Actors - Dorothy Dandridge

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Dorothy Dandridge

	Actors - Dorothy Dandridge

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 for Best Actress.

Birth

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Cyrus Dandridge and Ruby Jean Butler, both of African descent. Cyrus and Ruby split up 5 months previous to Dorothy's birth. Dorothy had one sister: Vivian Dandridge.

Career

Beginnings

Dandridge began singing in her church's choir. With the prodding of her mother, a stage and screen actress, she and her sister began to perform as "The Wonder Children" when Dandridge was only age four. The "Wonder Children" toured in the South for five years. After the Depression, Ruby Jean Butler Dandridge, Vivian Dandridge, Dorothy Dandridge, and Geneva Williams (Ruby's lesbian lover/friend) moved to Hollywood. In Los Angeles, Ruby played a domestic in small parts on the radio and in film. Dorothy's first on-screen appearance was as an extra in a 1935 Our Gang
short called Teacher's Beau.

The Dandridge Sisters

Dorothy's first important role was a small part in the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races
in 1937 which her sister, Vivian Dandridge, and Etta Jones appear as "The Dandridge Sisters". 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.

Going Solo

Dorothy Dandridge did not receive another role until 1940, when she appeared in Four Shall Die a race film in which she played a murderer at the age of 19. 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)".

Carmen Jones

In 1954, Dandridge was cast in Carmen Jones
, the remake of the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. For this performance, she received an Academy Award nomination, although director Otto Preminger initially had reservations about her casting, feeling that she was too chic to play the sultry "Carmen." The Negro community had high hopes for Dorothy Dandridge because of the Civil Rights Movement. Dorothy worked tirelessly to help the Movement in any way that she could. When Carmen Jones was released it was a financial success. Dandridge was the first African American woman to be nominated for best actress Oscar. She was also the first African American performer to give an award during the Academy Awards telecast. In fact, in November 1954, Dandridge became the first African American to appear on the cover of Life magazine.

Other Movies and The Ed Sullivan Show

Despite the Oscar nomination, Dorothy had to go to Italy to make her next movie, Tamango
, in 1956. Dorothy 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 created much controversy for its display of an interracial romance; in 1959 she starred in Porgy and Bess
starring alongside Sidney Poitier, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

In 1961, Dorothy, elegantly gowned and coiffed, looking relaxed and beautiful, guested on the popular 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.) While not operatic, Dandridge's voice was lovely all the same.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dorothy Dandridge ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Dorothy Dandridge; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.