Film At age eight, Dotrice was hired in 1963 to appear in
The Three Lives of Thomasina as a girl whose relationship with her father is mended by the magical reappearance of her cat.
Matthew Garber also appeared in the movie. While Dotrice was in California, her father stayed in England—where he was portraying
King Lear—and Walt Disney personally took care of her family, often hosting them in his
Palm Springs home. Dotrice took quickly to Disney as a father figure, calling him "Uncle Walt". She said that the admiration was mutual: "I think he really liked English kids. He was tickled pink by the accent and the etiquette. And when I was being very English and polite, he would look proudly at this little child who had such good manners."
Film historian Leonard Maltin said Dotrice "won over everyone" with her performance in
The Three Lives of Thomasina, and won five
Academy Awards, making its stars world-famous. Dotrice and Garber were praised for their natural screen presence;
critic Bosley Crowther wrote, "the kids ... are just as they should be," while author
Brian Sibley said, "these charming, delightful young people provided a wonderful centre for the film." Dotrice and Garber paired up a third and final time in
The Gnome-Mobile (1967) as the grandchildren of a rich lumber mogul who stumble across a gnome forest and help to stop the gnomes from dying off. Starring
Walter Brennan in a dual role,
The Gnome-Mobile failed to perform on a par with
Poppins at the box office, and Dotrice did not make another film appearance as a child. After
The Gnome-Mobile, Dotrice and Garber no longer kept in contact with each other. In an interview for the '40th Anniversary Edition' DVD release of
Mary Poppins, Dotrice recalled how she learned of Garber's 1977 death: In another interview she recalled: In 1977, she appeared with
Ann-Margret in
Joseph Andrews, a British film based on the
Henry Fielding novel
Joseph Andrews. Dotrice appeared as Alex Mackenzie in
The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) with
Robert Powell and
John Mills. The third film based on the
John Buchan novel, this was her only feature film as an adult. In the film, Alex accompanies Hannay (Powell) while on the run from "both the spies and the police".
Television In 1974, Dotrice appeared as
Désirée Clary in the
Thames Television serial
Napoleon and Love. The nine-hour, dramatised account of
Napoleon I of France starred
Ian Holm and
Tim Curry. That same year, she appeared alongside
Helen Mirren and
Clive Revill in
Bellamira. In 1975, Dotrice played housemaid
Lily Hawkins in six episodes of
Upstairs, Downstairs during its fifth and final season. The series, a narrative of the upper class Bellamy family and their servants in
Edwardian and later England, was one of the most popular programmes produced by
London Weekend Television for
ITV. It also proved popular when shown in the United States on
Masterpiece Theatre, and was "beloved throughout much of the world." Dotrice took on the role of Maria Beadnell in two episodes of the serial
Dickens of London (1976), starring her father as both
Charles and
John Dickens. In 1977, Dotrice appeared as Princess Ozyliza in the
Jackanory episode "The Princess and the Hedgehog".
Later career In 1981, Dotrice took the role of Desdemona in the
Warner Theatre production of
Othello opposite
James Earl Jones and
Christopher Plummer. Reviewers were less than kind; calling her "the only serious let-down" in the cast, David Richards of
The Washington Post wrote, "Dotrice is not Desdemona. She is a Desdemona doll, reciting her lines in a thin, reedy voice and moving through the tragedy with a rare somnolence."
Dianne Wiest took the role in the 1982 Broadway production and received similar reviews. Dotrice virtually disappeared from public life following her retirement. She was married to English actor
Alex Hyde-White from 1986 to 1992. In 1994, Dotrice married then-
Universal Studios executive Edwin Nalle. Dotrice's voice work includes spoken-word adaptations of Disney's
The Little Mermaid,
Beauty and the Beast and
Pocahontas; a sing-along release of
Mary Poppins; an interview for the
ABC television special
Walt: The Man Behind the Myth; and narration for the audiobook adaptation of
Dangerous Women by
George R. R. Martin. She appeared as herself in the 2009 documentary ''
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story''. However, as for acting, "I'll never go back," she told
Hello! magazine in 1995, "because you don't have to put on any make-up." Dotrice was coaxed back into the spotlight twice in 2004: she was named a Disney Legend at a ceremony in Burbank (at which
Matthew Garber and
Irwin Kostal, the movie's musical director, were honoured posthumously), and she was interviewed and provided audio commentary for the 40th Anniversary Edition
Mary Poppins DVD release. Dotrice also provided audio commentary for the Acorn Media DVD release of
Upstairs, Downstairs Series 5, discussing Episode 7 ("
Disillusion"), the final episode in which she appears. Despite having retired from acting, Dotrice's official website announced in 2014 that she will be making public appearances "for the first time in 50 years". The list includes memorabilia shows, signings, and corporate events.
Looking back Almost a half-century after
Poppins, and just in time for its 50th-anniversary
Blu-ray re-release and the theatrical release of
Saving Mr. Banks, Dotrice, who had since moved to
Brentwood, California, told the
Los Angeles Times that it was not until seeing
Saving Mr. Banks that she truly understood why Walt Disney was the father figure she remembered. "I didn't know P. L. Travers' history" with Disney and his many years spent trying to convince Travers to let him tell the Poppins story on film. Dotrice noted a common thread; Travers was eight years old when her father died, and Walt Disney's father put him to work when he was eight. "I was eight when I did the film. I think P. L. Travers was trying to fix families [with the
Poppins books, and Disney] wanted to heal people through his movies. Here I am 50 years later looking at this—I was crying when I was watching the film." In 2018, she appeared on a television special of
Mary Poppins Returns: Behind the Magic – A Special Edition of 20/20 which aired on 22 November 2018 on ABC. She makes a
cameo appearance in
Mary Poppins Returns as an elegant lady who passes by the main characters on Cherry Tree Lane and asks for directions to
#19. Talking about the cameo, Dotrice said, "Now that Mary Poppins is back it feels like she was here all along. She was in our hearts all along, that's for sure. I think her timing is immaculate, the world has never needed her more and so she's done it practically perfectly." That experience stood in contrast to her memories of working on
Poppins. "The joy that you see on the screen is the joy we felt." Dotrice recalled having a difficult time staying in character whenever
Dick Van Dyke would do one of his "goofy dances". She also thought it odd that
Julie Andrews was a
smoker. "Everybody smoked back then. I have memories of Mary Poppins smoking a cigarette". Still, in hindsight, Dotrice said she would never have done
Poppins or any of her other films if she had it to do over again. Dotrice said children "should be learning and growing at their own pace" rather than "living in a
Justin Bieber-esque-type world surrounded by a bunch of 'yes' people". Dotrice had seen so many of her peers struggling with "all sorts of demons" while growing up that she did not want her children becoming actors. Dotrice said that she gave up her own career when she was asked as a teenager to appear topless on screen. ==Filmography==