Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an African-American film and theatre actress, singer and dancer.

Spouse(s)

Harold Nicholas (m. 1942;div. 1951)
Jack Denison (m. 1959; div.1962)

Children

Harolyn Suzzane Nicholas (b.1943; d.2003)

Parent(s)

Ruby Dandridge
Cyril Dandridge

Family

Vivian Dandridge (sister)
Nayo Wallace (great-niece)

She is perhaps best known for being the first black actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1954 film Carmen Jones. Dandridge performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. During her early career, she performed as a part of The Wonder Children, later The Dandridge Sisters and appeared in a succession of films, usually in uncredited roles. In 1959, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Porgy and Bess. She is the subject of the 1999 HBO biographical film, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. She has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dandridge was married and divorced twice, first to dancer Harold Nicholas (the father of her daughter, Harolyn Suzanne) and then to hotel owner Jack Denison. Dandridge died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 42.

Early life

Dorothy Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio to aspiring entertainer Ruby Dandridge (née Butler) and Cyril Dandridge (October 25, 1895 – July 9, 1989), a cabinetmaker and minister, who had separated just before her birth. Ruby created a song-and-dance act for her two young daughters, Vivian and Dorothy, under the name The Wonder Children, that was managed by Geneva Williams. The sisters toured the Southern United States almost nonstop for five years (rarely attending school), while Ruby worked and performed in Cleveland.

During the Great Depression, work virtually dried up for the Dandridges, as it did for many Chitlin' circuit performers. Ruby moved to Hollywood, California, where she found steady work on radio and film in small domestic-servant parts. The Wonder Children were renamed The Dandridge Sisters in 1934, and Dandridge and her sister were teamed with dance schoolmate Etta Jones.

Career

Beginnings

The Dandridge Sisters continued strong for several years, and were booked in several high-profile nightclubs, including the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. Dandridge's first screen appearance was a bit part in an Our Gang comedy short, Teacher's Beau in 1935. As a part of The Dandridge Sisters, she appeared in The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1936) with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, A Day at the Races with the Marx Brothers, and It Can't Last Forever (both 1937) with the Jackson Brothers. Although these appearances were relatively minor, Dandridge continued to earn recognition through continuing nightclub performances nationwide.

Dandridge's first credited film role was in Four Shall Die (1940). The race film cast her as a murderer; it did little for her film career. She had small roles in Lady from Louisiana with John Wayne and Sundown (both 1941) with Gene Tierney. Dandridge appeared as part of a "Specialty Number" in the hit 1941 musical film, Sun Valley Serenade for 20th Century-Fox. The film marked the first time she performed with the Nicholas Brothers. Aside from her film appearances, Dandridge appeared in a succession of "soundies"–film clips designed to be displayed on juke boxes including "Paper Doll" by the Mills Brothers, "Cow, Cow Boogie", "Jig in the Jungle", and "Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter's Rent Party" among others. These films were noted not only for showcasing Dandridge's singing and acting abilities, but also for featuring strong emphasis on her physical attributes.

She continued to appear occasionally in films and on the stage throughout the rest of the decade, but few of these appearances were noteworthy. In 1951, Dandridge appeared as Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba in Tarzan's Peril, starring Lex Barker and Virginia Huston. When the Motion Picture Production Code tut-tutted about the film's "blunt sexuality", Dandridge was singled out for wearing what was permitting certain moments to be "provocatively revealing". The continuing publicity buzz surrounding Dandridge's wardrobe got her pictured on the April 1951 cover of Ebony. That same year, she had a supporting role in The Harlem Globetrotters (1951), which did no great thing to further her career.

In December 1952, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio agent saw Dandridge perform at the Mocambo and recommended to Production Chief Dore Schary that she might be cast as Jane Richards in Bright Road, which would be her first starring role as a "wonderful, emotional actress" as the trailer stated. The film, which plotted a teacher's struggles to reach out to a troubled student, marked the first time Dandridge appeared in a film opposite Harry Belafonte. She continued to perform in nightclubs thereafter and appeared on multiple early television variety shows, including Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town.

Carmen Jones and 20th Century-Fox

In 1953, a nationwide publicity search arose as 20th Century-Fox began the process of casting the all-black musical film adaptation of Oscar Hammerstein II 's 1943 Broadway musical Carmen Jones, conceptually Georges Bizet's opera Carmen updated to a World War II-era African-American setting. Director and writer Otto Preminger initially did not consider her for the role, feeling her sophisticated look was more suited for the smaller role of Cindy Lou. Dandridge relented, but recalling her experiences of having to dress down to a demure school teacher for the screen tests of Bright Road, she outrageously reinvented a look with the aid of Max Factor make-up artists to obtain the appearance and character of the earthy title role, Carmen, and confronted Preminger in his executive office. With this meeting Preminger gave her the role and the rest of the casting followed with Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll, Madame Sul-Te-Wan (uncredited), Olga James, and Joe Adams.

