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Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio on
November 9, 1923. Under the prodding of her mother, Dorothy and her sister
began performing publicly usually in black Baptist churches throughout the
country. Her mother, an entertainer herself and the daughter of Madame Sul-Te-Wan,
an actress from Kentucky, would often join her daughters on stage. As the
depression worsened, Dorothy and her family picked up and moved to Los
Angeles where they had hopes of finding better work, perhaps in film. Her
first film was in the Marx Brothers comedy, A DAY AT THE RACES in 1937. It
was only a bit part but Dorothy had hopes that it would blossom into
something better. But because she was a black woman in a very prejudiced
society, she didn't land the roles that were readily available to her white
counterparts. She did not appear in another film until 1940 in FOUR SHALL
DIE. The role was nothing great other than to establish the fact that she
was very beautiful and talented. Her next few roles in the early forties
included films such as BAHAMA PASSAGE (1941), DRUMS OF THE CONGO (1942), and
CHANGE OF HEART (1943). There were others in between, of course, but they
were the usual black stereotypical films for women such as Dorothy. Not only
was she a talented actress but she could also sing which was evident in
films such as ATLANTIC CITY (1944) and PILLOW TO POST (1945). This helped to
showcase her talents as a singer and brought her headline acts in the
nation's finest hotel nightclubs in New York, Miami, Chicago, and Las Vegas.
She may have been allowed to sing in these fine hotels, but because of
racism, she couldn't stay there. It was reported that one hotel drained its
swimming pool to keep her from enjoying that little amenity. In 1954,
Dorothy appeared in the all-black production of CARMEN JONES in the title
role. She was so superb in that picture that she garnered an Academy
Award nomination but lost
out to Grace Kelly in THE COUNTRY GIRL. Despite the nomination for her
performance Dorothy did not get another movie until she appeared in TAMANGO
(1956) which was an Italian film. She was to make six more motion pictures
of which ISLAND IN THE SUN (1957) and PORGY AND BESS (1959) were worthy of
mention. Once again she was a standout. The last movie she would ever play
would be in 1961's THE MURDER MEN. Dorothy faded quickly after that with a
poor second marriage to Jack Denison (her first was to Haroled Nicholas),
poor investments,other financial woes, and a problem with alcohol. She was
found dead in her West Hollywood apartment on September 8, 1965, the victim
of a barbituate poisoning. She was only 41. Had she been born 20 years
later, Dorothy Dandridge would no doubt be one of the most well-known
actresses in film history. source:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199268/bio |