Movies were quiet back in the teens and twenties…stars graced the Silver Screen in a fairly new phenomena called film, their facial expressions, and movements telling the story. While their lips moved, nothing was heard except the live music being played in the theatre for each and every run of the reel.
She was not the most famous, nor was she the least well known, but she was firmly set as an actress of her time, and her career only spanned the era of the silent movie…she was Dorothy Dwan. Appearing in roughly 40 films, Dorothy Dwan (her real last name was Ilgenfritz, Dorothy Belle Ilgenfritz to be exact), was born in Missouri in 1906. The daughter of Nancy Dorothy Wallace and Charles Melvin Ilgenfritz, her parents divorced in 1915, and Nancy quickly remarried. George Hughes Smith, Dorothy’s new step-father legally adopted her, and the family moved from Missouri to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Her film career began in th early 1920’s. After some film work as an extra, Dorothy signed with Universal in 1922 and appeared in her own right and her first film, The Silent Vow. She chose her stage name from director Allen Dwan, out of an admiration of his work. In 1925, her most famous film was released, becoming her most famous role as well. She played Dorthy in Larry Semon’s version of The Wizard of Oz. Larry played the Scarecrow and an up and coming Oliver Hardy played the Tin Man.
In the end the Scarecrow got the girl. Larry and Dorothy were wed shortly after the film was finished. Semon’s Wizard of Oz was a financial disaster and a box office flop. It broke him financially, physically, and mentally. Semon was a talented actor and director, but he was known for lavish spending both with his films and in his personal life. Financial ruin led to physical demise…he passed away in 1928 at the age of 39 in what is now Apple Valley, in the southern California high desert…ostensibly from pneumonia.
Larry Semon’s death was difficult on Dorothy, their relationship was a loving one, unlike many marriages in the movie industry. But did Larry really die? There is some controversy…
Apparently there is no death certification for Larry Semon in California. The body was cremated and the ashes were not under Dorothy’s control. Dorothy, at one point in her life, said she really didn’t know if he was dead. Very odd and strange. Maybe he died, and maybe he faked his death to escape the crushing debt Wizard of Oz certainly contributed to.
Dorothy’s final film was premiered in 1930, The Fighting Legion. After that, she left the industry and became a journalist.
She married a second (or perhaps third) time to Paul Northcutt Boggs, Jr. in 1930 and was divorced from him by 1935. There was one son from this union…Paul. There may have been a marriage previous to Larry Semon, and there may be a daughter between Larry and Dorothy. Perhaps more research will be able to clarify these questions, and perhaps the controversy surrounding what happened to Larry Semon in 1928 will be solved as well.
Dorothy Dwan passed away in Ventura, California on March 17th, 1981, at the age of 74.
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How I’m related to Dorothy Dwan…
She is my half 3rd cousin
John Wallace (1748-1832) m. Jane Miller (1764-1818) - my 4th great-grandparents
Son - Joseph Miller Wallace (1791-1870) - 3rd great-grandfather, married his first wife Amelia Virginia Landrum (1799-1840)
Son - Thomas James Wallace (1816-1898) my half 2nd great-granduncle, married Hannah Hibbs (1819-1875)
Son - Joseph Thomas Wallace (1846-1928) m. Nancy Loury Briscoe (1847-1933)
Daughter - Nancy Dorothy Wallace m. Charles Melvin Ilgenfritz
Daughter - Dorothy Belle Ilgenfritz (Dwan)
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