Mary Louise Comingore, known professionally as Dorothy Comingore, was an American film actress. She starred as Susan Alexander Kane in Citizen Kane (1941), the critically acclaimed debut film of Orson Welles. In earlier films she was credited as Linda Winters, and she had appeared on the stage as Kay Winters. Her career ended when she was caught in the Hollywood blacklist. She declined to answer questions when she was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952.
Dorothy Comingore in 1941
Dorothy Comingore on the set of Citizen Kane in the trailer for the film (1940)
Ray Collins, Dorothy Comingore, Orson Welles and Ruth Warrick in Citizen Kane
Dorothy Comingore, Orson Welles and Ray Collins in Citizen Kane
The sources for Citizen Kane, the 1941 American motion picture that marked the feature film debut of Orson Welles, have been the subject of speculation and controversy since the project's inception. With a story spanning 60 years, the quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a fictional character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. A rich incorporation of the experiences and knowledge of its authors, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Writing for Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.
Orson Welles in Citizen Kane
Although various sources were used as a model for Kane, William Randolph Hearst was the primary inspiration.
Kane's response to a cable from a correspondent in Cuba—"You provide the prose poems, I'll provide the war"— is the film's most overt allusion to Hearst.
Chicago utilities magnate Samuel Insull built a fortune and lost it, and built the Chicago Opera House.