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Dorothy Coburn

1905 – 1978

American actress

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About Dorothy Coburn

Lived 1905 – 1978 (aged 72). Dorothy Coburn was an American film actor and stunt performer.

Dorothy Montana Coburn (June 8, 1905 – May 15, 1978) was an American film actress who appeared in a number of early Laurel and Hardy silents. She was a niece of author Walt Coburn and granddaughter of Robert Coburn Sr., founder of the Circle C Ranch in Montana.

Early years Coburn was born to cowboy-poet and Western film producer Wallace Coburn and Ann Reifenrath Coburn in Great Falls, Montana but raised in Prescott, Arizona. Her documented film repertoire consisted of 16 silent short subjects for the Hal Roach studios, and she appeared in scores of films as horseback-stuntwoman opposite such stars as Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea, and as a stand-in for Ginger Rogers in several of her dancing films with Fred Astaire.

Her first husband, Joseph Maier, died in Santa Barbara on March 4, 1959. In 1973 she married Harry W. Heap in Santa Barbara, California. Before Coburn's death in 1978, the couple lived in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Filmography

The Battle of the Century (1927) Putting Pants on Philip (1927) Us (1927) Hats Off (1927) The Second Hundred Years (1927) Sailors, Beware! (1927) Sugar Daddies (1927) All for Geraldine (1928) The Cross Country Bunion Race (1928) Do Gentlemen Snore? (1928) Look Pleasant (1928) That Night (1928) Rubber Necks (1928) Should Married Men Go Home? (1928) Barnum & Ringling, Inc. (1928) From Soup to Nuts (1928) The Finishing Touch (1928) Flying Elephants (1928) Leave 'Em Laughing (1928) Playin' Hookey (1928) Sailor Suits (1929) Up and Down Stairs (1930) Hot – And How! (1930) Shivering Shakespeare (1930)

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Also known as
Dorothy Montana Coburn

People in Dorothy Coburn's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Dorothy Coburn's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Dorothy Coburn?

American actress (1905–1978)

When was Dorothy Coburn born?

Dorothy Coburn was born on 8 June 1905 in Great Falls.

When did Dorothy Coburn die?

Dorothy Coburn died on 15 May 1978 in Los Angeles.

What was Dorothy Coburn's occupation?

Dorothy Coburn was a film actor and stunt performer.

What nationality was Dorothy Coburn?

Dorothy Coburn was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Dorothy Coburn

· Wikidata: Q439985

· DBpedia: Dorothy Coburn

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Dorothy Coburn. https://biography.guide/dorothy-coburn/

MLA: "Dorothy Coburn." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/dorothy-coburn/.

Chicago: "Dorothy Coburn." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/dorothy-coburn/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-21 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

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