Dorothy Dandridge
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Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922–September 8, 1965) was an American actress. She was the first African American to be nominated for the Academy Award in the Best Actress category and the third African American to receive a nomination in any category overall (after Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters).
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[edit] Birth
She was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Cyril Dandridge, an African-American and Ruby Jean Butler, who was mixed daughter of Jamaican, Mexican and Native American. Her parents split up five months prior to her birth. She had one sister, Vivian.
[edit] Career
[edit] Beginnings
Dorothy Dandridge began singing in her church's choir. Ruby Dandridge — an ambitious, small-time local performer who would become a successful stage and screen actress — created an act with her daughters that performed as "The Wonder Children." The "Wonder Children" toured in the South for five years with Ruby's lesbian partner, Geneva Williams, while Ruby continued working and performing in Ohio. Some biographies document this period as the beginning of the sexual abuse the young Dorothy would suffer from Williams until adolescence. During this period, the young Dandrige toured non-stop, rarely attending school.
With the start of the Great Depression, work for the Wonder Children dried up as it did for many of the "Chitlin' Circuit" performers. Ruby Jean Butler Dandridge packed her family and moved to Hollywood in search of a new career for her daughters and herself. In Los Angeles, she found steady work, playing a domestic in small parts on the radio and in film. During this time, Geneva continued to train and rehearse the girls; Dorothy was also re-enrolled in school. Her first on-screen appearance was as an extra in a 1935 Our Gang short called Teacher's Beau.
[edit] The Dandridge Sisters
The Dandridge Sisters were formed when the Dandridge Sisters were joined by dancing class classmate Etta Jones.
Dandridge made her first important screen appearance in a small part in the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races in 1937, along with her sister. The Dandridge Sisters traveled all over the world and even performed at the Cotton Club with the Nicholas Brothers. They also appeared in the 1939 film Going Places, with Maxine Sullivan and Louis Armstrong. It was also during this time she would meet her future husband, Harold Nicholas.
[edit] Going Solo
Dandridge did not receive another role until 1940, when she appeared in Four Shall Die a race film, in which she played a murderer. All of her early roles were stereotypical parts for African American actresses, but her singing ability brought her popularity in nightclubs around the country. During this period, she starred in several "soundies", video films designed to be displayed on juke boxes, including Paper Doll by the Mills Brothers Cow Cow Boogie, "Jig In The Jungle," "Mr. & Mrs. Carpenters (Rent Party)".
[edit] Carmen Jones
The most important role of her career nearly escaped her. Until Carmen Jones, Dandridge had maintained subtly different on-screen and off-screen personas. While her natural sensuousness was always apparent, her films to this point generally portrayed her as the "nice girl" in contrast to her club performer presence. Biographers write that she was directed to read for the character Cindy Lou (eventually cast with Olga James). However, Dandridge auditioned for Carmen in full costume and character. The film would also mark the beginning of her on-screen and off-screen relationship with director Otto Preminger.
Dandridge was cast in Carmen Jones, the remake of the play of the same name, in November 1954, receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She appeared on the cover of Life magazine, the first African American to do so.
[edit] Other Movies and The Ed Sullivan Show
Despite the Oscar nomination, Dandridge had to go to Italy to make her next movie, Tamango, in 1956. She agreed to play "Tuptim" in The King and I, but later changed her mind (Rita Moreno got the part instead). This reneging may have led to her lack of work in Hollywood, and she was once again forced to go on tour and perform at clubs across the nation. In 1957, she played in Island in the Sun which was controversial for its portrayal of an interracial romance; in 1959 she starred in Porgy and Bess alongside Sidney Poitier, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
In 1961, Dandridge guest-starred on the Ed Sullivan Show. She sang a ballad, giving viewers the chance to hear her real voice. (All the leads in Carmen Jones had been dubbed, with the exception of Pearl Bailey.)
[edit] Marriages
Dandridge married Harold Nicholas on September 6, 1942. The couple had one child, Harolyn Nicholas, Dandridge's only child. Harolyn was born on September 2, 1943; she was severely mentally handicapped. The couple divorced in October 1951. Dandridge became involved with Otto Preminger while he was still married. This affair lasted for years, but Preminger refused to divorce his wife.
