# Dorothy Fay
**Dorothy Fay** (born Dorothy Fay Southworth; April 4, 1915 – November 5, 2003) was an American actress known for leading roles in low-budget Western films of the late 1930s and early 1940s, and as the wife of singing cowboy star [Tex Ritter](https://www.edgepedia.org/tex-ritter) and the mother of actor [John Ritter](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-ritter).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | April 4, 1915, Prescott, Arizona, USA, as Dorothy Fay Southworth, daughter of a local doctor[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) |
| Died | November 5, 2003, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, of natural causes, aged 88[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/) |
| Western career | About a dozen B-movie westerns from 1938 to 1941, made primarily at Monogram and Columbia studios[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) |
| Best-known roles | Elaine Bellamy in the 1940 serial *The Green Archer*; leading lady opposite Buck Jones in *Law of the Texan* (1938) and the 1941 serial *White Eagle*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) |
| Marriage | Tex Ritter, June 14, 1941, until his death on January 2, 1974; two children, including actor John Ritter[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/) |
| Training | USC, then acting study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Pasadena Playhouse[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) |
| Later life | Official greeter at the Grand Ole Opry after Tex Ritter's death; lived at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills from 1989[3](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Serial%20Report/Serial%20Report%20%2848%29JanMar04.pdf) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) |
## Early life and training
Fay grew up in [Prescott, Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/prescott-arizona), but spent her last year of high school at Hollywood High. After attending the [University of Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-southern-california), she studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and at the [Pasadena Playhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-playhouse).[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) A later account of her career says she arrived in Hollywood in 1937 and worked briefly as a cocktail waitress at the Coconut Grove nightclub, where a Paramount talent scout arranged an unsuccessful screen test before she took roles under the name Dorothy Fay.[4](https://groups.google.com/g/alt.obituaries/c/b1mc_QkUZeo)
## Western film career
From 1938 to 1941, Fay appeared in about a dozen B-movie westerns, the low-budget second features of the period, made primarily at Monogram and Columbia studios.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) As Dorothy Fay, she played opposite Buck Jones in *Law of the Texan* (1938), the first of three westerns with Jones, including the 1941 serial *White Eagle*.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) Her other 1938 credits included *Frontier Scout*, *The Stranger from Arizona*, and *Song of the Buckaroo*; in 1939 she appeared in *Trigger Pals*, *Rollin' Westward*, and *Sundown on the Prairie*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/)
**Films with Tex Ritter.** She made four movies with the country singer and actor Tex Ritter at Monogram Pictures: *Song of the Buckaroo* (1938), *Sundown on the Prairie* (1939), *Rollin' Westward* (1939), and *Rainbow Over the Range* (1940).[5](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dorothy_Fay) She also was a featured player in the 1940 action serial *The Green Archer*, starring Victor Jory, and had bit parts in the major-studio productions *The Philadelphia Story* (1940) and *Lady Be Good* (1941).[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/)
Boyd Magers, editor and publisher of the western-film publication *Western Clippings*, described her as "a little more forceful" than other leading ladies in B westerns: "She is not just waving goodbye to the star as he rides away."
## Marriage and family
Fay married Tex Ritter on June 14, 1941, and the marriage lasted until his death on January 2, 1974; the couple had two children, one of them the actor John Ritter.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/) Fan attention extended to the couple's horse: Tex Ritter's horse White Flash received as many fan letters as the new Mrs. Ritter, and she recalled in a 1973 interview that she and Tex would ink the horse's hoof to "autograph" pictures for fans.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) • [4](https://groups.google.com/g/alt.obituaries/c/b1mc_QkUZeo)
The Ritters moved to Nashville in 1968. After Tex died in 1974, Dorothy became an official greeter at the [Grand Ole Opry](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-ole-opry), and she returned to California in 1981.[3](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Serial%20Report/Serial%20Report%20%2848%29JanMar04.pdf) She declined several offers to return to film work.[4](https://groups.google.com/g/alt.obituaries/c/b1mc_QkUZeo)
## Later years
Fay had a stroke in 1987 and lived from 1989 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) She died there of natural causes on November 5, 2003, at 88, less than two months after the death of her son John Ritter, who died on September 11 as a result of an aortic dissection.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) She is interred with her parents in Pioneer Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona.[5](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dorothy_Fay)
**Premature obituary.** Years before her death, the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph published what it called her "premature obituary" and ran an apology five days later; its writer, McKie, apologized, saying he was "genuinely delighted she is still with us." According to a later account, a nurse who was told that Fay had "gone" from her hospital room, when she had only moved to another wing, prompted the call to the Telegraph's obituaries desk; Fay and her family found the blunder amusing.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html) • [5](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dorothy_Fay)
## References
1. [Dorothy Fay, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269560/)
2. [Dorothy Ritter, 88; Movie Cowgirl of the 1930s, Wife of Western Singer, Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2003](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-13-me-ritter13-story.html)
3. [Serial Report, Chapter 48, January–March 2004, Old Time Radio Researchers Group](https://www.otrr.org/FILES/Magz_pdf/Serial%20Report/Serial%20Report%20%2848%29JanMar04.pdf)
4. [Dorothy Fay Ritter, 86: actress in Westerns; Tex's widow/John's mom, alt.obituaries](https://groups.google.com/g/alt.obituaries/c/b1mc_QkUZeo)
5. [Dorothy Fay, Academic Kids encyclopedia entry](https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dorothy_Fay)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames F to G*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license