Dorothy McGuire started on her acting career in the late 1930s in New York. Her first major appearance on Broadway, she had in 1938 when she was allowed to stand in for Martha Scott in the Thornton Wilder play, Our Town (Our Town).

Her film career began in 1943 with the title role in the comedy Claudia directed by Edmund Goulding. For her performance in Elia Kazan's film Gentleman's Agreement, she was nominated for a 1948 Oscar. Although she knew very convincing in the postwar years in some very notable films, she was never one of the glamorous Hollywood stars in these years. In the 1970s, she played on the hit television series rich and poor, the mother of the brothers Jordache (Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte).

After her death in 2001, the organizers of the 2002 Academy Awards during the ceremony forgot the usual obituary to them.

Dorothy McGuire was married from 1943 to 1979 with the photographer John Swope. They had a son and a daughter.

Filmography: