Dorothy Hammond

Dorothy Hammond, born Dorothy Frances Plaskitt in 1876, was an English actress who performed on both the West End and Broadway stages in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The daughter of Lydia, née Webb, and Joshua Plaskitt, she built a career that brought her into contact with some of the most prominent theatrical figures of her era, including Herbert Beerbohm Tree, George Alexander, and Mrs. Patrick Campbell. She died in London on 23 November 1950.

Hammond's stage career began in the West End, where she appeared as Annis Marsh in The Princess and the Butterfly in 1897, followed by a role in Macbeth in 1898 and a production of All Changes Here!, the latter staged by the influential American producer Charles Frohman. Frohman, recognized for his skill in cultivating theatrical talent, subsequently brought Hammond to Broadway, where she performed between 1902 and 1908. Her Broadway credits during that period included Irene Wycherley, Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots, Granny, Man Proposes, and Julius Caesar. In 1900, the Ogden's Tobacco Company featured her in their cigarette card series entitled Actresses and Stage Artistes.

Following her Broadway years, Hammond toured the United States in 1914, playing Ethel in Peg o' My Heart. She also appeared in four films: the silent productions Hoodman Blind and Across the Continent, both released in 1913, the latter crediting her as Mrs. Guy Standing, and two British sound films, Jubilee Window in 1935 and Nothing Like Publicity in 1936.

In 1907, Hammond married the actor Guy Standing, and she largely withdrew from acting after their marriage. The couple had three children: Guy, Michael, and Dorothy Katherine, who pursued her own acting career under the professional name Kay Hammond.