Stella Dorothy Sabiston was born on April 26, 1903 in the Woodlawn area of Birmingham Alabama. She grew up in what seems to have been a very normal upbringing. She was a typical girl who liked to dance and took pride in doing well in school. (I have yet to discover which schools she attended as a child growing up in Alabama, but I hope to find out someday).
Dorothy's parents were Lycurgus (Lawrence) Robert Sabiston and Stella Armstrong Sabiston. Her mother was an artist that Dorothy complimented during an interview or two. "My mother was a really fine painter. She used oils and her portraits and landscapes were far from amateur. I have always regretted that she gave it up. Whatever little knack I have for sketching comes from her, but in a very modified form."Dorothy's maternal grandparents had been missionaries in China and Turkey. Her grandfather founded the first Presbyterian church in Alabama. "Religion is closely related to the drama. And preaching is related to acting. They both require the same flair. My grandfather and grandmother were missionaries in China. When I was a kid, collecting gold stars for regular attendance in Sunday School, I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to be a missionary or an actress. The line between them was so fine that I couldn't make up my mind." When she was finally allowed to go the theatre she decided then and there she would be an actress. Something she would keep to herself as she knew the family would not approve.The Sabiston's had four children: Elizabeth (Bessie) Christine was the oldest, then Robert James, third was Stella Dorothy and the youngest was Mary Helen. Sadly three of the four Sabiston children would die fairly early, two of whom were very tragic deaths.
Alabama was home until she headed up north to New York City to try and make it as a dancer. Something she had wanted to do for a very long time. In order to prove to her parents she could support herself, thus making her case to go to NYC, Dorothy would do portrait sketches, parchment lamp shades and sew cushion covers, even going as far as opening her own little shop in an apartment in Birmingham. "It was the best looking place. I got old rugs and had them dyed black. Then I did the place in robin's egg blue with touches of orange. I couldn't take care of all the orders I had at the studio. But all the time in the back of my mind was the idea of being an actress. I used to spend my lunch money on pictures - it was always pictures more than the stage that interested me."
