Dorothy Dandridge Biography
Dorothy Dandridge born as ( Dorothy Jean Dandridge ) was an American film and theatre actress, singer, and dancer who is perhaps one of the most famous black actresses to have a successful Hollywood career and the first to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1954 film Carmen Jones.
Dandridge Dorothy Age|Nationality
She was born on 9 November 1922 and died on 8 September 1965 when she was 42 years old. Being born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Dorothy is of American nationality and of White ethnicity. Her birth|zodiac sign is Scorpio.
Dorothy Dandridge Daughter | Child
She has a daughter named Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas who was born on 2 September 1943. She is the only child to her.
Dorothy Dandridge Sister | Siblings
Vivian Dandridge. Vivian Alferetta Dandridge (April 22, 1921 – October 26, 1991) was an American singer, actress and dancer. Dandridge is best known as being the older sister of actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge and the daughter of actress Ruby Dandridge.
Dorothy Dandridge Family | Parents
She was born to his parents Ruby Butler Dandridge (mother) and Cyril Dandridge (father). Her mom was an aspiring entertainer. Her dad was a cabinetmaker and Baptist minister, who had separated just before her birth. She and her family were listed as African-American in the US Federal Census. She seems to be the only child from her mother since details about her siblings are not yet known and will be updated soon.
Dorothy Dandridge Education
As of education background, not much is known. We only know that she hardly attended school in the five years of a rigorous tour that they conducted with their song-and-dance team. They led a miserable childhood in the hands of Williams who was a strict disciplinarian and often cruel to her.
Dandridge faced years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of Williams. The Great Depression resulted in a death of work so Ruby relocated to Hollywood, California in 1930 with her two daughters in search of steady work.
While Ruby began working in radio and films doing bit parts mostly as a domestic servant, typical roles offered at that time to black actresses and actors, she began to study at the ‘McKinley Junior High School’. The Wonder Children was rechristened in 1934 as The Dandridge Sisters, which was joined by Etta Jones, a dance schoolmate.
Dorothy Dandridge Spouse|Divorced | Relationships | Marriage
As of his relationship status, she was a married lady during the time of his death. On 6 September 1942, she married Harold Nicholas, a dancer, and entertainer. It was on 2 September 1943 when she gave birth to her only child, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas. Harolyn was born with brain damage and required constant care. Their marriage had deteriorated by 1948 and Nicholas abandoned the family. The couple divorced in October 1951.
She then began an affair with director Otto Preminger that lasted four years, during which Preminger advised her on career matters, demanding she accepts only starring roles. Dorothy later regretted following his advice. She became pregnant by him in 1955 but was forced to have an abortion by the studio.
Dandridge ended the affair when she realized that Preminger had no plans to leave his wife to marry her. Their affair was depicted in the HBO Films biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, in which Preminger was portrayed by Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer.
On 22 June 1959, she married Jack Denison but divorced in 1962. This was due to financial setbacks and allegations of domestic violence.
Dorothy Dandridge Movies
– Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
– Carmen Jones
– Bright Road
– Porgy and Bess (film)
– Island in the Sun (film)
– Tamango
– Tarzan’s Peril
– The Decks Ran Red
– Sun Valley Serenade
– Hit Parade of 1943
– The Harlem Globetrotters 1951
– Drums of the Congo
– Moment of Danger
– Remains to Be Seen 1953
– Since You Went Away
– Lady from Louisiana
– Bahama Passage
– Four Shall Die
– Lucky Jordan
– Atlantic City 1944
– Teacher’s Beau
– Sundown 1941
– Redeemer 2002
Dorothy Dandridge Acting Career
Being an American film and theatre actress, she made her debut in films as Dorothy, a cabin kid, with ‘Our Gang’ short comedy film ‘Teacher’s Beau’ released on April 27, 1935. She afterward gave many uncredited performances as part of ‘The Dandridge Sisters’ in films like It Can’t Last Forever’ in 1937, A Day at the Races in 1937 and Going Places in 1938.
The role of Helen Fielding was the first credited film role that she did for 1940 released supernatural crime film Four Shall Die directed by William Beaudine. Apart from films she also featured in a series of soundies like ‘Jig in the Jungle’, ‘Cow, Cow Boogie’ and ‘Paper Doll’ that again showcased her talent in acting and singing.
