Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge

Birth : 1922-11-09, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Death : 1965-09-08

History

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an actress and popular singer who was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Profile

Dorothy Dandridge

Movies

Girl 27
Self (archive footage)
The reclusive Patricia Douglas comes out of hiding to discuss the 1937 MGM scandal, in which the powerful film studio tricked her and over 100 other underage girls into attending a stag party, where she was raped.
Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty
(archive footage)
Actor Obba Babatundé hosts this biopic showcasing the life of acclaimed African-American singer and actress Dorothy Dandridge, who overcame racism and personal tragedy to become one of the most acclaimed performers of Hollywood's golden age. The film combines rare historical footage of Dandridge, on and off the stage, and interviews with stars such as Laurence Fishburne, Jasmine Guy and Halle Berry discussing her powerful legacy.
It's Black Entertainment
Self (archive footage)
A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Herself (archive footage)
The life and work of Samuel Goldwyn, a Polish-born glove salesman who became one of Hollywood's greatest independent producers, is remembered in this classy documentary created for the PBS American Masters series. Based on A. Scott Berg's acclaimed biography, the film includes new interviews with Goldwyn's surviving family members as well as vintage interviews with such luminaries as Bette Davis, John Huston, Laurence Olivier and others.
The Murder Men
Norma Sherman
Melodrama of the attempt to smash a drug ring and to promote a former addict singer's rehabilitation. Edited from TV series, Cain's Hundred
Moment of Danger
Gianna
Having been coerced unto helping a criminal pull off a jewellery theft, a locksmith is double crossed by the crook and heads off to Spain with an eye to getting even.
Porgy and Bess
Bess
Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.
The Decks Ran Red
Mahia
A band of dishonest seamen plans a murderous mutiny aboard the S.S. Berwind.
Tamango
Aiché, Reiker's mistress
A Dutch slave captain, on a voyage to Cuba, faces a revolt fomented by a newly captured African slave, Tamango. The slaves capture the captain's mistress, forcing a showdown.
Island in the Sun
Margot Seaton
On a Caribbean island, a rich landowner's son, Maxwell Fleury, is fighting for political office against black labor leader David Boyeur. As if the contentious election weren't enough, there are plenty of scandals to go around: Boyeur has a secret white lover and Fleury's wife, Sylvia, is also having an affair. And then, of course, there's the small matter of a recently murdered aristocrat.
Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
The tale of the cigarette-maker Carmen and the Spanish cavalry soldier Don Jose is translated into a modern-day story of a parachute factory worker and a stalwart GI named Joe who is about to go to flying school. Conflict arises when a prize-ring champ captures the heart of Carmen after she has seduced Joe and caused him to go AWOL.
Remains to Be Seen
Dorothy Dandridge
A singer and her apartment manager get mixed up in a creepy Park Avenue murder and find themselves facing danger at every turn.
Bright Road
Jane Richards
Teachers at an all-black school fight to save a problem child.
The Harlem Globetrotters
Ann Carpenter
All-American basketball player, Billy signs up with the world-famous "Harlem Globetrotters", an all-Negro professional team. Billy struggles with important life decisions and their consequences.
Tarzan's Peril
Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba
Escaped convicts are selling weapons to a warlike native tribe.
Swingtime Jamboree
Pillow to Post
Herself - Vocalist (uncredited)
With a war on and most men being drafted, Howard Oil Supply Company has no salesmen left. So daughter Jean hits the road and does not make one sale. She finally gets one tentative sale with the Black Hills Oil Co., but Earl wants dinner with her. With the shortage of housing due to the war, Jean needs a military husband to get a place to stay in Clayfield, which is next to Camp Clay. She gets Lt. Mallory to act as her husband just to register. Then things go wrong as his commanding officer is there and believes them to be married. It gets worse as Don's mother shows up and then Jean's father.
Atlantic City
Singer
In 1915, Atlantic City is a sleepy seaside resort, but Brad Taylor, son of a small hotel and vaudeville house proprietor, has big plans: he thinks it can be "the playground of the world." Brad's wheeling and dealing proves remarkably successful in attracting big enterprises and big shows, but brings him little success in personal relationships. Full of nostalgic songs and acts, some with the original artists. Reissued in 1950 as "Atlantic City Honeymoon".
Since You Went Away
Black Officer's Wife in Train Station (uncredited)
While husband Tim is away during World War II, Anne Hilton copes with problems on the homefront. Taking in a lodger, Colonel Smollett, to help make ends meet and dealing with shortages and rationing are minor inconveniences compared to the love affair daughter Jane and the Colonel's grandson conduct.
Hit Parade of 1943
