Biography
Plain, angular Doro Merande was one of those delightful character actresses you couldn't take your eyes off of, no matter how minuscule the part. She excelled at playing older than she was -- doting aunts, inveterate gossips, curt secretaries and small-minded townspeople -- all topped with an amusing warble in her voice and bristly eccentric edge. Too bad then that she wasn't used more in films, but she preferred live theater and based herself for the most part on the East Coast. She was born Do...
Known For
Complete Filmography
The Front Page
1974
as Jennie
A journalist suffering from burn-out wants to finally say goodbye to his office – but his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.
Making It
1971
as Librarian
A cocky high school student thinks nothing of using the people around him to satisfy his self-centered needs, until someone in his life gets pregnant.
Change of Habit
1969
as Rose
Dr. John Carpenter takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who — unbeknownst to him — ar...
Skidoo
1968
as The Mayor
Ex-gangster Tony Banks is called out of retirement by mob kingpin God to carry out a hit on fellow mobster "Blue Chips" Packard. When Banks demurs, Go...
Hurry Sundown
1967
as Ada Hemmings
A ruthless Southern opportunist tries to buy his cousin's land, and when thwarted, brings several tragedies to the lives of his loved ones.
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
1966
as Muriel Everett
When a Soviet submarine gets stuck on a sandbar off the coast of a New England island, its commander orders his second-in-command, Lieutenant Rozanov,...
Kiss Me, Stupid
1964
as Mrs. Pettibone
While traveling home from Vegas, an amorous lounge singer named Dino gets conned by a local mechanic/songwriter into staying in town for the night. Th...
The Cardinal
1963
as Picket
A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.
The Gazebo
1960
as Matilda
TV writer Elliott Nash buries a blackmailer under the new gazebo in his suburban backyard. But the nervous man can't let the body rest there.
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
1959
as Miss Haskins
In early 1900s' Pennsylvania, Mr. Pennypacker has two company offices and two families with a combined total of 17 children. With an office in Harrisb...
The Man with the Golden Arm
1955
as Vi
When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old d...
The Seven Year Itch
1955
as Waitress at Vegetarian Restaurant (uncredited)
With his family away for their annual summer holiday, a publishing executive decides to live a bachelor's life. The beautiful but ditzy blonde from th...
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
1951
as Miss Pringle
A newly promoted plant supervisor finds himself in the position of having to announce a layoff of his fellow workers.
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
1951
as Mrs. Hammer
Posing as a man over 70, a lecturer (Clifton Webb) enters an old-folks home to prove age is a state of mind.
Cover Up
1949
as Hilda
Insurance investigator Sam Donovan is looking into the apparent suicide of a man in a small Midwestern town. All clues leads him into suspecting murde...
The Snake Pit
1948
as Asylum Patient (uncredited)
Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions an...
Our Town
1940
as Mrs. Soames
Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. We see birth, life and death in this small community.
Bad Boy
1935
as Mrs. Jackson
An unemployed loafer who spends his time playing pool decides he's ready to look for a job so he can secure his girlfriend's parents' approval for the...
Navy Wife
1935
as Nurse Sharpe
A Hawaiian naval nurse weds a widowed officer partly because he has a crippled daughter.
Moonlight and Pretzels
1933
A song plugger is stranded in a small town. There he meets a girl who later helps him to put on a show on Broadway.
Bondage
1933
as Boarding House Matron (uncredited)
Judy Peters is about to be sentenced after she has pled guilty to her third offense of prostitution, when Dr. Nelson interrupts and tells her story to...
Strictly Personal
1933
as Club Member
Soapy Gibson (Edward Ellis) and his wife Annie (Marjorie Rambeau) run a lonely hearts club in a small town. Even during the Depression years these wer...
State Fair
1933
as Mrs. Metcalfe's Acquaintance at Food Contest (Uncredited)
The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.
Wayward
1932
as Maid (uncredited)
Story of a mother's antagonism to her son's wife. Based on the novel "Wild Beauty" by Mateel Howe Farnham.
Personal Maid
1931
as Mrs. Wurtz's Maid (uncredited)
Nora Ryan, a poor Irish girl, living in New York decides to change her life by working as a personal maid for the wealthy, Gary family.