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Biography
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.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Dorothy Dandridge
