Dorothy Dandridge:
Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) Dandridge is one of Hollywood’s first African-American sex symbols, She is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, On November 1, 1954, Dorothy Dandridge became the first black woman featured on the cover of Life.
She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in Carmen Jones 1954. Dandridge had also performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club & the Apollo Theater. During her early career, she performed as a part of The Wonder Children, later The Dandridge Sisters, & appeared in a succession of films, usually in uncredited roles. In 1959, Dandridge was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Porgy & Bess. She was the subject of the 1999 biographical film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, with Halle Berry portraying her. She had been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Dandridge was married & divorced twice, first to dancer Harold Nicholas, The father of her daughter, Harolyn Suzanne. And then to hotel owner Jack Denison. Dandridge died in 1965 at the age of 42.
Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born in 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio to entertainer Ruby (née Butler) & Cyril Dandridge. Her father was a cabinetmaker & Baptist minister. Her parents separated before her birth.
Ruby created a song & dance act for her two young daughters, Vivian & Dorothy, under the name The Wonder Children. The act was managed by her lover, Geneva Williams. Williams was said to have had a bad temper & to have cruelly disciplined the children. The sisters toured the Southern United States almost nonstop for five years, Rarely attending school, while Ruby worked & performed in Cleveland.
