- Karen Dotrice
Infobox actor
name = Karen Dotrice
imagesize = 280px
caption = Karen Dotrice andMatthew Garber
in a publicity photo for "Mary Poppins"
birthdate = Birth date and age|1955|11|9|df=yes
location =Guernsey ,Channel Islands Karen Dotrice (born 9 November 1955) is a British actress known primarily for her role as Jane Banks in Walt Disney's feature film adaptation of the "
Mary Poppins " book series. Dotrice (pronEng|dəˈtriːs) was born inGuernsey (one of theChannel Islands ) to two accomplished stage actors. Her career began on stage, expanded into film and television roles, and concluded with a short run as Desdemona in the 1981 pre-Broadway production of "Othello ". In 1984, Dotrice retired from show business to focus on motherhood; she has three children from two marriages. She was named a Disney Legend in 2004.Biography
Early life
Born into a theatre family, Dotrice is the daughter of Roy and
Kay Dotrice , two Shakespearean actors who met and married while performing inrepertory theatre productions inEngland .cite web | title=roydotrice.com | work=Roy Dotrice - Biography | url=http://www.roydotrice.com/bio.html | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006] She was born in the Channel Islands (where her father was also born). She has two sisters, Michele and Yvette, both of whom are actresses. Her godfather was actorCharles Laughton , who was married toElsa Lanchester , one of the co-stars of "Mary Poppins".Dotrice was a toddler when her father joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (later the
Royal Shakespeare Company ) in 1957. By age four, she was ready to perform, making her début in an RSC production of "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" byBertold Brecht . There, a Disney scout saw Dotrice and brought her to Burbank,California ,United States , to meetWalt Disney .cite web | title=legends.disney.go.com | work=Disney Legends - Karen Dotrice | url=http://legends.disney.go.com/legends/detail?key=Karen+Dotrice | accessdate=31 December | accessyear=2004]Film
At age eight, Dotrice was hired in 1964 to appear in "
The Three Lives of Thomasina " as a girl whose relationship with her father is mended by the magical reappearance of her cat. While Dotrice was in California, her father stayed in England—where he was portraying "King Lear "—and Walt Disney personally took care of her family, often hosting them in his Palm Springs home. Dotrice took quickly to Disney as a father figure, calling him "Uncle Walt". She said the admiration was mutual: "I think he really liked English kids. He was tickled pink by the accent and the etiquette. And when I was being very English and polite, he would look proudly at this little charge who had such good manners."Film historian
Leonard Maltin said Dotrice "won over everyone" with her performance in "The Three Lives of Thomasina", and she was signed to play Jane Banks (along with "Thomasina" co-starMatthew Garber as her brother, Michael) in "Mary Poppins". Disney's part-live-action, part-animation musical adaptation of the "Poppins" children's books byP. L. Travers starredDavid Tomlinson as aworkaholic father andGlynis Johns as asuffragette mother who are too busy to spend any time with their children. Instead, they hire a nanny (Julie Andrews ) who takes Jane and Michael on magical adventures designed to teach them—and their parents—about the importance of family. "Poppins" was Disney's biggest commercial success at the timecite web | title=the-numbers.com | work=The Numbers: "Mary Poppins" Box Office Data | url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1964/0MAPO.html | accessdate=15 January | accessyear=2006] and won fiveAcademy Awards , making its stars world-famous. Dotrice and Garber were praised for their natural screen presence; criticBosley Crowther wrote, "the kids ... are just as they should be,"cite web | title=nytimes.com | work=New York Times: "Mary Poppins" Review, 25 September 1964 | url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=MARY%20POPPINS%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Bosley%20Crowther&v_id=31639 | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006] while authorBrian Sibley said, "these charming, delightful young people provided a wonderful centre for the film."cite visual | director=Stevenson, Robert | year=2004 | title=Walt Disney's Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition | medium=DVD rerelease | location=USA| distributor=Walt Disney Pictures]Dotrice and Garber paired up again in "
The Gnome-Mobile " (1967) as the grandchildren of a rich lumber mogul who stumble across a gnome forest and help keep the gnomes from dying off. StarringWalter Brennan in a dual role, "The Gnome-Mobile" failed to perform on a par with "Poppins" at the box office,cite web | title=boxofficereport.com | work=Box Office Report:" The Gnome-Mobile "(1967) | url=http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1967.shtml | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006] and Dotrice did not make another film appearance as a child.After "The Gnome-Mobile", "the kids" no longer kept in contact with each other. In an interview for the 40th Anniversary Edition DVD release of "Mary Poppins", Dotrice recalled how she learned of Garber's death (in 1977): "I remember his mum, Margot, calling ... to let us know that Matthew had died. That was— so unexpected. ... I wished I had picked up the phone over the years, I wished I had treated him more like a brother; but he's indelibly printed in all of our minds, he's eternal ... an amazing little soul."
