Contact Us
To contact the Marie Dressler Foundation by mail or email, see our About Us page.
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Support Us
Go to this page to support Marie Dressler Foundation online.
Vintage Film Festival
The Foundation produces the Vintage Film Festival every year on a weekend in October. Full details here.
Marie Dressler House
The history of the Marie Dressler House is here. It is now the home of the Interactive Canadian Women in Film Museum.
Dressler House is located at:
212 King street West (Hwy 2),
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada.
The Marie Dressler Museum has been expanded and is now called "Canadian Women in Film Museum".
Hours
Opening hours for Summer 2022
Tuesday thru Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Visit the new museum's website here for details of how to book your visit at other times
Latest Bursaries
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The Marie Dressler Story
Born in Cobourg, Canada - one of Hollywood's greatest stars
The Dressler Story: to Dream, to Dare, to Persist, to Win
Cobourg is the birthplace of Marie Dressler - one of the greatest comediennes of her generation and one of Hollywood's best loved stars.
This is the official site of the Marie Dressler Foundation whose mission is to make sure that Marie Dressler is remembered. The Foundation, a registered charity, was created to raise money to restore her house when it was burnt down in 1989 (More here).
Vintage FIlm Festival
Our largest activity has been the Vintage Film Festival which is held on a weekend in October every year.
But in 2018 we had additional major events to celebrate Marie's 150th birthday.
Bursaries
Another major activity of the Foundation is to award scholarships/bursaries to students planning to pursue an education in the arts field. There is a list of previous scholarship winners here. The 2019 winners were presented with their awards at Dressler House on July 6 - see the story with photos here. For more information on how to apply, go here.
Also available on this site
- A complete biography.
- Information on her house where she was born
- Updates on Foundation Activity [News]
- Our list of her films
- Museum details (external site)
Four Exceptional Students Win 2018 Bursaries
On July 7, 2018, bursaries of $1500 each were presented to the four winning students. The photo below is of the four students and the video shows the presentation by Rick Miller (chair of the Foundation) and other board members. The first winner in the video is Graham Beer – many will note that he is generally on the other side of the camera. Witnessing the event were Foundation board members, parents of recipients, the media and a couple of guests visiting from Victoria. Originally residents of Cobourg, Pam Jackson and Pat Archer helped in the original collection of artifacts for the Museum.
The Marie Dressler Foundation Board believes that it’s fitting that Cobourg celebrates its heritage and in particular the Cobourg born star Marie Dressler, by awarding these bursaries.
Graham Beer - Cobourg Collegiate Institute - Presenter: Scott Fraser
Kieva Earle - St. Mary’s Catholic Secondary School - Presenter: Cathie Houston
Ben Hughes - East Northumberland Secondary School - Presenter: Terry Foord
Sydney Stewart - Cobourg Collegiate Institute - Presenter: Rick Miller
Note that the awards for the first three are based on merit and the fact that they are planning tertiary studies in the performing arts but Sydney’s award was also for exceptional community devotion. That award is called the Bill Patchett Devotion to Community Award to honour the community service by Bill Patchett.
Celebrate Marie Dressler 150
| Date | Name of Event |
| August 4 | Movies In Victoria Park, Cobourg |
| September 9 until November 10 | “Cobourg’s Sweetheart: Celebrating Marie Dressler” |
| September 14 | “Women and Hollywood” |
| September 29 | “Dinner At Eight” |
| November 9 | Marie Dressler 150 Celebration Day |
Marie Dressler 150 Celebration Day
Proclaimed as "Marie Dressler 150 Celebration Day" by Town Council
November 9, 2018 at 4:00 pm in front of Victoria Hall, Cobourg
This will be a public celebration with speeches by local dignitaries with some give-aways for the attendees, and a special surprise.
Download the Town's proclamation here.
More details will be forthcoming in the next few months.
Free admission
Sponsors:
Town of Cobourg
Hollywood North Presents Dinner at Eight
September 29, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. at Best Western Plus Cobourg Inn, Cobourg
An epic celebration of Marie Dressler’s 150th birthday using her 65th birthday in Hollywood as a theme.
The evening features:
1930’s cocktails, food, and décor (wine included with dinner)
Live 1930’s big band and jazz music by Northumberland Orchestra during dinner
Surprises during the evening
Following dinner, a showing of “Dinner At Eight” (1933) starring Marie Dressler
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