Dorothy Gibson (born Dorothy Winifred Brown; May 17, 1889 – February 17, 1946) was an American actress, socialite and artist's model, active in the early 20th century. She survived the sinking of the Titanic and starred in the first motion picture based on the disaster.
shareRepresented by top theatrical agent Pat Casey, Dorothy entered movies in early 1911, joining the Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) as an extra and later the Lubin Studios as a stock player. She was hired as leading lady by the new U.S. branch of Paris-based Éclair Studios in July 1911.
She was an instant hit with audiences, becoming one of the first actresses in the new medium of film to be promoted as a "star" in her own right.[7] Praised for a natural, subtle acting style, she was particularly effective as a comedian in such popular one-reelers as Miss Masquerader (1911) and Love Finds a Way (1912), all of which were produced at Fort Lee, New Jersey, then the center of the burgeoning American motion picture industry.[8]
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"A Nazi sympathizer and alleged intelligence operative, Dorothy renounced her involvement by 1944. She was arrested as an anti-Fascist agitator and imprisoned in the Milan prison of San Vittore, from which she escaped with two other prisoners..."