Dandridge married Jack Denison, a white man, on June 22, 1959. Denison was physically abusive and took much of Dandridge's money to put into his restaurant business and into oil deals. She filed for divorce after two years, but was left in debt. She had to take Harolyn out of a private institution and place her into a public institution.
[edit] Death
In 1965, Dandridge was found dead at the age of 42 in her home in West Hollywood, California from an overdose of Imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. Modern analysts believe that she may have suffered from bipolar disorder. As she was depressed and apparently destitute, many speculate that her death was a suicide, but the official coroner's report did not make a final determination. Of great concern to Dandridge at the time was her financial situation, including home foreclosure and the prospect of having to institutionalize her daughter, a fate she dreaded throughout Harolyn's life.
Fayard Nicholas maintains publicly that Dandridge's death was the result of accidentally taking pain medication (for a severely injured ankle) in conjunction with her other routine medications. Nicholas cites Earl Mills' (then) recent scheduling of two high-paying films in Mexico and several well-paying club engagements as evidence that Dandridge had turned the corner financially and needed only to complete the work to restore her financial health. Her business manager at the time was Jerome Rosenthal, who years later would be found guilty of plundering the fortune of client Doris Day.
Many attended her funeral, except Otto Preminger, Jack Denison, and Vivian Dandridge. Her father was to arrive at her funeral but was given the wrong information by Ruby Dandridge. Harold Nicholas also attended her funeral and left her rose. Dandridge's cremated remains are interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California. After her mother died in 1987, she was interred with Dandridge at Forest Lawn. Her father, Cyril, died in 1989, and her sister Vivian died in 1991 of a massive stroke. Her daughter still lives in a California institution.
[edit] Legacy
- She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6719 Hollywood Boulevard.
- She was placed in the Black Film Hall of Fame in 1977
- Fellow Clevelander Halle Berry played Dandridge in the made-for-TV movie, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), for which she won an Emmy Award. Berry was noted for her striking resemblance to Dandridge, and for her engaging depiction of the actress’ struggle to succeed in the racially biased industry of 1950s Hollywood. Coincidentally, Berry later became the first African American to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. In her speech, Berry paid tribute to Dandridge.
- She was an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
- Her great-grand niece, who goes by the name of "Fantasy", bears an eerily striking resemblance to her. A retired actress, she now resides in Auburn hills, Michigan.
- Dandridge was one of the actresses considered for the film based on Cleopatra by director Rouben Mamoulian, which eventually went to Elizabeth Taylor.
[edit] Filmography
- Teacher's Beau Hal Roach, 1935
- The Big Broadcast of 1936 Paramount, 1936
- A Day at the Races MGM, 1937
- It Can't Last Forever Columbia, 1937
- Going Places Warner Bros., 1938
- Irene RKO, 1940
- Four Shall Die Million Dollar, 1940
- Lady from Louisiana Republic, 1941
- Sun Valley Serenade 20th Century-Fox, 1941
- Sundown United Artists, 1941
- Bahama Passage Paramount, 1941
- Ride 'Em Cowboy Universal, 1942
- Night in New Orleans Paramount, 1942
- Drums of the Congo Universal, 1942
- Lucky Jordan Paramount, 1942
- Happy Go Lucky Paramount, 1943
- Hit Parade of 1943 Republic, 1943
- Since You Went Away Selznick, 1944
- Atlantic City Republic, 1944
- Pillow to Post Warner Bros., 1945
- Ebony Parade Astor, 1947
- Tarzan's Peril RKO, 1951
- The Harlem Globetrotters Columbia, 1951
- Bright Road MGM, 1953
- Remains to Be Seen MGM, 1953
- Carmen Jones 20th Century-Fox, 1954
- Tamango Hal Roach, 1957
- Island in the Sun 20th Century-Fox, 1957
- The Happy Road MGM, 1957
- The Decks Ran Red MGM, 1958
- Porgy and Bess Goldwyn, 1959
- Moment of Danger Warner Bros., 1960
- The Murder Men MGM, 1961
