Dolly Green (September 19, 1906 – September 4, 1990) was an American heiress, philanthropist and thoroughbred owner.
Dorothy Wellburn Green | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1906 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | September 4, 1990 (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Education | Marlborough School |
| Occupation(s) | Philanthropist, Thoroughbred owner/breeder |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Olin Wellborn (maternal grandfather) |
Early life
editDorothy Wellborn Green was born on September 19, 1906, to Burton E. Green (1868-1965), oilman and co-founder of Beverly Hills, California, and Lillian Wellborn.[1][2] Her maternal grandfather was Judge Olin Wellborn (1848-1921).[2] In 1979, she inherited part of the $3.6-billion sale of her father's Belridge Oil Company to Shell Oil Co.[1] She graduated from the Marlborough School.[1] She later served on the board of trustees of the Burton E. Green Foundation.[1]
Thoroughbreds and philanthropy
editGreen spent US$2.2 million for five yearlings at a horse sale at the Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1980.[1] Later, she owned seventy-four thoroughbreds. In 1984, she established the Dolly Green Equine Research Lab of the Southern California Equine Foundation at the Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California.[1] In 1986 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, her horse Brave Raj won the US$1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and would later be voted the Eclipse Award for American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.[1] The Dolly Green Research Foundation, affiliated with the Southern California Equine Foundation, ranks as the second-largest private foundation dedicated to research on equine health issues.[3] She socialized with Leslie Combs II, owner of Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.[4]
Green started the Dolly Green Scholars Award at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute.[1] She was a former member of the Los Angeles Junior League and the advisory board of the Los Angeles Orphanage Guild.[1]
Personal life
editGreen resided in Bel Air, Los Angeles.[1] She was a billionaire, and one of the richest people in California.[1][4] She died on September 4, 1990, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Myrna Oliver, Philanthropist 'Dolly' Green; Heiress Owned Thoroughbreds, Los Angeles Times, September 05, 1990
- ^ a b Marc Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2005, pp. 17-18 [1]
- ^ Dolly Green Research Foundation
- ^ a b Anne Hagedorn Auerbach, Wild Ride: The Rise and Fall of Calumet Farm Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty, New York City: Macmillan Publishers, 2010, p. 109 [2]