Theatre Register

Doretta Morrow

Shows · Doretta Morrow

Actor 1928–1968 On stage 19481953

Doretta Morrow (January 27, 1927 – February 28, 1968) was an American actress, singer and dancer who appeared in stage and television productions during the 1940s and 1950s. She is best remembered for having created roles in the original productions of three successful Broadway musicals: Kitty Verdun in Where's Charley? (1948), Tuptim in The King and I (1951) and Marsinah in Kismet (1953). She co-starred in the 1952 Hollywood film Because You're Mine, as Mario Lanza's love interest. She appeared in several live television musicals. She retired from performance in 1960 at the age of 33.

On stage 3 productions, 5 years

1948 Where’s Charley? St. James Theatre · Original · directed by George Abbott 792 perf.
1951 The King and I St. James Theatre · Original · directed by John van Druten 1,246 perf.
1953 Kismet Ziegfeld Theatre · Revival · directed by Albert Marre 583 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once3 names

Prue Ward 2 productions
Nancy Lynch 2 productions
Larry Douglas 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 2 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on1 work

Where’s Charley?

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Act One: “I Whistle a Happy Tune” (Gertrude Lawrence, Sandy Kennedy); “My Lord and Master” (Doretta Morrow); “Hello, Young Lovers!” (Gertrude Lawrence); “The Royal Siamese Children” (aka “March of the Siamese Children”) (Gertrude Lawrence, Yul Brynner, The King’s Wives, The King’s Children); “A Puzzlement” (Yul Brynner); “The Royal Bangko…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act Two: “Western People Funny” (Dorothy Sarnoff, The King’s Wives); “I Have Dreamed” (Doretta Morrow, Larry Douglas); “Hello, Young Lovers!” (reprise) (Gertrude Lawrence); “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” (ballet) (Narrator: Doretta Morrow; Uncle Thomas: Dusty Worrall; Topsy: Ina Kurland; Little Eva: Shellie Farrell; King Simon: Gemze d…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act One: “Sands of Time” (Richard Oneto); “Rhymes Have I” (Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow); “Fate” (Alfred Drake); “Fate” (reprise) (Alfred Drake); “Bazaar of the Caravans” (Florence Lessing, Jack Dodds, Marc Wilder, Merchants, Shoppers); “Not Since Nineveh” (Joan Diener, Henry Calvin, Patricia Dunn, Bonnie Evans, Reiko Sato, Jack Dodds, Ma…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act Two: “Night of My Nights” (Richard Kiley, Ensemble); “Stranger in Paradise” (reprise) (Doretta Morrow); “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” (reprise) (Richard Kiley); “He’s in Love!” (reprise) (Entourage); “Rahadlakum” (Alfred Drake, Joan Diener, Florence Lessing, Beatrice Kraft, Patricia Dunn, Bonnie Evans, Reiko Sato, Ladies of the Wazir’s…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Cast: Ray Bolger, Allyn Ann McLerie, Byron Palmer, Doretta Morrow, Horace Cooper, Jane Lawrence, Paul England, Cornell MacNeilebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • Cast: Gertrude Lawrence, Yul Brynner, Dorothy Sarnoff, Doretta Morrow, Larry Douglas, Johnny Stewart, Sandy Kennedy, Lee Becker Theodore, Gemze de Lappe, Yuriko, Baayork Leeebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any portrait. 1,626 of 7,139 people have one, so this is the usual case rather than the exception.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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