While struggling with her career she also faced personal setbacks with regard to her marital life and motherhood. To overcome all odds she chose to immerse herself into more work and in that pursuit took acting, singing and dancing lessons. She returned to the nightclub circuit and began performing at high-end nightclubs and supper clubs as a successful solo singer. In 1951 Dandridge became the first African-American to perform at the ‘Empire Room’, the supper club of ‘Waldorf-Astoria Hotel’ in New York City.
After having a successful stint at the ‘Mocambo’ in Hollywood breaking attendance record and such other endeavors. Dandridge became an international star performing around the world including in San Francisco, Rio de Janerio and London.
Side-by-side she continued with her film assignments, though nothing significant came by her way to further her career until she landed up with her first starring role in the 1953 low-budget film ‘Bright Road’ when a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio agent spotted her performing in ‘Mocambo’ in December 1952. During that period she also worked in some TV variety programs.
Dorothy Dandridge Later Career
In 1953 she bagged the most remarkable film of her career, ‘Carmen Jones’, an all-black musical based on Oscar Hammerstein II’s 1943 Broadway musical of the same title. Directed and written by Otto Preminger and released on October 28, 1954, the film became a critical and huge commercial success worldwide garnering $9.8 million at the box-office.
‘Life’ magazine featured her on its cover on November 1, 1954, thus marking yet another accomplishment for her as the first black woman to achieve such feat.
Although she won hearts with her outstanding performance in ‘Carmen Jones’, she got entangled into the racial stereotype and had to wait for three long years to get a meaningful role of her choice in 1957 with the film ‘Island in the Sun’.
Directed by Robert Rossen, the film was released on 12 June 1957 and became a subject of controversy due to its bold subject on inter-racial romance. Nevertheless, it emerged a huge box-office hit worldwide and became the sixth highest-grossing film of that year. Her last notable film was Otto Preminger directed musical ‘Porgy and Bess’ (released on June 24, 1959).
It was based on a 1935 opera bearing the same title. Dandridge earned Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for essaying the role of Bess in the film. It is considered by many as her finest performance.
Dorothy Dandridge Quotes
- If I were white I could capture the world.
- I can’t play a slave.
- It [prejudice] is such a waste. It makes you logy and half-alive. It gives you nothing. It takes away. …
- Words to Live By
Finance Mismanagement
Dorothy discovered that the people who were handling her finances had swindled her out of one hundred fifty thousand dollars and that she owed one hundred thirty-nine thousand dollars in back taxes.
She was hence forced to sell her Hollywood home and place her daughter in a state mental institution in Camarillo, California. She moved into a small apartment at 8495 Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood, California.
Having developed an interest in activism due to the racism she encountered in the industry, Dorothy became involved with the National Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Dorothy Dandridge Trivia
Dandridge was nudged into show business by her mother. Her mom formed a song-and-dance team for Dandridge and her elder sister Vivian naming it ‘The Wonder Children’.
The two of them traveled Southern US performing acts scripted by their mother in churches and schools. The sisters toured with their team managed by their mother’s lover Geneva Williams while their mother worked and performed in Cleveland.
She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. During her early career, Dorothy performed as a part of The Wonder Children, later The Dandridge Sisters, and appeared in a succession of films, usually in uncredited roles.
The outstanding performance of Dandridge in the title role in ‘Carmen Jones’ not only earned her critical acclaim and established her as a sex symbol but also fetched her nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress, marking her as the first African-American actress to be nominated for such an award. She also earned a BAFTA and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.
Dorothy Dandridge & Halle Berry
Dorothy Dandridge & The Marylin Monroe
Dorothy Dandridge Death
She spoke by telephone with a friend and former sister-in-law Geraldine “Geri” Brantonon on 6 September 1965. She was scheduled to fly to New York the next day to prepare for her nightclub engagement at Basin Street East.
Branton told biographers that during the long conversation, Dorothy veered from expressing hope for the future to singing Barbra Streisand’s “People” in its entirety to making this cryptic remark moments before hanging up on her: “Whatever happens, I know you will understand.”
She was found naked and unresponsive several hours later by her manager, Earl Mills. A Los Angeles pathology institute determined that the cause of death was an accidental overdose of imipramine, while the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office concluded that she died of a fat embolism resulting from a right foot fracture sustained five days previously.
A private funeral service was held on 12 September 1965 at the Little Chapel of the Flowers. Dorothy was cremated and her ashes interred in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Dorothy Dandridge Net worth
As of now, her estimated net worth is currently under review and will be updated as soon as possible. Detailed information about his property, cars she owned luxuries, houses, are not yet known. It will be updated as soon as we get to hear from other relevant sources.