Vintage

Every month we throw the spotlight on an actor or actress who exemplifies what it means to be a class act. As always, we welcome your emails if you have a suggestion for a future Star of the Month. The Midnight Palace is pleased to present the Star of the Month for June 2008: Dorothy Dandridge.

Date of Birth
November 9, 1922, Cleveland, Ohio

Date of Death
September 8, 1965, West Hollywood, California

Birth Name
Dorothy Jean Dandridge

Nickname(s)
Dottie
Dottie Mae
Miss D
Bessie Mae

Height
5' 5"

Overview:

In 1954, director Otto Preminger was looking for an actress to star in his new movie Carmen Jones. A young woman came into his office, well-dressed from head to toe. He rejected her immediately, saying, “She looks too much like Loretta Young.” The actress and her agent pleaded for another chance; Preminger agreed. The agent grabbed the script and left with his client. The next day, a woman came into Preminger’s office, wearing “a messy black wig, an off-the-shoulder low cut black peasant blouse without a bra, a black satin skirt with a slit to the thigh without a girdle, and black high-heeled pumps.” Preminger took one look at her and declared, “My God, it’s Carmen!” The young lady who had just won the role of a lifetime was Dorothy Dandridge.

Dandridge was no stranger to acting. Her mother, Ruby, was an actress, as was Dorothy’s sister, Vivian. As children, the sisters performed as the Wonder Kids. They sang at churches and schools; as teenagers, they performed at the Cotton Club. They appeared with some of the biggest names in music during the 30s: Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Jimmie Lunceford. During the 30s, Dorothy and Vivian appeared in small, uncredited roles in movies: The Big Broadcast of 1936, Easy to Take and A Day at the Races with the Marx Brothers. But by the mid-40s, the Dandridge Sisters broke up; Vivian wanted a solo act. The acting roles that Dorothy desperately wanted were not available to her because she was African-American. Problems in her personal life sent her into a deep depression: her marriage to dancer Harold Nicholas (of the famous dancing Nicholas Brothers) was not a good one, and their only child, a daughter named Harolyn, had been born with brain damage. Dorothy later remarked in an interview: "She doesn't even know that I am her mother. She only knows that I like her and she likes me ... This is the biggest hurt of my whole life." Dorothy felt she was a failure in every aspect of her life, both personally and professionally. But it was this feeling of failure that would propel her towards the greatest role of her young life. After the divorce, Dorothy was determined to be a star.

By 1951, Dorothy was performing at the Mocambo with Desi Arnaz's band. But she had such bad stage fright, that she froze up. Her manager, Phil Moore, who also worked with Lena Horne, managed to talk and joke around with her onstage. After that, he worked long hours with her, trying to build her confidence and help her get over her stage fright. By bringing out her fiery personality, her act became the talk of the town, breaking previously-set attendance records. By 1954, she had spent several years taking acting, voice and dancing lessons. She had the skills; she only needed a chance to shine. After her second meeting with Preminger, Dorothy did a screen test and passed with flying colors. But a few days after she was told the role was hers, she hid in her apartment, overcome with fear and self-doubt. She sent a message to Preminger, informing him that he would have to continue the search for his Carmen. He immediately drove to her house to talk to her. By the end of the night, she had agreed to stay in the movie.

Carmen Jones was an adaptation of Bizet’s opera Carmen, with an all-star African-American cast. Carmen (Dandridge) is a beautiful, sexy woman working at a parachute factory who meets a young Army man, Joe (Harry Belafonte). She is attracted to him instantly, but Joe has a girl, Cindy Lou (Diahann Carroll) waiting for him back home. This does not stop Carmen from getting what she wants: Joe. Eventually, Joe leaves the Army and his girl for the beautiful Carmen, who uses him and then dumps him for another man. Having lost everything because of her, Joe eventually strangles her. Take a look at this famous cafeteria scene from Carmen Jones: