Dorothy Fay Ritter, 86: actress in Westerns; Tex's widow/John's mom
sankkuss
of death.
August 25 2001
Dorothy Fay Ritter
DOROTHY FAY RITTER, who has died at Woodland Hills, California, aged 86, was
an actress best remembered for riding the range with Buck Jones in Westerns
made during the 1930s; she secured her connections with the Wild West by
marrying one of her leading men, the singing cowboy Tex Ritter.
Dorothy and Tex Ritter's partnership on and off screen brought the couple
media attention, and they were often promoted as rivals to Roy Rogers and
Dale Evans. Monogram, the studio at which they were under contract, took
dozens of photographs of the pair at home on their ranch, and the resulting
images filled fan magazines for weeks on end.
"We were almost living behind a one-way mirror," Dorothy Ritter recalled.
Nor was attention confined to the couple. Tex Ritter's horse, White Flash,
received as many fan letters as the new Mrs Ritter, who was roped in to
answer his correspondence. "Tex and I would ink up his hoof and 'autograph'
pictures for all the fans."
Dorothy Alice Fay Southworth was born on April 4 1915 at Prescott, Arizona,
the daughter of a cowboy. She was put on a horse before she could walk.
After arriving in Hollywood in 1937, Dorothy Southworth worked briefly as a
cocktail waitress at the Coconut Grove, a Los Angeles night club. There she
was spotted by a talent scout for Paramount, who arranged a screen test at
the studio. Although it was unsuccessful, she was encouraged to seek acting
work, and, under the name Dorothy Fay, took on several roles before being
cast as opposite George Houston in Sam Newfield's Frontier Scout in 1938.
The same year, Dorothy Fay appeared opposite Buck Jones in both Stranger
from Arizona and Law of the Texan. She made four more Westerns in 1938 and
three the following year, including Trigger Pals and Song of the Buckaroo,
her first picture with Tex Ritter.
In 1940, tiring of Westerns, she asked Monogram to place her in a different
genre. She was lent to MGM for a small part in The Philadelphia Story, which
starred Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart.
Tex Ritter had proposed to Dorothy Fay on several occasions, but was always
rebuffed. But when they were teamed together for the third time in Rainbow
Over The Range (1940), she finally accepted. Dorothy Fay said later that the
reason she did so was because that picture was made largely on location at
Prescott, Arizona.
Close to her parents and familiar haunts where she used to ride with her
brothers as a child, she reappraised the charms of the warbling cowboy. "Tex
enjoyed my father's company and mama's cooking," she said. "It just hit me;
I knew that Tex would be right for me."
Dorothy Fay and Tex Ritter married on June 14 1941; upon their return to
Hollywood, Dorothy made Glamour for Sale for MGM. Tex Ritter's movie career
began to wind down, but he had become a top-selling recording artist with
hits like Rye Whiskey, Boll Weevil, Wayward Wind and You are my Sunshine.
Dorothy made four more pictures before her retirement in the winter of 1941,
including a role as Della the debutante in the sugary musical Lady Be Good,
opposite Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton.
In 1948 the couple had the first of their children, John Ritter, who
subsequently became a successful actor. In 1980, after Tex Ritter's death,
Dorothy and John Ritter started a company manufacturing "Ritter Frozen
Custard Desserts" and then they opened a string of ice cream parlours across
California.
Dorothy rejected several offers to return to film work, including the
opportunity to appear on The Love Boat playing John Ritter's mother. Tex
Ritter died in 1974, after which she moved from the family ranch at Burbank
to be closer to her son. She was a frequent guest at Western conventions.
Dorothy Ritter suffered a stroke in the early 1990s, which cost her her
speech. She moved to the Motion Picture and Television Hospital shortly
afterwards, where she found herself among several of her contemporaries,
including Buck Jones's widow.
Heather
who don't know.
--
"I think you've got those curlers wound too tight!" ~~Fred to Wilma
"sankkuss" <sain...@sprintmail.com> wrote in message
news:qdJh7.2479$Ib.2...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...
Terrymelin
here.
Terry Ellsworth
MadCow57
around
Well, not a driver's test, surely.
Terrymelin
>'gas', etc.!
I was sensitive to "passed gas" today as on my flight to Asheville I sat next
to a large man who farted the entire flight. One of the foulest smells ever!
Terry Ellsworth
Hyfler/Rosner
"Terrymelin" <terry...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010826190303...@ng-bg1.aol.com...
Hey, Bill. That friend of yours came through!! Good work.
Bill Schenley
> > >Sensitivity here depends on who has 'passed', Terry. LMAO on the
> >I was sensitive to "passed gas" today as on my flight to Asheville I sat
> >next to a large man who farted the entire flight. One of the foulest
smells
> >ever!
> > Terry Ellsworth
> Hey, Bill. That friend of yours came through!! Good work.
What price, glory?
Brad Ferguson
<terry...@aol.com> wrote:
> I was sensitive to "passed gas" today as on my flight to Asheville
> I sat next to a large man who farted the entire flight. One of the
> foulest smells ever!
I don't know who that fat man was, but I think he spoke for all of us
here.
PB
saying this is very false!
"Heather" <Groov...@FFT.net> wrote in message news:<9ma0dm$e64$1...@news.warwick.net>...
Edwin King
on how they managed to print her obit before she died and what is done
when something like this happens. It throws an interesting light on to
the world of the obits desk (ithe British ones at least, which seem to
be different from the US counterparts).
See
The day I managed to 'kill off' Tex Ritter's wife, By Andrew McKie
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F08%2F30%2Fnmed130.xml
Edwin
Hyfler/Rosner
"Edwin King" <edwin...@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:3B9109...@virgin.net...
Oh that was marvelous. Thank you so much for posting.
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Hyfler/Rosner <rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
> http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F08%2F30%2Fnmed130.xml
> >
> > Edwin
>
> Oh that was marvelous. Thank you so much for posting.
Agreed. Great final graf.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
***~~~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Burien Nightwing
This tale should be titled "Jerk And The Fatman".
MadCow57
The day I managed to 'kill off' Tex Ritter's wife, By Andrew McKie
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F08%2F30%2
Fnmed130.xml<< -- Edwin King
From the Telegraph:
Mrs Ritter's family have been similarly good-hearted and kind about my error.
It arose because a member of staff at her nursing home believed her to have
died (after arriving in her room to be told that she "had gone" - as she had,
but only to another wing of the hospital) and then phoned one of our regular
contributors, who is a great friend of Mrs Ritter.
Further proof that euphemisms for "died" should be banned.
hkr...@capu.net
I suspect the other passengers were engaged in a guessing game...which smell
is the gas and which is Terry?
H.
mack twamley
"R." <r747*@earthlink.net> wrote in message > Flattery will get you
nowhere, Harry.
>
> LMAO
But evidently flatulence will get you to Asheville. And as quickly as
possible, if the prayers of the fellow passengers were answered.
Brad Ferguson
<rel...@rcn.com> wrote:
Wonderful. Thanks.
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
in History" piece deleting Noble Willingham's birthday because he had "recently
died." They had to feed a correction about five hours later confirming Willingham is
still alive...
--
+++++++++
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
kingd...@elknet.net
heard on WMCW Harvard IL/WSUW Whitewater WI
Love your enemies. It drives them right up the bloody wall.