CREDIT: Courtesy family of Dorothy Malone
 
Dorothy Malone, star of the big and small screen with "Written on the
Wind," "Basic Instinct" and "Peyton Place," died
on Friday morning in Dallas of natural causes. She was 92.
 
Working in the Golden Age of Hollywood, the striking blonde actress won an
Oscar for best supporting actress for her performance in Douglas Sirk's
melodrama "Written on the Wind," which she starred in with Rock
Hudson, Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack. Among her more notable early roles
was the bookshop proprietress in "The Big Sleep" opposite
Humphrey Bogart.
 
After years of smaller roles, the Oscar helped her secure roles in larger
projects like "Too Much, Too Soon," "Man of a Thousand
Faces," and "Warlock." She would frequently work with Hudson
throughout the 1960s, as she played opposite him twice more in "The
Tarnished Angels" and "The Last Sunset."
 
After years in the film business, Malone waded into television with a
starring role on prime-time soap opera "Peyton Place" from 1964
to 1968. She later revived her Constance MacKenzie character in TV movies
based on the series, 1977's "Murder in Peyton Place" and 1985's
"Peyton Place: The Next Generation." She also appeared in a
number of miniseries, including "Rich Man, Poor Man" and
"Condominium."
 
Malone's last on-screen appearance may be one of her most famous, playing a
mother convicted of murdering her family in 1992's "Basic
Instinct," alongside Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.
 
Originally Dorothy Maloney, the star was born in Chicago but grew up in
Dallas, attending Southern Methodist University. She was discovered there
by a talent scout while acting in a school play, and soon after was signed
to a studio contract.
 
Manager Burt Shapiro reported her death.
 
She was married and divorced three times, to actor Jacques Bergerac, Robert
Tomarkin and Charles Huston Bell. She is survived by two daughters she had
with Bergerac, Mimi and Diane.
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

--- DB 3.99 + PQUSA