Dorothy Comingore


Mary Louise Comingore, best known professionally as Dorothy Comingore, was an American film actress. She is best known for starring as Susan Alexander Kane in Citizen Kane, the critically acclaimed debut film of Orson Welles. In earlier films she was credited as Linda Winters, and she had appeared on the stage as Kay Winters. Her career ended when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist. She declined to answer questions when she was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952.

Early years

Margaret Louise Comingore was born in Los Angeles, California and was described as "a one-time Oakland school girl." She attended the University of California, Berkeley. Her father was an electrotyper; her sister Lucille operated a nightclub in San Francisco.
From 1934 to 1940, Comingore was billed in her stage appearances as Kay Winters and then Linda Winters as a film actress.

Film

Dorothy Comingore was discovered by Charles Chaplin when she was acting in a small playhouse in Carmel. Whether Chaplin played any role in her career is questionable. In 1938, Comingore denied being Chaplin's protégé and indicated that press reports had exaggerated the limited contact that she had with Chaplin and one of his assistants.
Comingore played bit parts in Hollywood movies until Orson Welles cast her as Susan Alexander, the second wife of press tycoon Charles Foster Kane, in his debut feature film Citizen Kane. Her performance garnered rave reviews: “ is put through a range of emotions that would try any actress one could name,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter.
Comingore's supposed Communist connections played a role in a legal battle for custody of her two children with Richard J. Collins. She also said that her 1953 arrest on a prostitution charge was "all a part of my being an 'unfriendly witness.'"
According to Peter Bogdanovich in his DVD commentary on Citizen Kane, she impaired her subsequent career by turning down too many roles that she felt were uninteresting. She appeared in the film version of the Eugene O'Neill play The Hairy Ape with William Bendix, Susan Hayward and John Loder. Comingore's last movie appearance was in a supporting role in The Big Night starring John Drew Barrymore. Her career ended in 1951, when she was caught up in the Hollywood blacklist.
The following year she was called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee about her alleged Communist connections, and she declined to answer on constitutional grounds. Soon after she was accused of heavy drinking in custody hearings for her children, and on March 19, 1953, she was arrested for prostitution in West Hollywood. The arrest is believed by many to have been part of a revenge scheme by police offended by her mocking the HUAC.
Comingore was one of the contributors to Citizen Kane who were personally interviewed by Dr. Howard Suber of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. His research was used by Pauline Kael for her 1971 essay, "Raising Kane". A copy of the interview is in the collection of the Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington.

Personal life

Comingore was married to screenwriter Richard Meltzer. She also married screenwriter Richard J. Collins, with whom she had a daughter, Judith, and a son, Michael. They were divorced in 1946. Her other husbands were screenwriter Theodore Strauss and John W. Crowe, a post office employee, from 1962 until her death in 1971.
Comingore struggled with alcoholism during her later life, to the extent that it caused her to lose custody of her two children with Richard J. Collins.

Death

Comingore died December 30, 1971, from a pulmonary disease in Stonington, Connecticut, at the age of 58. She had also broken her back years prior and subsequently restricted her movements, mostly confined to her seaside apartment. She was survived by her husband, a son, and a daughter.

Cultural references

In Guilty by Suspicion, Irwin Winkler's 1991 film set during the Hollywood blacklist, Comingore inspired the character of the actress who is harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Radio credits

DateTitleEpisodeNotes
June 12, 1938Warner Bros. Academy Theatre"Desirable"Credited as Kay Winters
June 26, 1938Warner Bros. Academy Theatre"The House on 56th Street"Credited as Kay Winters
October 6, 1941The Orson Welles Show"The Black Pearl"

Film and television credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
1938Campus CinderellaCo-edUncredited, Short film
1938Prison TrainCredited as Linda Winters
1938Comet Over BroadwayCredited as Linda Winters
1938Trade WindsAnnCredited as Linda Winters
1939Blondie Meets the BossCredited as Linda Winters
1939Romance of the RedwoodsBit RoleUncredited, Credited as Linda Winters
1939North of the YukonCredited as Linda Winters
1939Outside These Walls2nd secretaryCredited as Linda Winters
1939Good Girls Go to ParisTearoom HostessUncredited
1939Coast GuardNurseCredited as Linda Winters
1939Five Little Peppers and How They GrewNurseCredited as Linda Winters
1939Golden BoyFight SpectatorUncredited
1939Oily to Bed, Oily to RiseJune JenkinsUncredited, Short film, credited as Linda Winters
1939Scandal SheetCredited as Linda Winters
1939Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonWoman at StationUncredited, Credited as Linda Winters
1939'Charley's FianceeShort film, credited as Linda Winters
1939Cafe HostessTricksCredited as Linda Winters
1940Convicted WomanMayUncredited, Credited as Linda Winters
1940Pioneers of the FrontierCredited as Linda Winters
1940'Ole's GirlfriendUncredited, Short film, credited as Linda Winters
1940Rockin' thru the RockiesDaisyShort film, credited as Linda Winters
1940Citizen Kane trailerHerself, Susan AlexanderShort film
1941Citizen Kane
1944'
1949Any Number Can Play
1951'
1951Fireside Theatre Rita"Handcuffed"
1952Rebound Dotty"The Losers"
1952 "The Red Wig",