Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the snooty exercise instructress in the motion picture "The Women" (1939). Born Dorothy Ann Morriss, she began her career appearing in stock companies in her native Florida and after being discovered by a talent scout during a stage production of "Our Betters," she was brought to California to begin a series of screen and voice tests. After being noticed by director S. Sylvan Simon, he was so impressed by her dark good looks, slim appearance, and articulate voice, he arranged for her to begin a career in the film industry beginning with her being under his supervision in "Spring Madness" (1938). From there, she would go on to enjoy a successful career as a supporting character actress, often typecast as mothers, wives, playgirls, debutantes, nurses, athletes, secretaries, educators, doctors, gold-diggers, sidekicks, best friends, neighbors, landladies, old maids, retail clerks, saleswomen, eccentrics, snobs, and matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "The Chaser" (1938), "Honolulu" (1939), "Within the Law" (1939), "Society Lawyer" (1939), "The Hardys Ride High" (1939), "The Ghost Comes Home" (1940), "Hullabaloo" (1940), "Third Finger, Left Hand" (1940), "I'll Wait for You" (1941), "Life Begins for Andy Hardy" (1941), "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941), "Pushover" (1954), "The Private War of Major Benson" (1955), "The Proud and the Profane" (1956), "The Opposite Sex" (1956), "Slander" (1957), "Designing Women" (1957), "The High Cost of Living" (1958), "But Not for Me" (1959), and "One Foot in Hell" (1960). During the advent of television, she became a familiar face appearing in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Gang Busters," "Public Defender," "Passport to Danger," "The Box Brothers," "I Led 3 Lives," "Whirlybirds," "Studio 57," "The Thin Man," "Highway Patrol," "The Ann Sothern Show," "Lock Up," and "The Donna Reed Show." During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, was an active member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, had been a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, was a chairwoman for her local divisions of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, had been a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, and she was married to film director Edwin L. Marin from 1940 to 1951 (their union ended upon his death and produced three children). In 1960, she retired from acting and went on to spent the remainder of her dividing time between her homes in Florida and Washington, worked as a successful real estate agent, and was a generous benefactor for several schools, libraries, and museums, until her death from the complications of undisclosed causes.