Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the conniving Helen Morrison in "The Blue Dahlia" (1946). Born Doris Smith, she was raised within a traditional working-class family. After attaining her degree in theatrical arts from Hunter College, she began her career appearing as a chorus girl in stock companies. Upon meeting Academy Award winning actress Loretta Young, while attending a charity event in Los Angeles, California, she was so impressed by her dark good looks, slim physique, and unique voice, that she took notice of her potential and arranged for her to begin a career in the film industry beginning with her appearing in a supporting role opposite her in "And Now Tomorrow" (1944). From there, she would go on to flourish as a recognizable character actress appearing in over 60 features; often typecast as wives, mothers, old maids, busybodies, aristocrats, gold diggers, con-artists, eccentrics, femme fatales, landladies, neighbors, curmudgeons, reporters, secretaries, nurses, politicians, indigenous people, exotics, foreigners, doctors, clergywomen, retail clerks, businesswomen, and, in her later years, matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "Bring on the Girls" (1945), "The Lost Weekend" (1945), "The Crimson Key" (1947), "The Emperor Waltz" (1948), "Bitter Rice" (1949), "Sarumba" (1950), "Alina" (1950), "Hearts at Sea" (1950), "Othello" (1951), "Running Target" (1956), "Wink of an Eye" (1958), "The Party Crashers" (1958), "Birds Do It" (1966), "The Car" (1977), and "Separate Ways" (1981). On television, she appeared in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Danger," "Armstrong Circle Theatre," "The Storm Riders," "Goodyear Playhouse," "Medic," "Lights Out," "Richard Diamond, Private Detective," "Schlitz Playhouse," "Mike Hammer," "One Step Beyond," "Have Gun - Will Travel," "Tales of Wells Fargo," "Checkmate," "Cheyenne," "Shirley Temple's Storybook," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Chevy Mystery Show," "The Tall Man," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Ripcord," "The Gallant Men," "The Eleventh Hour," "Bonanza," "Perry Mason," "Grindl," "Breaking Point," "The Greatest Show on Earth," "My Living Doll," "Flipper," "Daktari," "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury," "Bearcats!," "Get Christie Love!," "Adam-12," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Kojak," "Wonder Woman," "Time Express," "Medical Story," "The Incredible Hulk," "Scruples," "Barnaby Jones," "Simon & Simon," and "The Dukes of Hazzard." During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, was a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, was the younger sister of actress Constance Dowling, held dual citizenship between the United States and Italy, was the 1972 recipient of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble Performance, sat on the board of directors for the Theatre East, presided as a chairwoman for her local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs, and she was married to musician Artie Shaw from 1952 to 1956, film executive Robert F. Blumofe from 1956 to 1959, and publicist Leonard Kaufman from 1960 to 2004 (her first two unions ended in divorce and her third upon her own death; from Shaw she produced one child, acclaimed tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw). Upon her 1984 retirement, she spent the remainder of her life being a regular attendee at autograph conventions, and was involved in charitable and religious ventures, until her death.