Dorothy Jean Dandridge

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruby Dandridge and Cyril H. Dandridge. Under the supervision of her mother, Dorothy and her sister Vivian Dandridge began performing publicly. Her mother would often join her daughters on stage.Her first film was in the Marx Brothers comedy, A Day at the Races . 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 peers. She was very beautiful and talented. Her next few roles in the early forties included films such as Bahama Passage, Drums of the Congo and Hit Parade of 1943. She was so superb in that picture that she collected 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. 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 with poor investments, other financial woes, and a problem with alcohol. On September 8, 1965, Dorothy Dandridge was found dead in her Hollywood home. It was later ruled that her death was caused by a barbiturate overdose. Dandridge had little more than $2 in her bank account at the time of her death. Dorothy is survived by her sister Vivian Dandridge and her mother Ruby Dandridge. She is also survived by her baby girl Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas and her nephew Michael Wallace. She is preceeded in death by her grandparents, George Butler and Nellie Simon.