"My only regret is that I never parachuted out of an airplane!" ~ Dorothy
Dorothy Lee was born Marjorie Elizabeth Millsap in Los Angeles, California. At the age of sixteen she married Robert Booth, a dancer, but they divorced two years later. After winning a contest Dorothy moved to New York City and started singing with Fred Waring and his band. She and Fred were engaged for a brief time. In 1929 she appeared in the movie Rio and Rita with the comedy team Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. It was a huge success and she would star in more than a dozen more Wheeler and Woolsey comedies. Audiences loved Dorothy's bubbly personality and beautiful singing voice. She married gossip columnist Jimmy Fiddler in 1931. Their marriage lasted only seven months. While making the 1932 film Girl Crazy she had a dispute with producer David O'Selnick. Dorothy was so upset that she quit the Wheeler and Woosley comedies. She appeared in a few more movies but her acting career stalled.
During the 1930s Dorothy has two more short lived marriages. In 1939 she adopted a three year old son. She married her fifth husband, businessman Frank John Bersbach Jr, in 1941 and stopped acting. Her final film was Too Many Blondes with Rudy Vallee. She briefly toured in vaudeville with her friend Bert Wheeler. Dorothy and Frank had four children together. They divorced and she married attorney Charles Calderini in 1960. The couple had homes in Chicago and San Diego. Dorothy spent her free time playing golf and learning how to fly a plane. She and Charles remained happily married until his death in 1985. Dorothy died from respiratory failure on June 24, 1999 at the age of eighty-eight. She is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Illinois.
During the 1930s Dorothy has two more short lived marriages. In 1939 she adopted a three year old son. She married her fifth husband, businessman Frank John Bersbach Jr, in 1941 and stopped acting. Her final film was Too Many Blondes with Rudy Vallee. She briefly toured in vaudeville with her friend Bert Wheeler. Dorothy and Frank had four children together. They divorced and she married attorney Charles Calderini in 1960. The couple had homes in Chicago and San Diego. Dorothy spent her free time playing golf and learning how to fly a plane. She and Charles remained happily married until his death in 1985. Dorothy died from respiratory failure on June 24, 1999 at the age of eighty-eight. She is buried at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Illinois.
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