Dorothy Massingham

Dorothy Massingham (12 December 1889 – 30 March 1933) was a British actress and playwright.

Dorothy Massingham was born on 12 December 1889 in Highgate, daughter of the journalist H. W. Massingham and Emma Snowdon. She was educated at the Graham High Street School and the Academy for Dramatic Art and studied under Rosina Filippi.

Her stage debut was in February 1912 at the Liverpool Reparatory Theatre as Kalleia in Alfred Sutro's The Perplexed Husband. She then appeared as Mrs. Perrin in Charles McEvoy's The Situation at Newbury. Her London debut was in 1913 at the Vaudeville Theatre as Claire in the debut of George Bernard Shaw's Great Catherine: Whom Glory Still Adores.

Massingham wrote a number of plays, most famously The Lake, which is remembered for starring film actress Katharine Hepburn in an early stage appearance. The Lake was poorly received, prompting Dorothy Parker's infamous quip "Miss Hepburn runs the gamut of emotions from A to B."

Dorothy Massingham committed suicide on 30 March 1933 in Hampstead.