Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruby Dandridge (née Ruby Jean Butler), an entertainer, and Cyril H. Dandridge, a cabinet maker and minister. Under the prodding of her mother, Dorothy and her sister Vivian Dandridge began performing publicly, usually in black Baptist churches throughout the country. Her mother 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 (1937). It was only a bit part but Dandridge hoped it would blossom into something better.

She did not appear in another film until 1940 in Four Shall Die (1940).

Her next few roles in the early 1940s included films such as Bahama Passage (1941), Drums of the Congo (1942) and Hit Parade of 1943 (1943). There were others in between, the usual black stereotypical films.

Gave birth to her only child at age 20, a daughter named Harolynn Suzanne Nicholas on September 2, 1943. The father was her first husband, Harold Nicholas. Harolynn was born with a brain injury and reportedly died in 2003.

Not only was she a talented actress but 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 have a room in any of them. It was reported that one hotel drained its swimming pool to keep her from enjoying that amenity.

In 1954, she appeared in the all-black production of Carmen Jones (1954) in the title role.

She was so superb in that picture that she garnered an Academy Award nomination but lost to Grace Kelly (The Country Girl (1954)).

She was pursued for the role of Tuptim in King and I, The (1956), but turned it down on the advice of Otto Preminger, who advised her not to accept a role in which she was not the star (the biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) also implies that it was because the character was a slave). Rita Moreno was subsequently cast in the role.

She would make six more films, including, most notably, Island in the Sun (1957) and Porgy and Bess (1959) were worthy of mention.

Despite the nomination, she did not get another movie role until Tamango (1958), an Italian film.

The last movie in which she would ever appear was The Murder Men (1961) (1961). Dandridge faded quickly after that, due to an ill-considered marriage to Jack Denison (her first husband was Harold Nicholas), poor investments, financial woes, and alcoholism.

In September 1965 The New York Times reported that her death was caused by bone marrow particles from a fractured metatarsal bone in her right foot that entered her bloodstream and reached her brain and lungs.

She was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6719 Hollywood Blvd. on January 18, 1983.

She was the first African-American to be nominated for a "Best Actress" Oscar. Halle Berry, who portrayed Dorothy in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), became the first African-American to win "Best Actress" at the Academy Awards.

In September 2020, she was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.