Biography

Dorothy Green (March 5, 1892 – November 16, 1963) was an American silent film actress. Dorothy Green was born to Benny and Anna Green on March 5, 1892, in Manhattan, New York City. Her birth certificate lists her first name as “Vera”, but she appears later in United States Census records as “Dorothy”. Her parents immigrated from what was then the Russian Empire in 1886, and her father worked as a tailor. She was the oldest of six children — Bella (b. 1895), Mamie (b.1898), Sadie (b. 1900), Harry (b.1902) and William (b. 1903). Belle also had a brief career as an actress, using the stage name "Belle Green".

Green claimed to have been born in St. Petersburg, before immigrating to the United States at the age of three, however her vital records indicate she was born in New York to parents of Russian extraction. At the time, it was not unusual for actors to lie about or embellish their origin story — similarly, Green also claimed to have been born in 1895.