Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922–September 8, 1965) was an American actress and popular singer. Dandridge was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Early life and career

Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Cyril Dandridge, a cabinetmaker and minister and Ruby Dandridge (née Butler), an aspiring entertainer. Dandridge's parents separated shortly before her birth. Ruby Dandridge soon created an act for her two young daughters, Vivian and Dorothy, under the name of "The Wonder Children." The daughters toured the Southern United States for five years while Ruby worked and performed in Cleveland. During this time, they toured non-stop and rarely attended school.

With the start of the Great Depression, work dried up, as it did for many of the Chitlin' circuit performers. Ruby Dandridge moved to Hollywood, where she found steady work playing domestics in small parts on radio and film. "The Wonder Kids" were renamed "The Dandridge Sisters" and booked into such venues as the Cotton Club and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Dandridge's first on-screen appearance was a bit part in a 1935 Our Gang short. In 1937 she appeared in the Marx Brothers feature A Day at the Races.

In 1940, Dandridge played a murderer in the race film Four Shall Die. All of her early parts were stereotypical African-American roles, but her singing ability and presence brought her popularity in nightclubs around the country. During this period, she starred in several "soundies", film clips designed to be displayed on juke boxes, including "Paper Doll" by the Mills Brothers, "Cow Cow Boogie", "Jig in the Jungle", "Mr. & Mrs. Carpenter's Rent Party.

Carmen Jones

In 1954, director and writer Otto Preminger cast Dandridge, along with Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, and Joe Adams in his production of Carmen Jones. Dandridge's singing voice was dubbed by Marilyn Horne.

Carmen Jones grossed $60,000 during the first week and $47,000 in the second upon release in 1955. The film received favorable reviews, and Dandridge was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming only the third African American to receive a nomination in any Academy Award category (after Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters). Grace Kelly won for her performance in The Country Girl. At the ceremony, Dandridge presented the Academy Award for Film Editing to Gene Milford for On the Waterfront.

Personal life

Dandridge married dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas on September 6, 1942, and gave birth to her only child, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas, on September 2, 1943. Harolyn was born brain-damaged, and the couple divorced in October 1951.

Dandridge married Jack Denison on June 22, 1959, although amid allegations of domestic abuse and financial setbacks, the pair was divorced. At this time, Dandridge discovered that the people who were handling her finances had swindled her out of $150,000, and that she was $139,000 in debt for back taxes. Forced to sell her Hollywood home and to place her daughter in a state mental institution in Camarillo, California, Dandridge moved into a small apartment at 8495 Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood, California. Alone and without any acting roles or singing engagements on the horizon, Dandridge suffered a nervous breakdown. Shortly thereafter, Earl Mills started arranging her comeback.

Death

On September 8, 1965, Dandridge spoke with friend Gerry Branton. Dandridge was scheduled to fly to New York the next day to prepare for her nightclub engagement at Basin Street East. Several hours after her conversation with Branton ended, Dandridge was found dead by her manager, Earl Mills. Two months later a Los Angeles pathology institute determined the cause to be an accidental overdose of Imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. She was 42 years old.

On September 12, 1965, a private funeral service was held for Dandridge at the Little Chapel of the Flowers; then she was cremated and her ashes were entombed in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Legacy

Many years passed before the entertainment industry acknowledged Dandridge's legacy. Starting in the 1980s, stars such as Cicely Tyson, Jada Pinkett, Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett acknowledged Dandridge's contributions to the role of blacks in film.

In 1999, Halle Berry took the lead role of Dandridge in the HBO Movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, for which she won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Dandridge has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6719 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1935	The Big Broadcast of 1936	as member of the Dandridge Sisters
	Teacher's Beau		uncredited
1936	Easy to Take	as member of The Dandridge Sisters	uncredited
1937	It Can't Last Forever	Dandridge Sisters Act	uncredited
	A Day at the Races	Performer in the 'All God's Children Got Rhythm' number	uncredited
1938	Going Places	Member of Singing/Dancing Trio at Party	uncredited
	Snow Gets in Your Eyes	member of the Dandridge Sisters Vocal Trio	uncredited
1940	Irene	member of the Dandridge Sisters	uncredited
	Four Shall Die	Helen Fielding
1941	Bahama Passage	Thalia
	Sundown	Kipsang's bride	uncredited
	Sun Valley Serenade	Specialty act
	Lady from Louisiana	Felice	aka Lady from New Orleans
	Easy Street
	Yes, Indeed!
	Laazybones
1942	Lucky Jordan	Hollyhock school maid	uncredited
	Night in New Orleans	Sal, Shadrach's girl	uncredited
	The Night Before the Divorce	Maid	uncredited
	Ride 'Em Cowboy	Congoroo	uncredited
	Drums of the Congo	Princess Malimi
1943	Hit Parade of 1943	Count Basie Band Singer	aka Change of Heart (USA: reissue title)
	Happy Go Lucky	Chorine	uncredited
1944	Since You Went Away	Black Officer's wife in train station	uncredited
	Atlantic City (1944)	Singer	aka Atlantic City Honeymoon (USA: reissue title)
1947	Ebony Parade		as Dorothy Daindridge
1951	The Harlem Globetrotters	Ann Carpenter
	Tarzan's Peril	Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba
1953	Bright Road	Jane Richards
1954	Carmen Jones	Carmen Jones	Academy Award nomination BAFTA Award nomination
1957	Island in the Sun	Margot Seaton
	The Happy Road		aka La Route joyeuse (France)
1958	The Decks Ran Red	Mahia	aka La Rivolta dell'esperanza (Italy)
	Tamango	Aiché, Reiker's mistress
1959	Porgy and Bess	Bess	Golden Globe nomination
1960	Moment of Danger	Gianna
1961	The Murder Men	Norma Sherman	archive footage

Television

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1945	Pillow to Post	Herself - vocalist	uncredited
1951-1953	The Colgate Comedy Hour	Herself - vocalist
1952	Songs for Sale	Herself	Episode dated 13 June 1952
1952-1961	Toast of the Town	Herself - vocalist	7 episodes, aka The Ed Sullivan Show
1953	Remains to Be Seen	Herself
1954	Light's Diamond Jubilee	Herself
	The George Jessel Show	Herself	Episode #1.25
1956	Ford Star Jubilee	vocalist	You're the Top
1962	Cain's Hundred	Norma Sherman	Blues for a Junkman

Sources

• Dandridge, Dorothy & Conrad, Earl. Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy Abelard-Schuman; 1st edition (1970). ISBN 0200716905. HarperCollins, New Ed edition (2000). - ISBN 0060956755.
• Mills, Earl. Dorothy Dandridge: An Intimate Portrait of Hollywood's First Major Black Film Star Holloway House Publishing, 1999. ISBN 087067899X.

Footnotes

External links

• Dorothy Dandridge at the Internet Movie Database
• Dorothy Dandridge biography & photos