Dorothy Dandridge
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| Dorothy Dandridge | |
|---|---|
 from The Decks Ran Red (1958) |
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| Born | Dorothy Jean Dandridge November 9, 1922 Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Died | September 8, 1965 (aged 42) West Hollywood, California, United States |
| Years active | 1935-1961 |
| Spouse(s) | Harold Nicholas (1942-1951) Jack Denison (1959-1962) |
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.[1]
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[edit] 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.[2] 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.[3]
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[4] and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Dandridge's first on-screen appearance was a bit part in a 1935 Our Gang short.[5] In 1937 she appeared in the Marx Brothers feature A Day at the Races.[6]
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."[7]
[edit] 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.[8] Dandridge's singing voice was dubbed by Marilyn Horne.[9]
Carmen Jones grossed $60,000 during the first week and $47,000 in the second upon release in 1955.[citation needed] 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.
[edit] 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.[2]
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.
[edit] 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.[10]
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.
[edit] Legacy
Many years passed before the entertainment industry acknowledged Dandridge's legacy. Starting in the 1980s, stars such as Cicely Tyson, Jada Pinkett Smith, 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[11], and a Screen Actors Guild Award.[12] When Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball, she dedicated the "moment [to] Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll."[13]
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Dandridge has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6719 Hollywood Boulevard.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] 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 |
[edit] Television
| Year | Title | 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 |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Potter, Joan (2002). African American Firsts: Famous Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America. Kensington Books. pp. 81. ISBN 0-758-20243-1.
- ^ a b Lyman, Darryl (2005). Great African-American Women. Jonathan David Company, Inc. pp. 50. ISBN 0-824-60459-8.
- ^ Taylor, Quintard; Wilson Moore, Shirley Ann (2003). African American Women Confront the West. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 239. ISBN 0-806-13524-7.
- ^ Mills, Earl (1999). Dorothy Dandridge: An Intimate Biography. Holloway House Publishing. ISBN 0-870-67899-X.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard; Bann, Richard W. (1993). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang. Crown. pp. 279. ISBN 0-517-58325-9.
- ^ Carney Smith, Jessie; Palmisano, Joseph M. (2000). Reference Library of Black America. African American Publications, Proteus Enterprises. pp. 858.
- ^ Terenzio, Maurice; MacGillivray, Scott (1991). The Soundies Distributing Corporation of America: A History and Filmography of Their "Jukebox" Musical Films of the 1940s. Okuda, Ted. McFarland & Co.. pp. 58. ISBN 0-899-50578-3.
- ^ Green, Stanley; Schmidt, Elaine (2000). Hollywood Musicals: Year by Year. Hal Leonard. pp. 189. ISBN 0-634-00765-3.
- ^ McClary, Susan (1992). Georges Bizet: Carmen. Cambridge University Press. pp. 133. ISBN 0-521-39897-5.
- ^ Gorney, Cynthia (February 9, 1988). "The Fragile Flame of Dorothy Dandridge; Remembering the Shattered Life Of a Beautiful 1950s Movie Star". Washington Post. pp. E2.
- ^ "Halle Berry, Charles Dutton Capture Coveted Primetime Emmy Awards". Jet. 2000-09-25. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_16_98/ai_65702453. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ "Halle Berry Explains Why 2000 Has Been The Worst And Best Year Of Her Life". Jet. 2000-09-11. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_14_98/ai_65913489. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
- ^ "Halle Berry's Acceptance Speech." blackfilm.com. March 26, 2002.
[edit] References
- 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.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dorothy Dandridge |
- Dorothy Dandridge at the Internet Movie Database
- Dorothy Dandridge at the Internet Broadway Database
- Dorothy Dandridge at TV.com
- Dorothy Dandridge biography & photos
- Dorothy Dandridge at Find A Grave
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dandridge, Dorothy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dandridge, Dorothy Jean |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actress, singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 9, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland, Ohio |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 8, 1965 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | West Hollywood, California |
