Nelson This Is the Life (1944) - Aunt Betsy Mr. Skeffington (1944) - Manby When the Lights Go on Again (1944) - Mrs. Clara Benson The Woman in the Window (1944) - Mrs. Wanley Faces in the Fog (1944) - Mrs. Mason Canyon Passage (1946) - Mrs. Dance (uncredited) Sister Kenny (1946) - Agnes That Hagen Girl (1947) - Minta Hagen Escala en Hi-Fi (1963)

References

External links

Dorothy Peterson at Turner Classic Movies