Dorothy Dandridge ~ Celebrity

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

She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. In 1954, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Carmen Jones, and, in 1959, was nominated for a Golden GlobeAward for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Porgy and Bess. In 1999, she was the subject of the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. She has been recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Dandridge was married and divorced twice, first to dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas (the father of her daughter, Harolyn Suzanne) and then to Jack Denison. Dandridge died of an accidental drug overdose, at the age of 42

Early life and Career

Dorothy Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Cyril Dandridge (October 25, 1895 – July 9, 1989), acabinetmaker and minister, and to 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 almost non-stop and rarely attended school.

At the onset of the Great Depression, work virtually dried up for the Dandridges, as it did for many of the Chitlin' circuit performers. Ruby Dandridge moved to Hollywood, California, where she found steady work on radio and film in small parts as a domestic servant. "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 City.

Dorothy Dandridge's first screen appearance was a bit part in a 1935 Teacher's Beau. In 1937, she appeared in the Marx Brothers feature film, 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 nationwide. 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."

20th Century Fox and Carmen Jones

In 1954, Dorothy signed a six year deal with 20th Century Fox. Soon after director and writer Otto Preminger cast Dandridge, along with Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll, Madame Sul-Te-Wan (uncredited), and Joe Adams, in his all-black production ofCarmen Jones.^[11] However, Dandridge's singing voice was dubbed by opera singer Marilyn Horne.

Upon release in 1954, Carmen Jones grossed $60,000 during its first week and $47,000 in its second week.^{[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)but the first African American to be nominated for best actress. Grace Kelly won the award for her performance in The Country Girl. At the awards ceremony, Dandridge presented the Academy Award for Film Editing to Gene Milford for On the Waterfront.

In 1955 20th Century Fox choose Dandridge to play the supporting role of Tuptim in The King and I. The character was a slave, which made Dorothy say "no." But after some convincing from Fox cheif, Darryl F. Zanuck, that the role was a good one, Dorothy said "yes." But when Dorothy's previous director, Otto Preminger told her the role was too small, and she had just shown the world that she could handle a starring role. And so he suggested she turn the role down. Dorothy once again turned the part down. Not making this film started the slow, but steady decline of her career.

After Carmen and Career Decline

By 1956, still under contract to Fox, Dandridge hadn't made any films since Carmen Jones. Fox still believed that Dorothy was a star, but just didn't know how to promote her. One of the head chiefs at Fox once said "She's a star, but we don't have any films to put her in or leading men to cast her with." In 1957 Dorothy's luck came back when Darryl F. Zanuck cast Dandridge in his independent production, Island in the Sun, co-starring stars such as Joan Fontaine, James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Joan Collins, Michael Rennie, and Stephen Boyd. This film was a success which brought Dandridge back to the public eye.

Though Island in the Sun was a success, Dandridge didn't get another film until she was cast in the low-budget foreign production Tamango, which teamed her with Curt Jurgens. The film received fair reviews, but failed to make any money at the box office. Dandridge believed that the film failed because she played a slave, a part she vowed she'd never play. After the failure of Tamango, Dorothy vowed to wait for a suitable role. But there were still no roles in sight, so she started singing in nightclubs once again.

In July 1958, Dandridge flew to Italy to see if there happened to be any films for her; there were not, but just before she was ready to leave she got word that there was to be a casting for a film and she was being considered for the lead. She went and tested and got the lead role of Mahia in The Decks Ran Red with former co-star James Mason.This film won minor box office success. Soon after the film was released Dorothy returned to Hollywood.

Determined to reinvent her career, she decided to wait on Fox to call for her to make a film. In 1959 Dorothy was cast in the lead role of Bess in Porgy and Bess; Dorothy was again nominated for a award, this time for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for her performance in Porgy and Bess. Dorothy was again eager to see if she was to win the award, but she once again lost. A few weeks later Dorothy was released from her 20th Century Fox contract. And though had been with Fox for about five and a half years (six months less than what her contract stated), she had only made two films that was released by them, Carmen Jones (1954), and Island in the Sun (1957).

In 1960 Dorothy managed to get the lead role of Gianna in Malaga, another low-budget forgettable that came and vanished quickly. She knew she could do better than this film, but there were no other roles being offered from anywhere. She made her last film appearance the next year in the forgettable film entitled, The Murder Men. Dandridge played the lead as Norma Sherman, though most of her footage was archive footage. By the end of 1961 Dorothy had began performing frequently in nightclubs to pay off debt and household bills.

Recordings

In 1940, as part of the Dandridge Sisters singing group, Dandridge recorded four songs with the Jimmy Lunceford band:Dandridge first gained fame as a solo artist from her performances in nightclubs, usually accompanied by Phil Moore on piano. As well-known as she became from renditions of songs such as "Blow Out the Candle", "You Do Something To Me", and "Talk Sweet Talk To Me", she recorded very little on vinyl. Whether it was because of personal choice or lack of opportunity is unknown.

