Dorothy Morrison obit

Dorothy Morrison Green, Silent Film Actress Has Died

African American child actors, Dorothy Morrison Green and her brother Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison gained fame in the Our Gang series of films during the birth of the Hollywood era.

 

She was not on the list.

When we think of films from the silent era, we mostly think of white actors in heavy makeup, but the African American community was represented on screen, even back then.

Two such actors were child stars Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison and his sister Dorothy, of Our Gang fame.

Ernie got his role on the Our Gang series, because their father worked for a Los Angeles family who had connections in the film industry

"They were looking for little black boys, and naturally they were asking my father about it," says Dorothy. "And this is how we fell into it."

7-year-old Ernie was the first African American actor, of any age, to be signed to a long-term contract.

Dorothy joined the cast later.

She then went on to play in a number of features and shorts, but only as a child. She remembers going to school on the set and thinking that everyone must live like this.

 

Actress

Sleepless Hollow (1936)

Sleepless Hollow

Susie Haskins

Short

1936

 

The First Seven Years (1930)

The First Seven Years

Farina's Wife (uncredited)

Short

1930

 

Hearts in Dixie (1929)

Hearts in Dixie

Melia

1929

 

Leon Holmes, Bud Jamison, Annabelle Magnus, Coy Watson, and Wayne LaFever in Bear Knees (1928)

Bear Knees

Little girl sitting on fence (uncredited)

Short

1928

 

Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, and Katherine Grant in Isn't Life Terrible? (1925)

Isn't Life Terrible?

Little Black Girl (uncredited)

Short

1925

 

The Love Bug (1925)

The Love Bug

Girl with Farina

Short

1925

 

Seein' Things (1924)

Seein' Things

Girl in Dream Sequence

Short

1924

 

Mickey Daniels, Jack Davis, and Ernest Morrison in The Champeen (1923)

The Champeen

Dorothy (as Hal Roach's Rascals)

Short

1923