Dorothy Caruso

Born Dorothy Park Benjamin on August 6, 1893, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, she was the daughter of Park Benjamin, a wealthy lawyer and author, and Ida Crane. Dorothy had two sisters and two brothers.

On August 20, 1918, Benjamin married Enrico Caruso, with whom she had a daughter, Gloria Caruso (1919–1999). After the death of Enrico Caruso on August 2, 1921,^[1] Dorothy married Captain Ernest Augustus Ingram (1892–1954) in 1923, divorcing in 1925.^[2][3] Their daughter, Jacqueline, was born in September 1924.^[4][5] She then married Charles Adam Holder (1872–1955) in Paris in 1933, divorcing in 1940. She reverted to the surname "Caruso" following the dissolution of both marriages.^[6][7]

In 1942, Dorothy Caruso met Margaret C. Anderson, on a voyage to the United States, with whom she lived until her death in 1955.^[8]

Dorothy Caruso died of cancer in Baltimore, Maryland on December 16, 1955, at the age of 62. She was interred in Druid Ridge Cemetery, Baltimore County, Maryland.^[9]

Dorothy Caruso wrote two biographies of her husband: Wings Of Song: The Story Of Caruso published in 1928, and Enrico Caruso: His Life and Death published in 1945. The latter book was a bestseller and the basis for the screenplay of the 1951 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture The Great Caruso, starring Mario Lanza in the title role. Dorothy Caruso was portrayed in the film by Ann Blyth.^[10][11]

Her autobiography, Dorothy Caruso: A Personal History, was published in 1952.^[12]