Sincerely, Dina Lamont

That’s all there was: a small box, big enough to hold about two reams of paper, sitting in the middle of the otherwise empty storage unit. Inside the box were three manila folders, innocent-looking enough. There was also a mostly completed manuscript. But there was something else: a canceled check in the amount of $50,000.

This is how it began. This is how the author first learned about the once-famous actress Dina Lamont. It was a discovery that led to five years worth of research to uncover the story of this lost star.

And now, in print, fifty years after the project was started, you will read the greatest story never told, about how one of Hollywood’s biggest stars got lost to time.

Dina Lamont, nee Harris, is the young daughter of a once-famous theater actress. She and her mother strike out into the big world of entertainment thanks to a modeling job advertising the new invention of sliced bread. From there, it was a brief hop to the silver screen by way of a short film. Then it was onto the vaudeville circuit and a railway trip to Los Angeles that left the two women stranded and without any work.

But, that was okay: the flickers beckoned, and Dina answered.

A chance encounter at a flashy Hollywood party put Dina on the screen. It was a small role, but it would be the beginning of a life of celebrated success, stunning defeat, and renewed dreams.
Here, then, is the story of a woman who would rise to the pinnacle of success in Hollywood. She would be famous the world over, appearing in magazines and on the cover of newspapers in every language.

Was it all worth it?

We’ll never know. Not only is Dina long dead, but her tale remained untold until an unnamed author stumbled onto her in the last months of her life. He wrote her story and then put it all away, in a box, just barely big enough to hold about two reams of paper.

That’s where our story begins.