Biography of dorothy dandridge
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Dorothy Dandridge
(1922-1965)
Who Was Dorothy Dandridge?
Actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge found early success in show business by performing with her sister, leading to her first appearances in film.
Biography of dorothy dandridge
Following her star turn in the 1954 musical Carmen Jones, she became the first African American to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Dandridge found it difficult to replicate that success, and her final years were marred by personal and professional problems, until her death at age 42 in 1965.
Early Life and Show Business
Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Her mother, actress Ruby Dandridge, left her husband while she was pregnant, and as such Dorothy never knew her father. She later suffered at the hands of her mother's girlfriend, Geneva Williams, a disciplinarian with a cruel side.
Pushed into show business at a young age by her mother, Dandridge performed with her sister, Vivian, as a song-and-dance team called the W