Dorothy Dandridge
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named. Sadly, even as recently as 1999, America needed a re-introduction to the
first African American performer ever to be nominated for Best Actress
(ironically, Halle Berry–who played Dandridge in the HBO film–would be the
first ever to receive the honor).
Like many other entertainers of
her time, Dandridge was a triple threat–singer, dancer and actress. She got her
start touring small circuits with her sister, Vivian, and a friend named Etta
Jones. They became known as The Dandridge Sisters. During their time on the
circuit, Dandridge would meet and marry Harold Nicholas, one half of the
pioneering choreography/dance duo, The Nicholas Brothers.
But it would be
another decade before she began to score plum roles as a dramatic actress, the
first of which was 1952’s Bright Road, costarring Harry Belafonte. In two
years, she would reunite with Belafonte for her career defining role as Carmen
Jones, which earned her the Best Actress nod.
Though she would go on to
star in other complex and moving stories like 1957’s Island in the Sun
(once again with Belafonte) and 1959’s Porgy and Bess, Dandridge
continued to fight racism in Hollywood and to battle personal demons on the
homefront.
By 1963, she’d declared bankruptcy after a bad remarriage to
shady promoter Jack Denison. Two years later, she died of a drug and alcohol
over dose.
Often compared to Marilyn Monroe, Dandridge’s tragic personal
woes similarly snuffed what could’ve been a longer career. While she left a body
of work that is still acclaimed and cherished even today, we’re all left to
wonder what would’ve become of her, had she lived to make a comeback.
