Dorothy Dwan
(04/26/1906 - 03/17/1981)

Born in Sedalia, Missouri on April 26, 1906. She was the daughter of Nancy Wallace, a descendant of Sir William Wallace, the Scottish patriot.

Dorothy Dwan was a leading lady of the 1920s who was well known in westerns, comedies and melodramas. She appeared in 40 films between 1922 and 1930. Her first known film credit, The Silent Vow (1922), was under the auspices of the Vitagraph Company which starred actor-director William Duncan and his wife Edith Johnson. Not another film credit surfaced until 1924 when, as Lefty Flynn’s leading lady, she appeared in FBO’s western melodrama The Breed of the Border.

In 1924 Miss Dwan’s career took a leap forward when comedian and director Larry Semon, came across a photograph of her. Impressed, Semon asked her to test as his leading lady. Pleased with the test results, he cast her as his leading lady in his Chadwick Production of The Perfect Clown. Larry had not only found a co-star, he also had found a wife. On January 22, 1925, the couple were married.

Available Films

Larry Semon Comedies - Volume #1 (1918-27)

Larry Semon Comedies - Volume #2 (1917-25)

The Perfect Clown (1925)

The Wizard of Oz (1925)

The Great K&A Train Robbery (1926)

The Fighting Legion (1930)