Karen Dotrice
Karen Dotrice (born 9 November 1955) is an English actress known primarily for her role as a child in Walt Disney's feature film adaptation of Mary Poppins. Dotrice (dō-'trēs) was born in Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK, 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 Broadway production of Othello. In 1984, Dotrice retired from show business to focus on motherhood; she has three children from two marriages.
Early life
Born into an acting family, Karen Dotrice is the daughter of Roy and Kay Dotrice, two Shakespearean actors who met and married while performing in repertory theatre productions in England.[1] She has two sisters, Michele and Yvette, both of whom are actresses. Her godfather was actor Charles Laughton.
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 a Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertold Brecht. There, a Disney scout saw Dotrice and brought her to Burbank, California, United States, to meet Walt Disney.[2]
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 says 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."[2]
Film historian Leonard Maltin said Dotrice "won over everyone" with her performance in The Three Lives of Thomasina[2], and she was signed to play Jane Banks (along with Thomasina co-star Matthew Garber as her brother, Michael) in Mary Poppins. Disney's part-live-action, part-animation musical adaptation of the Poppins book series by P. L. Travers starred David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns as a workaholic father and a suffragette 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 time[3] and went on to win five Academy Awards, making its stars world-famous. Dotrice and Garber were praised for their natural screen presence; critic Bosley Crowther wrote, "the kids ... are just as they should be,"[4] while author Brian Sibley said, "these charming, delightful young people provided a wonderful center for the film."[5]
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. Starring Walter Brennan in a dual role, The Gnome-Mobile failed to perform on a par with Poppins at the box office[6], 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 appearred as Alex Mackenzie in The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978) with Robert Powell and John Mills (Hayley's father). The second remake of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock classic (based on the John Buchan novel) 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'."[7]
Television
Moving from the big screen to the small screen in 1972, she appeared as Desirée Clary in the Thames Television miniseries Napoleon and Love. The nine-hour, dramatized account of the many loves of Napoleon I of France starred Ian Holm and Tim Curry.
Upstairs, Downstairs
In 1975, Dotrice 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 20th century—was one of the most popular programs made by London Weekend Television. It also proved popular when shown in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre, and was "beloved throughout much of the world."[8]
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 with Ann-Margret in Joseph Andrews, a German telefilm based on the Henry 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 and Eileen Atkins, Thieves made its U. S. debut on 5 February 1980—the first film screened as part of the PBS Mystery! series.[9]
Later life
In 1981, Dotrice took the role of Desdemona in the Broadway production of Othello opposite James Earl Jones and Christopher 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 1982 and received similar reviews.[10]
Dotrice virtually disappeared from public life following her retirement. She was married to English actor Alex Hyde-White from 1986 to 1992; they produced a son, Garrick. In 1994, Dotrice married then-Universal Studios executive Edwin "Ned" Nalle and later gave birth to two children, Isabella and Griffin.[11]
In 2001, Dotrice 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. 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 honored posthumously)[12], and she was interviewed and provided audio commentary for the 40th Anniversary Edition Mary Poppins DVD release.
Filmography
Feature Films
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Thirty-Nine Steps | Alex Mackenzie |
| 1967 | The Gnome-Mobile | Elizabeth Winthrop |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins | Jane Banks |
| 1964 | The Three Lives of Thomasina | Mary McDhui |
Television
| Year | Program | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | She Fell Among Thieves | Jenny |
| 1977 | Joseph Andrews | Pamela |
| 1976 | Dickens of London | Maria Beadnell |
| 1975 | Upstairs, Downstairs | Lily Hawkins |
| 1972 | Napoleon and Love | Desirée Clary |
Footnotes
- ^ Roy Dotrice - Biography
- ^ a b c Disney Legends - Karen Dotrice
- ^ Mary Poppins Box Office Data
- ^ Mary Poppins reviewed by the New York Times
- ^ Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition DVD
- ^ The Gnome-Mobile Box Office Data
- ^ All Movie Guide - The Thirty-Nine Steps
- ^ Museum of Broadcast Communications - Upstairs, Downstairs
- ^ About MYSTERY!
- ^ Othello at www.christopher-plummer.com
- ^ IMDb - Karen Dotrice
- ^ The Walt Disney Company Names 2004 Disney Legends