Biography

Dorothy Rice, Artist, Actress, Model

Education

The Art Students League, NYC University of Guadalajara, Mexico Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles

Born to a family of artists, Dorothy showed artistic talent from a young age. At 14, she was invited to study at the prestigious Art Students League of New York alongside fashion designer Anne Klein and realist painter Philip Pearlstein. On an evening out with classmates at the legendary nightclub El Morocco, Dorothy was "discovered" by American Vogue photographer John Rawlings and her budding painting career was put on hold to purse modeling.

Her modeling career started with pin-up girl and girl-next-door shoots for Earl Moran and Town & Country. It was Christian Dior who catapulted Dorothy into stardom when she was selected as the face of his revolutionary "New Look Collection" for American Vogue. Dorothy remained a top model for eighteen years. In 1953, Esquire did a thirteen-photo spread on Dorothy entitled "The Girl Who Tops the List of the Ten Most Wanted Models."

Dorothy transitioned from modeling to acting and appeared in more than 100 plays. It was during this time that Dorothy met and fell in love with her husband, Stanley Chase, who produced "The Threepenny Opera" and the timeless science fiction classic "Colossus: The Forbin Project," among many other Broadway, film and television productions. Dorothy wanted a life in art and an equal partner to pursue that life with, and Stanley valued her intellect and talent as well as her beauty. They had a shared vision and supported each other in their artistic pursuits, which wasn't typical of the time. Subsequently, Dorothy and Stanely moved from New York to Beverly Hills, and Dorothy began acting in television, including appearing in "Fear on Trial" and "Bob Hope Presents."

Eventually, Dorothy returned to her true passion, painting. Over the next several decades, she exhibited her artwork in prestigious galleries, embassies and museums around the world, including a three-month solo exhibition, "Serenata Mexicana," at the highly regarded Southwest Museum in Los Angeles. She was commissioned to do work internationally, including in Israel, Mexico and Morocco. Her work is held in private collections, including by notable figures like Barbara Walters, Gore Vidal and Ray Bradbury.

Dorothy was an iconic trailblazer for her time, wanted young women to be inspired by the breadth, excellence and creativity of her work, and be motivated by the independence she displayed during her life.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jonell Lennon and Mark Pittman, Co-Trustees of the Chase Trust

Dorothy came from a long line of artists stretching back to the Russian court. By the time she was 14 she was working professionally, selling nude drawings in a Manhattan gallery.