Isabel Seitz, also known as Isabel Dawn, was born on October 20, 1897, to John and Mary Seitz. She was a 1916 graduate of Central High School in Evansville, Indiana, and later worked as an editor for various newspapers, including the Evansville Courier, Kokomo Dispatch, and Louisville newspapers.
Isabel attended Valparaiso University and began her acting career in stage plays in New York City in 1922. She made her film debut in 1929 in the two-act comedy "The Family Car." Prior to this, she had gained experience in radio roles, including the creation of the character Dorothy in "Dorothy and Jack" and Joan in "Old Man Donaldson's Adventures."
Isabel's radio work earned her praise from critics, with one New York critic noting her "elastic voice and charming disposition." She also appeared in the 1929 radio drama "Mimi," directed by David Belasco, and was a featured actress in Collier's Radio Hour feature "Social Error."
In 1930, Isabel traveled to Los Angeles to star in the stage play "Marathon," which she co-wrote with Herbert Howe Winslow and Hugh Strange. The play had a successful run at the Mansfield Theater (now the Brooks Atkinson Theater) in New York City in 1933.
Isabel spent the fall of 1932 in London, England, where she attended a tea at the Park Lane Hotel and was a guest of the Marchioness of Townshend at Raynham Castle, Norfolk. She received a special gift, "Dawn the Royal Tiger," from James Caldwell, British vice-consul of Saltillo, Coahuala, Mexico, which she later gave to the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, Indiana.
In the 1930s, Isabel collaborated with her husband, Boyce DeGow, on several screenplays, including "Girl of the Golden West" for Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Her other notable scripts include those for "If I Had a Million" (1932),"The Girl of the Golden West" (1938),and "Up in Mabel's Room" (1944).
Isabel's only television appearance was as Powder Kate Hadigan in the 1958 episode "Ghost of the Cimarron" of the series Cheyenne. She died on June 29, 1966, at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, due to a pulmonary infection (cancer).
