Dorcas Brower

Dorcas Brower was publicized as the first authentic "Eskimo" actress to appear in a Hollywood film. She was age 20 at the time of her only film appearance, 1960's Ice Palace. (Note that "Eskimo" was the term used in all publicity releases, and by Brower herself in interviews.) Brower was from Point Barrow, Alaska, and graduated from Sheldon Jackson Junior College in Sitka, where she majored in dramatics. Studio publicity identified her as 1959's Miss Alaska, although this was not the case. (Publicists also shaved a couple of years off her age in later publicity dispatches, claiming she was 20 in 1960, but 19 in 1961.) She is the granddaughter of Charles Brower, author of the classic memoir "50 Years Below Zero", which is still in print. Brower returned to Alaska after filming her role as "Una" in Ice Palace, and resumed her work as an airline stewardess for Alaska Airlines. She did not pursue a Hollywood career, but instead stayed in the airline business. She later married, and with her husband, founded and ran Cape Smythe Air Services, a 16-plane regional airline operating out of Point Barrow.