Dorothy Caruso

Dorothy Caruso (6 August 1893 – 16 December 1955) was an American socialite and the wife of the Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso.

Dorothy and Enrico Caruso, 1918

Life

Born Dorothy Park Benjamin on 6 August 1893 in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, she was the daughter of Park Benjamin, a lawyer and author, and Ida Crane; Dorothy had four siblings: two sisters, and two brothers.

Caruso's wedding party on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City, 20 August 1918. Left to right: Bruno Zirato (Caruso's personal assistant), Dorothy Caruso, Enrico Caruso, Mrs. J. S. Keith.

On 20 August 1918, Benjamin married Enrico Caruso, with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Caruso (1919-1999); After Enrico Caruso died on 2 August 1921,[1] Benjamin married Captain Ernest Augustus Ingram (1892–1954) in 1923.[2][3] They had a daughter, Jacqueline, born in September, 1924,[4]and were divorced in 1925.[5] She then married Charles Adam Holder (1872–1955) in Paris in 1933. They too, were divorced in 1940. She reverted to the surname 'Caruso' following the dissolution of both marriages.[6][7]

Dorothy Caruso died of cancer in Baltimore, Maryland on 16 December 1955 at the age of 62. She was interred in Druid Ridge Cemetery, Baltimore County, Maryland.[8]

Books

Dorothy Caruso wrote two biographies of her husband: Wings Of Song: The Story Of Caruso published in 1928, and Enrico Caruso: His Life and Death published in 1945. The latter book was the basis for the screenplay of the 1951 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture The Great Caruso, starring Mario Lanza in the title rôle. Dorothy Caruso was portrayed in the film by Ann Blyth.[9][10]

Her autobiography, Dorothy Caruso: A Personal History, was published in 1952.

References
  1. "Caruso love letters reveal passion behind a life of epic operatic drama". Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. [U.P.] (28 June 1933). Caruso Widow And Dr. Holder To Wed In Paris. New York: Daily News. Accessed May 2018.
  3. "15 Nov 1925, Sun • Page 9". The Atlanta Constitution. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. "25 Sep 1927, Sun • Page 27". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  5. "18 Oct 1927, Tue • Page 10". News-Journal. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  6. "06 Jul 1933, Thu • Main Edition • Page 10". The Courier-News. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  7. "June 30, 1933". The Lewiston Daily Sun. 1933.
  8. "16 Dec 1955, Fri • Page 50". The Evening Sun. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  9. Caruso, Dorothy; Goddard, Torrance (1928). Wings of Song: The Story of Caruso. Minton, Balch.
  10. Gevinson, Alan (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. p. 412. ISBN 9780520209640.
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