"You Ain't Nowhere" (Columbia #28007)
"That's Your Red Wagon" (Columbia #28006)
"Ain't Going To Go To Study War No More" (Columbia #26938)
"Minnie The Moocher is Dead" (Columbia #26937A)

In 1944, she recorded a duet with Louis Armstrong from the film Pillow to Post:

"Watcha Say" (Decca L-3502)

In 1951, she recorded a single for Columbia Records:

"Blow Out the Candle/Talk Sweet Talk To Me" (catalogue # unknown)

In 1953, she recorded a song for the film Remains to Be Seen:

"Taking a Chance On Love" (MGM Records, catalogue # unknown)

In 1958, she recorded a full length album for Verve Records featuring Oscar Peterson with Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Alvin Stoller (Catalogue #314 547-514 2) that remained unreleased in the vaults until a cd release in 1999. This cd also included 4 tracks from 1961 (with an unknown orchestra) that included one 45 rpm record single and another aborted single:

"It's Easy To Remember" (21942-3)
"What Is There To Say" (21943-6)
"That Old Feeling" (21944-4)
"The Touch Of Your Lips" (21945-12)
"When Your Lover Has Gone" (21946-1)
"The Nearness Of You" (21947-7)
"(In This World) I'm Glad There Is You" (21948-10)
"I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face" (21949-4)
"Body And Soul" (21950-2)
"How Long Has This Been Going On?" (21951-6)
"I've Got A Crush On You" (21952-3)
"I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (21953-3)
"Somebody" (recorded in 1961) (23459-2)
"Stay with It" (recorded in 1961) (23460-4)

(above two tracks released on Verve Records single #Verve V 10231)

"It's a Beautiful Evening" (recorded in 1961) (23461-5)
"Smooth Operator" (recorded in 1961) (23462-2)

(above two tracks were aborted for release as a single and remained unreleased until the "Smooth Operator" cd release in 1999). These represent the only known songs Dandridge recorded on vinyl. Several songs she sang were recorded on Soundies. These songs, which include her version of "Cow Cow Boogie", are not included on this list.

Personal life

Dorothy Jean 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 the pair divorced amid allegations of domestic violence and financial setbacks. 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. Unfortunately, the comeback never came to fruition because she died in the early planning stages.

Death

On September 8, 1965, Dandridge spoke by telephone with friend Geri 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 ofImipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. However, an alternative source reported that the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office came to a different conclusion, that: “Miss Dandridge died of a rare embolism—blockage of the blood passages at the lungs and brain by tiny pieces of fat flaking off from bone marrow in a fractured right foot she sustained in a Hollywood film five days before she died.” She was 42 years old.

On September 12, 1965, a private funeral service was held for Dandridge at the Little Chapel of the Flowers; she was then cremated and her ashes 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 Smith, Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett (who are all African-American women) 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, aGolden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. When Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role inMonster's Ball, she dedicated the "moment [to] Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll."

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Dandridge has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 671 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Teacher's Beau	Dorothy
1935	The Big Broadcast of 1936	Member of the Dandridge Sisters
1936	Easy to Take	Member of the Dandridge Sisters	Uncredited
1937	It Can't Last Forever	Dandridge Sisters Act	Uncredited
1937	A Day at the Races	Black singer	Uncredited
1938	Going Places	Member of The Dandridge Sisters	Uncredited
1938	Snow Gets in Your Eyes	Member of The Dandridge Sisters	Uncredited
1940	Irene	Member of the Dandridge Sisters	Uncredited
1940	Four Shall Die	Helen Fielding	Alternative title: Condemned Men
1941	Bahama Passage	Thalia
1941	Sundown	Kipsang's bride	Uncredited
1941	Sun Valley Serenade	Specialty act
1941	Lady from Louisiana	Felice	Alternative title: Lady from New Orleans
1942	Lucky Jordan	Hollyhock school maid	Uncredited
1942	Night in New Orleans	Sal, Shadrach's girl	Uncredited
1942	The Night Before the Divorce	Maid	Uncredited
1942	Ride 'Em Cowboy	Congoroo	Uncredited
1942	Drums of the Congo	Princess Malimi
1942	Orchestra Wives	Uknown	Uncredited
1943	Hit Parade of 1943	Count Basie Band Singer	Alternative title: Change of Heart
1943	Happy Go Lucky	Chorine	Uncredited
1944	Since You Went Away	Black Officer's wife in train station	Uncredited
1944	Atlantic City	Singer	Alternative title: Atlantic City Honeymoon
1945	Pillow to Post	Dancer	Uncredited
1951	Tarzan's Peril	Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba
1951	The Harlem Globetrotters	Ann Carpenter
1953	Bright Road	Jane Richards
1953	Remains to Be Seen	Herself
1954	Carmen Jones	Carmen Jones	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Nomination — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1957	Island in the Sun	Margot Seaton
1958	Tamango	Aiché, Reiker's Mistress
1958	The Decks Ran Red	Mahia	Alternative title: La Rivolta dell'esperanza
1959	Porgy and Bess	Bess	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1960	Malaga	Gianna	Alternative title: Moment of Danger
1961	The Murder Men	Norma Sherman	Archive footage

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