Dorothy+Dandridge



Singer, actress. Born November 9, 1922, in [|Cleveland, Ohio]. Dandridge’s mother, the actress Ruby Dandridge, urged her two young daughters into show business in the 1930s, when they performed as a song-and-dance team billed as "The Wonder Children.” Dandridge left high school in the late 1930s and formed the Dandridge Sisters trio with her sister Vivian and Etta James. They performed with the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra and at the famous [|Cotton Club] in [|Harlem], where Dandridge found a great deal of discrimination. As a teenager, Dandridge began to appear in small roles in a number of films, including //A Day at the Races //  (1937) and //Drums of the Congo //  (1942). In 1945, she married [|Harold Nicholas] of the dancing [|Nicholas Brothers], during their disorderly six-year marriage, Dandridge virtually retired from performing. A daughter, Harolyn, was born with severe brain damage in 1943, and was forced to but her in foster care. After her divorce in 1951, Dandridge returned to the nightclub circuit, this time as a successful solo singer. She became an international star, performing at glamorous venues in London, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, and New York. She won her first starring film role in 1953’s //Bright Road // , playing an earnest and dedicated young schoolteacher opposite [|Harry Belafonte]. Her next role, as the eponymous lead in[| Carmen Jones]  (1954),a film adaptation of Bizet's opera  //Carmen //  that also costarred Belafonte, brought her career to stardom. With her sultry looks and flirtatious style, Dandridge became the first African-American to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Though many believed she deserved to win, Dandridge eventually lost the award to Grace Kelly. In 1955, she was featured on the cover of  // [|Life magazine] //, and was treated like visiting royalty at that year’s [|Cannes Film Festival]. In the years that followed her success with  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Carmen Jones // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, however, Dandridge had trouble finding film roles that suited her talents. Her only other great film was 1959’s <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Porgy and Bess // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, in which she played Bess opposite [|Sidney Poitier]. She appeared in several poorly received racially and sexually charged dramas, including <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Island in the Sun // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (1957), co-starring Belafonte and Joan Fontaine, <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tamango //  <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (1959),in which she played the mistress of the captain of a slave ship, and <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Malaga //  <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (1960).While making <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Carmen Jones //  <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, Dandridge became involved in a heated, secretive affair with the film's director,[| Otto Preminger] , who also directed //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Porgy and Bess // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Their interracial romance, as well as Dandridge's relationships with other white lovers, was frowned upon, not in the least by other African-American members of the Hollywood filmmaking community. She married her second husband, Jack Denison, in 1959, and lost the majority of her savings when his restaurant failed in 1962. He left her soon after.

As her film career and marriage failed, Dandridge began drinking heavily and taking antidepressants. The threat of bankruptcy and nagging problems with the IRS forced her to resume her nightclub career, but she found only a fraction of her former success. Relegated to second-rate lounges and stage productions, Dandridge's financial situation grew worse and worse. By 1963, she could no longer afford to pay for her daughter's 24-hour medical care, and Harolyn was placed in a state institution. Dandridge soon suffered a nervous breakdown. On September 8, 1965, she was found dead in her Hollywood home, an apparent suicide from a drug overdose. In 1999, the actress Halle Berry won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dandridge in an acclaimed HBO movie, //<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Introducing Dorothy Dandridge // <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.



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