1936. Dolly Haas made her movie debut age 10 in Germany, the country of her birth. With the rise of Nazism she emigrated to England, where D W Griffith cast her as the waif in his remake of Broken Blossoms (1936). She subsequently moved to Hollywood. The producers there struggled to find her suitable roles and tried to persuade her to change her name to Lilli Marlowe. So she decamped to New York and a career on the stage. She met caricaturist Al Hirschfeld when he was on an assignment to sketch a summer theatre company. For many decades after their marriage, the two were an elegant couple on the aisle at Broadway opening nights, watching the actors and actresses whom Hirschfeld was charged with sketching for The New York Times. A caption on the back of the photo reads:
THE NEWEST STAR to take her place in Hollywood’s firmament is Lilli Marlowe, glamorous and lovely European actress. Her first starring picture for Columbia will soon be announced.
Photo by A L “Whitey” Schafer.
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