Dorothy Dandridge

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Dorothy Dandridge (Belgrade, 1962)
Mausoleum of Dorothy Dandridge (2004)

Dorothy Jean Dandridge (born November 9, 1922 in Cleveland , Ohio - † September 8, 1965 in Hollywood , California ) was an American actress and singer . For Carmen Jones (1954) she was the first African-American person to receive an Oscar nomination in the leading actor category.

Life

Dorothy Dandridge's mother and grandmother were already actresses. As a child she performed as a singer in Baptist churches in Ohio . Her mother Ruby Dandridge also wrote a piece for her two daughters Vivian and Dorothy, The Wonder Children . The two sisters later went on tour in the southern United States.

During the Great Depression in the early 1930s, the family moved to Los Angeles . There Dorothy quickly found minor roles on radio and film; The Wonder Kids called themselves from then on The Dandridge Sisters and also appeared in the New York Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater . Dandridge's first film appearance was a supporting role in the short film Our Gang in 1935 ; In 1937 she and her sister appeared in The Marx Brothers: A Day at the Race .

In her early films, she mostly got the stereotypical roles that were intended for African American women; In 1940 Dandridge played a murderess in the film Four Shall Die . She quickly became known through her film appearances and had successful appearances as a singer in nightclubs. During this time, some soundies were recorded in which she sang her hits, mostly cover versions of other artists, such as "Paper Doll" by the Mills Brothers , "Cow Cow Boogie" by Freddie Slack and Ella Mae Morse and "Jig in the Jungle" and "Mr. & Mrs. Carpenter's Rent Party ”.

She had her greatest successes in the 1950s under director Otto Preminger . She played the title role in Carmen Jones , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress as the first black actress in history . She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for the role of Bess in the movie Porgy and Bess . She made her last film in 1961.

In 1965, suffering from depression, financial problems and alcohol addiction, she committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills . Before her death, she was in discussion for the role of Billie Holiday in a movie. However, this film was only made a few years after her death with Diana Ross in the lead role.

Dorothy Dandridge was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (6719 Hollywood Boulevard ) for her services to the film industry . Her career was also filmed in the film Rising Star (1999). Halle Berry played the role of Dandridge, for which she received the Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award .

Dandridge was married to tap dancer and actor Harold Nicholas from 1942 to 1951 and to restaurant manager Jack Denison from 1959 to 1962. A daughter was born from his first marriage.

Discography

Singles

  • You Ain't Nowhere (1940)
  • That's Your Red Wagon (1940)
  • Watcha Say (1944)
  • Blow Out the Candle (1951)
  • Talk Sweet Talk To Me (1951)
  • Taking a Chance On Love (1953)
  • It's a Beautiful Evening (1961)

album

  • Smooth Operatar (1958–1961, only published in 1999)

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Dorothy Dandridge and Earl Conrad: Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy. Abelard-Schuman, 1st edition, 1970, ISBN 0-200-71690-5 . HarperCollins, New Edition, New York 2000, ISBN 0-06-095675-5 .
  • Earl Mills: Dorothy Dandridge: An Intimate Portrait of Hollywood's First Major Black Film Star. Holloway House Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0-87067-899-X .

Web links

Commons : Dorothy Dandridge  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dorothy Dandridge Biography (1922-1965) . filmreference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Dandridge, Dorothy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dandridge, Dorothy Jean (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress and singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 9, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Cleveland , Ohio , United States
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 1965
Place of death Hollywood , California , United States