Count Basie Band Singer
When amateur songwriter Jill Wright moves from the Midwest to New York City, she is dismayed to discover that Rick Farrell, the owner of Miracle Publishing Co., has claimed as his own the song she submitted to his company. One of the many films made at Republic with a year attached to the "Hit Parade" title, which came from the "Hit Parade" radio program sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes.
Moo Cow Boogie
Singer
Stepin Fetchit introduces a band which plays several numbers, including "Cow Cow Boogie" and a swing version of "Rigoletto." Dorothy Dandridge appears in a Western number singing the aforementioned "Cow Cow Boogie."
Lucky Jordan
Hollyhock School Maid
Lucky Jordan is a gangster living in New York City and when he's drafted into the army, he tries to escape duty by using an old con woman named Annie to convince the draft board he's needed at home. When that fails, Jordan is sent to boot camp, but he doesn't stay there long. He takes a beautiful USO worker hostage and flees back to New York. There, he learns that a rival gangster is plotting against America.
A Zoot Suit with a Reet Pleat
An early "soundie" in which Dorothy Dandridge & Paul White sing "A Zoot Suit with a Reet Pleat" while getting dressed up for a big date.
Drums of the Congo
Princess Malimi
A safari sets out to find a meteorite that fell in the African jungle.
Night in New Orleans
Sal, Shadrach's Girl (Uncredited)
A policeman's family helps to exonerate him of murder charges in the death of a man he had under interrogation.
Cow-Cow Boogie
Dorothy Dandridge and band perform "Cow-Cow Boogie".
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Dancer (uncredited)
Two peanut vendors at a rodeo show get in trouble with their boss and hide out on a railroad train heading west. They get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch, despite the fact that neither of them knows anything about cowboys, horses, or anything else.
Bahama Passage
Thalia
A girl, Carol whom the audience is quickly informed "has been around," and her father arrive to take over the business management of an island in the Bahamas owned by Adrian Ainsworth, descendant of many ancestors who have handled it over the years to the satisfaction of its 250 native residents. He is married to a woman who stays away from the island because she is lonely when there. Adrian doesn't want Carol or her father there, and they don't want to be there. Romance can't be lurking far behind the beautiful sunset.
Sundown
Kipsang's Wife
Englishmen fighting Nazis in Africa discover an exotic mystery woman living among the natives and enlist her aid in overcoming the Germans.
Sun Valley Serenade
Specialty Act
When Phil Corey's band arrives at the Idaho ski resort its pianist Ted Scott is smitten with a Norwegian refugee he has sponsored, Karen Benson. When soloist Vivian Dawn quits, Karen stages an ice show as a substitute.
Lady from Louisiana
Felice
Northern lawyer John Reynolds travels to New Orleans to try and clean up the local crime syndicate based around a lottery. Although he meets Julie Mirbeau and they are attracted to each other, the fact that her father heads the lottery means they end up on opposite sides. When her father is killed, Julie becomes more and more involved in the shady activities and in blocking Reynolds' attempts at prosecution.
Lazybones
The singer here is Hoagy Carmichael on the piano singing the title song whose lyrics is by Johnny Mercer. He has a couple of beautiful white women at his side while Dorothy is a maid who's trying to keep butler Peter Ray from letting a tray with pitcher on it from falling off his head.
Easy Street
Dorothy Dandridge performing "Easy Street".
Four Shall Die
Helen Fielding
Helen Fielding, heir to the fortunes of the late millionaire Roger Fielding, Sr., has broken off her relationship with the unscrupulous Lew Covey to pursue a romance with reporter Bill Summers. Covey, determined to get at Helen's inheritance, vows to win her back.
Irene
One of the Dandridge Sisters (uncredited)
Upholsterer's assistant Irene O'Dare meets wealthy Don Marshall while she is measuring chairs for Mrs. Herman Vincent at her Long Island estate. Charmed by her, Don anonymously purchases Madame Lucy's, an exclusive Manhattan boutique, and instructs newly hired manager Mr. Smith to offer Irene a job as a model. She soon catches the eye of socialite Bob Vincent, whose mother is hosting a ball at the family mansion. To promote Madame Lucy's dress line, Mr. Smith arranges for his models to be invited to the ball.
Going Places
Member of The Dandridge Sisters
A sports store clerk poses as a famous jockey as an advertising stunt, but gets more than he bargained for.
Snow Gets in Your Eyes
One of the Dandridge Sisters (uncredited)
A department store has an indoor ski slide for the annual contest for store employees. Salesgirl June has two admirers - a sausage salesman in the store and the store's snooty ski instructor. The Dandridge Sisters (Dorothy, Vivian and non-sister Etta Jones) perform two numbers.
A Day at the Races
Singer (uncredited)
Doctor Hugo Hackenbush, Tony, and Stuffy try and save Judy's farm by winning a big race with her horse. There are a few problems. Hackenbush runs a high priced clinic for the wealthy who don't know he has his degree in Veterinary Medicine.