In Remembrance: Amanda Duff Dunne

     Amanda Duff Dunne, the former supporting actress and widow of writer Philip Dunne, has passed away on April 6, 2006 in San Francisco, CA. She was 92.

     Born on March 6, 1914 in Fresno, CA, Dunne studied music at Oakland, CA’s Mills College and then moved to New York City to study piano. It was while performing in an amateur play in 1936 that she was spotted by playwright Robert E. Sherwood, who cast her as the lead in his new comedy Tovarich. The play was a hit and lead to her being offered a contract with 20^th Century Fox.

     Dunne’s career at Fox was brief, with the actress only appearing in seven films over the course of three years, though she never rose above the position of supporting roles. Always billed under her maiden name of Amanda Duff, she made her film debut in the Shirley Temple feature Just Around The Corner (1938). Dunne appeared opposite Peter Lorre in Mr. Moto In Danger Island (1939). Her other notable roles were in the drama The Escape (1939) and the noir film City Of Chance (1940). Her last film appearance was in the 1941 Boris Karloff horror film The Devil Commands.

     It was while working on the Fox studio lot that Dunne met screenwriter Philip Dunne. The two married in 1939 and raised three daughters. From the end of World War Two through the 1960s, the Dunnes’ remained active in politics on both a local and national level with their Malibu home known for as a regular meeting place for Hollywood’s politically active.