Despite her recognition as a singer, Dandridge's voice was dubbed by operatic vocalist Marilyn Horne for the film. Carmen Jones opened to favorable reviews and strong box office returns on October 28, 1954, earning $70,000 during its first week and $50,000 during its second. Dandridge's performance as the sultry title character made her one of Hollywood's first African-American sex symbols and earned her positive reviews. On November 1, 1954, Dorothy Dandridge became the first black woman featured on the cover of Life. As Walter Winchell recalled, her performance was "bewitching" and Variety said her "performance maintains the right hedonistic note throughout".

Carmen Jones became a worldwide success, eventually earning over $10 million at the box office and becoming one of the year's highest-earning films. Dandridge was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first African-American to be nominated for a leading role. At the 27th Academy Awards held on March 30, 1955, Dandridge shared her Oscar nomination which such luminaries as Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, and Jane Wyman. Although Kelly won the award for her performance in The Country Girl, Dandridge became an overnight sensation. At the November 1, 1954 awards ceremony, Dandridge presented the Academy Award for Film Editing to On the Waterfront editor Gene Milford.

On February 15, 1955, Dandridge signed a three-movie deal with 20th Century-Fox starting at $75,000 a film. The head of the studio, Darryl F. Zanuck, had personally suggested the studio sign Dandridge to a contract. Zanuck had big plans for her, hoping she would evolve into the first African-American screen icon. He purchased the film rights to The Blue Angel and intended to cast her as saloon singer Lola-Lola in an all-black remake of the original 1930 film. She was also scheduled to star as Cigarette in a remake of Under Two Flags. Meanwhile, Dandridge agreed to play Tuptim in a film version of The King and I and a sultry upstairs neighbor in The Lieutenant Wore Skirts. However, her former director and now-lover Otto Preminger, suggested she accept only leading roles, and she rejected both roles. The roles certainly were appropriate to Dandridge had she played the lesser role of Cindy Lou in Carmen Jones but Dandridge was then for the moment an international stella attraction of the first rank. They were eventually given to Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno.

Hollywood Research, Inc. trial

Dandridge was one of the few Hollywood stars who testified at the 1957 criminal libel trial of Hollywood Research, Inc., the company that published all of the era's tabloid magazines. She and actress Maureen O'Hara, the only other star who testified, were photographed shaking hands outside the downtown-Los Angeles courtroom where the well-publicized trial was held. Testimony from O'Hara, as well as from a disgruntled former magazine editor, revealed that the magazines published false information provided by hotel maids, clerks, and movie-theater ushers who were paid for their tips. The stories with questionable veracity most often centered around alleged incidents of casual sex. When the jury and press visited Grauman's Chinese Theatre to determine whether O'Hara could have performed various sexual acts while seated in the balcony, as reported by a magazine published by Hollywood Research, Inc., this was discovered to have been impossible.

Dandridge's testimony further strengthened the prosecution's case. Alleged by one tabloid to have fornicated with a white bandleader in the woods of Lake Tahoe in 1950, she testified that racial segregation had confined her to her hotel during her nightclub engagement in the Nevada resort city. When she was not in the hotel lounge rehearsing or performing her singing, according to her testimony, she was required to stay inside her room where she slept alone. This proved beyond any doubt that Hollywood Research had committed libel at least once. The judge ordered Hollywood Research to stop publishing questionable stories based on tips for which they paid, and this curtailed invasive tabloid journalism until 1971 when Generoso Pope, Jr. moved The National Enquirer, which he owned, from New York to Lantana, Florida.

Decline

In 1957, after a three-year absence from film acting, she agreed to appear in the film version of Island in the Sun opposite an ensemble cast, including James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Joan Fontaine, Joan Collins, and Stephen Boyd. Dandridge portrayed a local Indian shop clerk who has an interracial love affair with white man, played by John Justin. The film was controversial for its time period, and the script was revised numerous times to accommodate the Production Code requirements about interracial relationships. There occurred, however, an extremely intimate loving embrace between Dandridge and Justin that succeeded in not breaching the code. Despite the behind-the-scenes controversy and unfavorable critical reviews, the film was one of the year's biggest successes.

Dandridge next starred opposite German actor Curd Jürgens in the Italian production of Tamango, which began filming in 1957, for $100,000. A reluctant Dandridge had agreed to appear in the film only after learning that it focused on a nineteenth century slave revolt on a cargo ship travelling from Africa to Cuba. However, she nearly withdrew her involvement when the initial script called for her to swim in the nude and spend the majority of the film in a two-piece bathing suit made of rags. When Dandridge threatened to leave the film, the script and her wardrobe was retooled to her liking. United States Production code requirements did not apply to this Italian production and a passionate and overwhelming kiss from her co-star Jürgens was accepted by Dandridge's Aiché. This gave Dandridge her first, and only, on-screen kiss with a white actor. Tamango was withheld from an American release until late 1959, and received mixed reviews from critics and minor success.

