Smit Dodi

Dorothy was the only child in the family; her father, a bank manager, died in 1898, when Dorothy was only two years old. In 1910, Emma, Dowdy’s mother, remarried and moved to London with her new husband and her 14-year-old daughter. In 1914, Dowdy entered the Academy of Dramatic Art. Her first role was in Arthur Pinero’s play The Players. She played several roles in the theatre, continued her acting career, and took part in front-line brigades during World War I, performing for soldiers. After her theatre career ended, Dowdy encountered difficulties finding permanent work, although by that time she had sold the screenplay for the film The Schoolgirl Rebels under the pseudonym Charles Henry Percy, and written the one-act play British Talent, which won the Three Arts Club Prize in 1924. In 1923, she got a job in a furniture store in London and became its buyer (and the owner’s mistress). She published her first play, Autumn Crocus, in 1931 under the pseudonym “C. L. Anthony.” The play was a success, and the revelation of its authorship by journalists prompted newspaper headlines such as “Shopgirl-Playwright.” Her subsequent plays were successful. Dowdy Smith spent most of her writing life in London; her former home is marked by a commemorative plaque in her honor. In 1939, Smith married; her husband died in 1987. During World War II, the family lived in the United States, but Dowdy Smith longed for England. She wrote her first novel, I Capture the Castle, in Pennsylvania. She gained greatest fame for the novel 101 Dalmatians, which was adapted into a famous animated film by Walt Disney Studios. Smith died in 1990; her body was cremated and the ashes scattered over the sea.