Dorothy Janis, aka Dorothy King, was one of the last living adult performers to have had at least one major role in silent feature films. Janis died on March 10 at the age of 98.
I posted an obit on that date, explaining that Janis, the widow of bandleader Wayne King, was featured in a handful of movies right at the time when silent pictures were giving way to talkies. In fact, her one major silent-film appearance wasn't exactly in a silent film, for W. S. Van Dyke's MGM blockbuster The Pagan featured a music score and the popular ditty "Pagan Love Song."
Ramon Novarro, one of MGM's top stars and a trained (but nonprofessional) opera singer, is the pagan who initially sings the love song. He's later accompanied by Janis, who gets to sing — or rather, lip-sync to — it a couple of times in the film.
Janis had lived in the Phoenix, Ariz., suburb of Paradise Valley since 1959. Summers were spent at her home in Carbondale, Col. She and Wayne King were married for 51 years, until his death in the mid-'80s.
Also of interest is that in a death notice published in the local paper, Janis' birthdate is shown to be Feb. 19, 1912 — not 1910 as found at most online sources.
The photo at the top of this post was provided by Kathy King, one of Janis' grandchildren.
Ouch!
Major typo. It's been corrected.
Thanks, Lew.
Hey André
Lovely tribute to Miss Dorothy, but the town is called Paradise Valley, not Alley.