Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge

Born: November 9, 1922
Died: September 8, 1965
in Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress and singer. 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 also performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. During her early career, she performed as a part of The Wonder Children, later The Dandridge Sisters, and appeared in a succession of films, usually in uncredited roles.

In 1959, Dandridge was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Porgy and Bess. She is the subject of the 1999 biographical film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, with Halle Berry portraying her. She has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Movies for Dorothy Dandridge...

Girl 27
Title: Girl 27
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 27, 2007
Type: Movie
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.
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Sarah Vaughan & Other Jazz Divas
Title: Sarah Vaughan & Other Jazz Divas
Released: January 1, 2005
Type: Movie
Here's a perfect chance to compare and contrast a clutch of the greatest jazz divas in the history of the genre. "Sassy" Sarah Vaughan appears along with her fellow pop-jazz queens, sultry Lena Horne, Ella "The First Lady of Song" Fitzgerald, gorgeous Dorothy Dandridge and Billie "Lady Day" Holiday. Rarely has there been more outstanding vocal talent compiled on a single disc.
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Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty
Title: Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty
Character: (archive footage)
Released: June 24, 2003
Type: Movie
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.
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It's Black Entertainment
Title: It's Black Entertainment
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: February 8, 2002
Type: Movie
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.
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Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Title: Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 7, 2001
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Cain's Hundred
Character: Norma Sherman
Released: September 19, 1961
Type: TV
A former underworld lawyer goes to work for the Federal Government, determined to bring 100 top criminals to justice.
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The Murder Men
Title: The Murder Men
Character: Norma Sherman
Released: January 1, 1961
Type: Movie
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
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Moment of Danger
Title: Moment of Danger
Character: Gianna
Released: January 26, 1960
Type: Movie
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.
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Porgy and Bess
Title: Porgy and Bess
Character: Bess
Released: June 24, 1959
Type: Movie
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.
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The Decks Ran Red
Title: The Decks Ran Red
Character: Mahia
Released: October 10, 1958
Type: Movie
A band of dishonest seamen plans a murderous mutiny aboard the S.S. Berwind.
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Tamango
Title: Tamango
Character: Aiché, Reiker's mistress
Released: January 24, 1958
Type: Movie
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.
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Island in the Sun
Title: Island in the Sun
Character: Margot Seaton
Released: June 12, 1957
Type: Movie
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.
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Carmen Jones
Title: Carmen Jones
Character: Carmen Jones
Released: October 28, 1954
Type: Movie
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.
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Remains to Be Seen
Title: Remains to Be Seen
Character: Dorothy Dandridge
Released: May 15, 1953
Type: Movie
A singer and her apartment manager get mixed up in a creepy Park Avenue murder and find themselves facing danger at every turn.
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Bright Road
Title: Bright Road
Character: Jane Richards
Released: April 17, 1953
Type: Movie
Teachers at an all-black school fight to save a problem child.
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Title: The Oscars
Character: Self
Released: March 19, 1953
Type: TV
An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.
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The Harlem Globetrotters
Title: The Harlem Globetrotters
Character: Ann Carpenter
Released: May 30, 1951
Type: Movie
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.
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Tarzan's Peril
Title: Tarzan's Peril
Character: Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba
Released: March 13, 1951
Type: Movie
Escaped convicts are selling weapons to a warlike native tribe.
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Title: The Colgate Comedy Hour
Character: Self
Released: September 10, 1950
Type: TV
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Singer
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Swingtime Jamboree
Title: Swingtime Jamboree
Released: January 1, 1946
Type: Movie
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Pillow to Post
Title: Pillow to Post
Character: Herself - Vocalist (uncredited)
Released: June 9, 1945
Type: Movie
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.
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Atlantic City
Title: Atlantic City
Character: Singer
Released: September 15, 1944
Type: Movie
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".
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Since You Went Away
Title: Since You Went Away
Character: Black Officer's Wife in Train Station (uncredited)
Released: June 30, 1944
Type: Movie
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.
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Hit Parade of 1943
Title: Hit Parade of 1943
Character: Count Basie Band Singer
Released: March 26, 1943
Type: Movie
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.