In MGM's The Decks Ran Red (1958), she co-starred with James Mason and Broderick Crawford as an exotic woman aboard a large ocean liner where numerous deaths are arranged to take place. Despite being universally panned, the film generated a respectable audience due to the controversy surrounding Dandridge's sultry wardrobe.

In late 1958, Dandridge accepted producer Samuel Goldwyn's offer to star in his forthcoming production of Porgy and Bess, which would becoming her first major Hollywood film in five years. Her acceptance to playing the role angered the African-American community, who felt the story's negative stereotyping of blacks was degrading. When the initial director was replaced with Otto Preminger, he informed Dandridge her performance was not creditable and that she needed intensive coaching to handle such role. Porgy and Bess had a long and costly production; its entire sets and costumes were destroyed in a fire, losing almost $2 million. Continued script rewrites and further problems that prolonged the production, pushed the film over-budget. When it was released in June 1959, it was critically bashed and failed to recoup its financial investment.

In 1959, she filmed a low-budget British thriller Malaga, in which she played a European woman with an Italian name. The film, co-starring Trevor Howard and Edmund Purdom, plotted a jewel robbery and its aftermath. Some pre-release publicity invited the belief that Dandridge in this movie received her first, and only, on-screen kiss with a white actor, Howard. This was not so [see her film Tamango above] but the actor and actress, under László Benedek's direction, created some strongly understated sexual tension. The film was withheld from a theatrical release abroad until 1960, but went unreleased in the United States until 1962. It became her final completed film appearance.

Recordings

Dandridge first gained fame as a solo artist from her performances in nightclubs, usually accompanied by Phil Moore on piano. As well known as she became from renditions of songs such as "Blow Out the Candle", "You Do Something To Me", and "Talk Sweet Talk To Me", she recorded very little on vinyl. Whether it was because of personal choice or lack of opportunity is unknown.

Personal life

Dandridge married dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas on September 6, 1942, and gave birth to her only child, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas, on September 2, 1943. Harolyn was born brain-damaged, and the couple divorced in October 1951.

While filming Carmen Jones (1954), the director Otto Preminger began an affair with his film's star, Dandridge. It lasted four years, during which period he advised her on career matters, demanding she accept only starring roles, advice Dandridge later regretted accepting. She 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 Pictures biopic, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, in which Preminger was portrayed by Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer.

Dandridge married Jack Denison on June 22, 1959; they divorced in 1962 amid financial setbacks and allegations of domestic violence. At this time, Dandridge discovered that the people who were handling her finances had swindled her out of $150,000 and that she was $139,000 in debt for back taxes. Forced to sell her Hollywood home and place her daughter in a state mental institution in Camarillo, California, Dandridge moved into a small apartment at 8495 Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood, California.

Death

On September 8, 1965, Dandridge spoke by telephone with friend and former sister-in-law Geraldine "Geri" Branton. Dandridge was scheduled to fly to New York the next day to prepare for her nightclub engagement at Basin Street East. Several hours after her conversation with Branton ended, Dandridge was found dead by her manager, Earl Mills. Two months later, a Los Angeles pathology institute determined the cause to be an accidental overdose of Imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office came to a different conclusion: “Miss Dandridge died of a rare embolism—blockage of the blood passages at the lungs and brain by tiny pieces of fat flaking off from bone marrow in a fractured right foot she sustained in a Hollywood film five days before she died.” She was 42 years old.

On September 12, 1965, a private funeral service was held for Dandridge at the Little Chapel of the Flowers; she was then cremated and her ashes interred in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Legacy

Many years passed before the entertainment industry acknowledged Dandridge's legacy. Starting in the 1980s, stars such as Cicely Tyson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kimberly Elise, Loretta Devine, Tasha Smith, and Angela Bassett acknowledged Dandridge's contributions to the role of Black Americans in film.

In 1999, Halle Berry took the lead role of Dandridge in the HBO Movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, which she also produced and for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. When Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball, she dedicated the "moment [to] Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll." Both Dandridge and Berry were from Cleveland, Ohio.

For her contributions to the motion picture industry, she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 671 Hollywood Boulevard. Dorothy Dandridge is also the most prominent figure of a huge mural of celebrities painted on an exterior wall of Hollywood High School.

There is a statue of Dorothy Dandridge at Hollywood-La Brea Boulevard in Los Angeles, designed by Catherine Hardwicke, built to honor multi-ethnic leading ladies of the cinema, including Mae West, Dolores del Rio and Anna May Wong.

Recording artist Janelle Monáe performs a song entitled "Dorothy Dandridge Eyes" on her album The Electric Lady, with Esperanza Spalding.