Dorothy Dell

Dorothy Dell was interred in Metairie Cemetery, in New Orleans, Louisana. They write that Esmond's feelings of betrayal were genuine despite the unconventional nature of the marriage. Dell was killed instantly and Wagner died several hours later. The biographies describe the marriage as a relatively happy one, based on mutual respect and affection and their shared love of theatre. On their way to Pasadena their vehicle was involved in an accident. Since the deaths of Esmond and Olivier, biographers have written that Olivier was bisexual for his entire life, and that his marriage with Esmond was convenient for both of them, as she was also bisexual. In 1934 she attended a party in Altadena, California with Dr Carl Wagner, to whom she was reported to have become engaged. She did not remarry, and died in Wimbledon, London.

Paramount scheduled her to play opposite Gary Cooper and Shirley Temple in Now and Forever in what was to have been her first major starring role as a romantic lead. In her later years, Esmond discussed the bitterness she still felt towards Olivier and her feeling that she had sacrificed her career so that he could further his own, only to find herself cruelly discarded. Her next film Shoot the Works led to comparisons with Mae West, and her rendition of the ballad "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming" in the film became a hit record. Her acting appearances grew more sporadic with the passage of time and she made her final film appearance in 1955. Her most important and substantial role followed in the Shirley Temple film Little Miss Marker. She starred in the Broadway production of The Morning Star in 1942, a production noted for the acting debut of Gregory Peck. The film was a success and the reviews for Dell were favourable; Paramount began to consider her as a potential star. She returned briefly to acting and appeared in such popular films as Journey for Margaret, The Pied Piper and Random Harvest (all 1942) and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944).

She won her first film role over such established contenders as Mae Clarke and Isabel Jewell and made her debut in Wharf Angel (1934). Pressed by Olivier, who was anxious to marry Leigh, she eventually agreed and they were divorced in 1940. She moved to Hollywood in 1933 and was signed to a contract by Paramount Studios. Esmond withstood the publicity of Olivier's affair with Vivien Leigh and did not seek a divorce. During this time she was closely associated with Russ Colombo and her celebrity status was elevated by the media attention she received while denying rumours of an impending marriage. Her career continued to ascend while Olivier's own career languished, but when his career began to show promise after a couple of years, she began to refuse roles. In 1931 she moved to New York to appear on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies, and followed this success with her role in the production of Tattle Tales in 1933. She also appeared in two Broadway productions with Olivier - Private Lives in 1931 with Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, and The Green Bay Tree in 1933.

With this success she established a successful vaudeville act. Returning to the United Kingdom she made her film debut with a starring role in an early Alfred Hitchcock film The Skin Game (1931), and over the next few years appeared in several British and Hollywood films, including Thirteen Women (1932). She began entering and winning beauty pageants and at the age of fifteen won the title of "Miss New Orleans". Olivier continued to follow Esmond, and after proposing to her several times, she agreed and the couple were married in 1930. Born Dorothy Dell Goff in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to entertainers, she spent much of her childhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. Esmond won rave reviews for her performance. Dorothy Dell (January 30, 1915 – June 8, 1934) was an American film actress. Determined to be near Esmond he travelled to New York where he found work as an actor.

Lamour also won the title of "Miss New Orleans" in 1931, succeeding her friend Dell who had won the title the previous year. When Bird in the Hand was being staged on Broadway, Esmond was chosen to join the American production - but Olivier was not. Dorothy Lamour, a childhood friend of Dell, credited Dell as the person responsible for the beginning of her own film career. In his autobiography Olivier later wrote that he was smitten with Esmond, and that her cool indifference to him did nothing but further his ardour. Her final role in "Now and Forever" was taken by Carole Lombard, and provided Lombard with one of her earliest significant successes. In 1928 she appeared in the production of Bird in the Hand where she met fellow cast member Laurence Olivier for the first time. In 1925, she starred with her mother in a play Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, and after a few more successful roles, won critical praise for her part as a young suicide in Outward Bound.

After reassessing her future and coming to terms with her father's death she studied with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and returned to the West End stage in 1924. When her father died suddenly in 1922 Esmond returned to school and at the time considered abandoning her ambition to act. She made her stage debut playing Wendy to Gladys Cooper's Peter Pan but her success was shortlived. While her parents toured with theatre companies, Esmond spent her childhood in boarding schools until she decided at the age of fourteen to become an actress.

Esmond and Eva Moore. Esmond was born in London, England, the daughter of stage actors Henry V. Jill Esmond (January 26, 1908 – July 28, 1990) was a British actress.