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Happy Go Lucky
Title: Happy Go Lucky
Character: Showgirl (uncredited)
Released: January 4, 1943
Type: Movie
A gold-digger hopes to land a rich husband in Trinidad, but gets mixed up with a beach boy and voodoo.
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Moo Cow Boogie
Title: Moo Cow Boogie
Character: Singer
Released: January 1, 1943
Type: Movie
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."
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Lucky Jordan
Title: Lucky Jordan
Character: Hollyhock School Maid
Released: November 16, 1942
Type: Movie
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.
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A Zoot Suit with a Reet Pleat
Title: A Zoot Suit with a Reet Pleat
Released: November 11, 1942
Type: Movie
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.
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Orchestra Wives
Title: Orchestra Wives
Character: Singer/Dancer
Released: September 4, 1942
Type: Movie
Connie Ward is in seventh heaven when Gene Morrison's band rolls into town. She is swept off her feet by trumpeter Bill Abbot. After marrying him, she joins the band's tour and learns about life as an orchestra wife, weathering the catty attacks of the other band wives.
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Blackbird Fantasy
Title: Blackbird Fantasy
Released: August 31, 1942
Type: Movie
A Soundie with Dorothy Dandridge and Billy Mitchell.
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Drums of the Congo
Title: Drums of the Congo
Character: Princess Malimi
Released: July 17, 1942
Type: Movie
A safari sets out to find a meteorite that fell in the African jungle.
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Night in New Orleans
Title: Night in New Orleans
Character: Sal, Shadrach's Girl (Uncredited)
Released: July 1, 1942
Type: Movie
A policeman's family helps to exonerate him of murder charges in the death of a man he had under interrogation.
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Cow-Cow Boogie
Title: Cow-Cow Boogie
Released: March 27, 1942
Type: Movie
Dorothy Dandridge and band perform "Cow-Cow Boogie".
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Ride 'Em Cowboy
Title: Ride 'Em Cowboy
Character: Dancer (uncredited)
Released: February 13, 1942
Type: Movie
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.
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Paper Doll
Title: Paper Doll
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1942
Type: Movie
In this Soundie, the Mills Brothers sing the title song to a cut-out image of Dorothy Dandridge, which then comes to life and dances for them.
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Bahama Passage
Title: Bahama Passage
Character: Thalia
Released: December 10, 1941
Type: Movie
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.
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Yes, Indeed!
Title: Yes, Indeed!
Released: November 24, 1941
Type: Movie
A Soundie with Dorothy Dandridge and Four Spirits of Rhythm
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Sundown
Title: Sundown
Character: Kipsang's Wife
Released: October 31, 1941
Type: Movie
Englishmen fighting Nazis in Africa discover an exotic mystery woman living among the natives and enlist her aid in overcoming the Germans.
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Sun Valley Serenade
Title: Sun Valley Serenade
Character: Specialty Act
Released: August 29, 1941
Type: Movie
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.
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Jungle Jig
Title: Jungle Jig
Released: June 2, 1941
Type: Movie
A Soundie with Dorothy Dandridge and Cee Pee Johnson.
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Swing for Your Supper
Title: Swing for Your Supper
Character: Vocalist
Released: May 5, 1941
Type: Movie
Dorothy Dandridge sings, featuring Cee Pee Johnson on tom-toms.
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Lady from Louisiana
Title: Lady from Louisiana
Character: Felice
Released: April 22, 1941
Type: Movie
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.
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Easy Street
Title: Easy Street
Released: February 20, 1941
Type: Movie
Dorothy Dandridge performing "Easy Street".
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Lazybones
Title: Lazybones
Released: February 20, 1941
Type: Movie
Hoagy Carmichael at the piano sings the title song (lyrics by Johnny Mercer). Dancing by Dorothy Dandridge and Peter Ray.
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Four Shall Die
Title: Four Shall Die
Character: Helen Fielding
Released: October 15, 1940
Type: Movie
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.
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Irene
Title: Irene
Character: One of the Dandridge Sisters (uncredited)
Released: April 23, 1940
Type: Movie
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.
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Going Places
Title: Going Places
Character: Member of The Dandridge Sisters
Released: December 31, 1938
Type: Movie
A sports store clerk poses as a famous jockey as an advertising stunt, but gets more than he bargained for.
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Snow Gets in Your Eyes
Title: Snow Gets in Your Eyes
Character: One of the Dandridge Sisters (uncredited)
Released: May 14, 1938
Type: Movie
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.
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It Can't Last Forever
Title: It Can't Last Forever
Character: Dandridge Sisters Act (uncredited)
Released: July 15, 1937
Type: Movie
Russ Matthews, a theatrical agent who is not above pulling off a hoax or two or more to further the career of his clients (and himself), and a newspaper gossip-columnist, Carol Wilson, get involved with gangsters when one of Larry's radio-program future-predicting cons gets out of hand.
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A Day at the Races
Title: A Day at the Races
Character: Singer (uncredited)
Released: June 11, 1937
Type: Movie
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.