Born in Newark, New Jersey, Dore Schary worked as an actor, journalist, publicist, and playwright before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s. After establishing himself as a successful screenwriter - sharing an Academy Award for the original story for Boys Town (1938) - he became a producer, rising through the studio ranks until he was named chief of production at MGM in 1948.

In his eight years as chief of production, he endeavored to strike a balance in the company's output between escapist entertainment and serious, issue-oriented films, while also attempting to resist the political witch-hunters and blacklisting of the McCarthy era. After leaving MGM in 1956, he wrote and produced Sunrise at Campobello, the acclaimed play about Franklin Roosevelt's struggle with paralysis, which won five Tony Awards and was later made into a film. Schary continued to work in film and theater as a writer, producer and director until his death in 1980.

A committed liberal activist in both his public and his professional life, Schary served as National Chairman of the Anti-Defamation League, and as New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs. To honor his memory, the Anti-Defamation League has established the Dore Schary Awards in 1982.

Dore Schary had a relationship with director Moss Hart. He died at age 75, and was interred in the Hebrew Cemetery, West Long Branch, New Jersey.