Dorothy Hammerstein Dorothy Hammerstein Dorothy Hammerstein (7 June 18993 August 1987) was an Australian-born American interior designer and decorator. She was the second wife of the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Dorothy Marian Kiaora Blanchard was born to Henry James Blanchard (1862–?), a New Zealand-born master mariner (Dorothy's second middle name Kiaora is a traditional greeting in the Māori language of New Zealand). Her mother was Marion (née Parmenter; 1867–1946), born in Scotland. There were four other daughters of the marriage. Henry Blanchard became a ship's pilot on Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay, and they resided in the bayside suburb of Williamstown, in a
Oscar Hammerstein I machine's worth to around $200,000. Another invention that Hammerstein created was a more efficient plumbing system for his sink when it had leaked one night. He also moonlighted as a theater manager in the downtown German theaters. He became wealthy industrializing cigar manufacturing, and his tobacco fortune provided the money he used to pursue his theater interests. Hammerstein built his first theater, the Harlem Opera House, on 125th Street in 1889, along with 50 housing developments. His second theater, the Columbus Theatre, was built in 1890 on the same street, featuring light theatrical productions. His third theater was the first