Dotrice later appeared as Alex Mackenzie in "The Thirty-Nine Steps" (1978) with
Robert Powell andJohn Mills . The third film based on theJohn Buchan novel, this was her only feature film as an adult. According to "All Movie Guide", Dotrice played "an imperiled heroine [who] was an invention of the Hitchcock version; the Buchan story is essentially 'boys only'."cite web | title=nytimes.com | work=All Movie Guide -" The Thirty-Nine Steps "(1978) | url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=49510 | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006]Television
Dotrice appeared as Desirée Clary in the
Thames Television miniseries "Napoleon and Love". The nine-hour, dramatised account of the many loves ofNapoleon I of France starredIan Holm andTim Curry .In 1975, she played housemaid Lily Hawkins in six episodes of "
Upstairs, Downstairs " during its fifth and final season. The series—a narrative of the upper-class Bellamy family and their servants in the early twentieth century—was one of the most popular programmes produced byLondon Weekend Television forITV . It also proved popular when shown in the United States on "Masterpiece Theatre ", and was "beloved throughout much of the world."cite web | title=museum.tv | work=Museum of Broadcast Communications -" Upstairs, Downstairs "(1975) | url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/U/htmlU/upstairsdow/upstairsdow.htm | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006]Dotrice took on the role of Maria Beadnell in the miniseries "Dickens of London" (1976), starring her father as
Charles Dickens . In 1977, she appeared withAnn-Margret in "Joseph Andrews", a German telefilm based on theHenry Fielding novel.In 1978, Dotrice made her final screen appearance, playing Jenny in the BBC2 Play of the Week, "She Fell Among Thieves". Starring
Malcolm McDowell andEileen Atkins , "Thieves" made its U.S. début on 5 February 1980—the first film screened as part of the PBS "Mystery! " series.cite web | title=pbs.org | work=About MYSTERY! | url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/history.html | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006]Later life
In 1981, Dotrice took the role of Desdemona in the Warner Theatre production of "
Othello " oppositeJames Earl Jones andChristopher Plummer . Reviewers were less than kind; calling her "the only serious let-down" in the cast, David Richards of "The Washington Post " wrote, "Dotrice is not Desdemona. She is a Desdemona doll, reciting her lines in a thin, reedy voice and moving through the tragedy with a rare somnolence."Dianne Wiest took the role in the 1982 Broadway production and received similar reviews.cite web | title=christopher-plummer.com | work= "Othello "(Broadway 1982) | url=http://www.christopher-plummer.com/othello.html | accessdate=23 January | accessyear=2006]Dotrice virtually disappeared from public life following her retirement. She was married to English actor
Alex Hyde-White from 1986 to 1992; they have a son, Garrick. In 1994, Dotrice married then-Universal Studios executive Edwin "Ned" Nalle and later gave birth to two children, Isabella and Griffin.She provided spoken-word adaptations of Disney's "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Pocahontas"; in 2001, she lent her voice to a sing-along release of "Mary Poppins" and was interviewed for the ABC television special, "Walt: The Man Behind the Myth"; she was, however, done with acting. "I'll never go back," she told "
Hello! " magazine in 1995, "because you don't have to put on any make-up."cite book | author=Russell, Sue | title=Karen Dotrice and Husband Ned Nalle Announce they're Expecting their Second Child | year=1995 | publisher=Hello! Magazine (pg. 66) | id= ]Dotrice was coaxed back into the spotlight twice in 2004: She was named a Disney Legend at a ceremony in Burbank (at which Matthew Garber was honoured posthumously),cite web | title=mickeynews.com | work=The Walt Disney Company Names 2004 Disney Legends | url=http://www.mickeynews.com/News/DisplayPressRelease.asp_Q_id_E_9174Ledgends | accessdate=17 September | accessyear=2004] and she was interviewed and provided audio commentary for the 40th Anniversary Edition "Mary Poppins" DVD release.
Filmography
Feature films
Television
References
External links
*imdb name|id=0234538|name=Karen Dotrice
* [http://legends.disney.go.com/legends/detail?key=Karen+Dotrice Disney Legends profile]
* [http://www.reelclassics.com/Musicals/MaryPoppins/marypoppins-article.htm Reel Classics: "Whatever Happened to..."]Persondata
NAME=Dotrice, Karen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=English actor
DATE OF BIRTH=9 November 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH=Guernsey ,Channel Islands
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=
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