Dorothy Dell - Death

Death

On June 8, 1934, Dell agreed to a car ride to Pasadena with 38-year-old Dr. Carl Wagner, because he insisted that she take some time for relaxation between retakes of Shoot the Works, and to meet his mother, whom he wanted to show "how sweet a little movie star can be." After the meeting, they went to an all-night party at an inn in Altadena, California. Afterward they were going to Pasadena when the car left the highway, hit a telephone pole, bounced off a palm tree and hit a boulder. Dell was killed instantly. Wagner, who was driving between 50 and 70 miles an hour, died six hours later in a hospital.

It has been claimed that she was engaged to Wagner, but this was dismissed by different sources, who believed that she was to be married to caricaturist Nat Carson, whom she met while performing as a chorus girl in Earl Carroll's Vanities. A week before her death, Carson left for work in London and proposed over the telephone. Dell planned on taking off six months for an extended honeymoon vacation. When Carson found out about her death, he decided not to return to Broadway, and he remained in London.

According to news reports, a day before her death, Dell mused: "You know, they say deaths go in cycles of three. First it was Lilyan Tashman, then Lew Cody. I wonder who'll be next?"

Dell was interred in Metairie Cemetery, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Her final role in Now and Forever was taken by Carole Lombard, and provided Lombard with one of her earliest significant successes. Dorothy Lamour, a childhood friend of Dell, later credited Dell as the person responsible for the beginning of her own film career. Lamour also won the title of "Miss New Orleans" in 1931, succeeding her friend Dell who had won the title the previous year.

During her life, Dell had several encounters with near-death experiences. As a child, she narrowly escaped death when being attacked by a dog. The dog was killed by her father to save Dell's life. In 1931, while at the Follies, she was invited to board a yacht for a party of Harry Richman. She declined, and the girl who took her place, died in an explosion on board. A few weeks later, she was critically injured following a car accident, and she was hospitalized for two months. Furthermore, she fell ill with influenza shortly after and broke a leg during a Follies performance.