Actress Dorothy Burgess played leading roles in independent low-budget films, and supporting roles for major studios during the 1930s. The L.A. born Burgess is the daughter of actress Grace Burgess, and the niece of Fay Bainter. She began performing as a specialty dancer and Broadway ingenue while in her mid-teens. While on Broadway, she starred in many plays and musicals until 1929 when she went to Hollywood to play a lead in the early talkie In Old Arizona. After playing in many films, she returned to the theater in 1934. During the early '40s she occasionally returned to Hollywood to play supporting roles.