Dorris Estelle Bowdon was born on December 27, 1914 in Coldwater, Mississippi, one of seven children.
Bowdon was an Actress in the 1930s and 1940s. When she was 20 years old, talent scout Ivan Kahn found her in Memphis, Tennessee, and brought her to Hollywood, California, for a screen test with 20th Century Fox. She "didn't fare so well" in her first test, so she was given another try.
She was married to Nunnally Johnson from 1939 until his death in 1977, and they had three children together, the first of whom was born in 1942, which prematurely ended Bowden's acting career. They resided in a mansion located at 625 Mountain Drive in Beverly Hills, California. It was designed by Architect Paul R. Williams and built from 1937 to 1938 by O' Neal and Son.
