Who is dorothy dandridge mother

In , Ruby moved her family to Los Angeles where the girls hooked up with Etta Jones, a child singer, and they began performing as the Dandridge Sisters trio. They appeared wherever they could get a gig, from sweaty churches in dusty Southern towns or fancy L. Even as a teenager, Dandridge could turn a man's head. Etta may have had the most distinctive voice, and Vivian the sense of humor, but most eyes locked onto the heartbreakingly beautiful Dandridge.

They married in , but the marriage disintegrated amid his womanizing and inattentiveness. Dandridge would leave the trio, continuing to perform solo.

But Dandridge really wanted to act. Although the sisters had bit parts in such films as the Marx Brothers' "A Day at the Races," they were mainly musical numbers. Being a devoted Anglophile, Dandridge was already primed to fall for the actor Peter Lawford when he came to see her show at the New Frontier in Las Vegas in the early s, with fellow stars June Allyson and Van Johnson.

She and Nicholas were separated, formally divorcing in Dandridge was enamored with the sociable Brit. The affair soon fizzled, and Dandridge came to feel conned by Lawford and his charming ways. Dandridge had let herself fall hard, knowing Lawford was ambitious and would never marry a Black woman. Dandridge came to hate the vulnerability of working in nightclubs, growing particularly disgusted by the ravenous men constantly vying for her favors. The situation was particularly delicate when the moth-man was one of the most powerful forces in the entertainment industry.

Dandridge reluctantly agreed. But when taken to his hotel suite, she found herself not at a party but alone with Cohn—who started to tell her all he could do for her career. Dandridge knew what was expected in return. I was supposed to reach a sympathetic hand across the table, and he would pick it up from there. Maybe we would both stand. But I never reached out my hand.

Soon after rejecting Cohn, Dandridge got help from a fellow female performer when bubbly actor Marie Wilson came to see the show. In , while singing in a show with Desi Arnaz at La Vie en Rose, she met a man just as interested in Freudian theories as she.

According to Dandridge:. Harry Belafonte and I had the same press agent, a woman. Dandridge went to the Village Vanguard to see Belafonte. The two beauties began a passionate affair and found they had much in common, including their interest in psychotherapy.

Therapy helped alleviate the pain and mental turmoil caused by their status as famous Black entertainers. If you find yourself suddenly projected into a Caucasian orbit…you have an inner experience that is hard on the nerves. But this love of therapy proved detrimental to a relationship. You could have found things to do. Why do you give me five hours of upset and insecurity? Excited about the prospect of playing the potentially career-making lead in the film Carmen Jones, Dandridge secured a meeting in with the legendary Austrian-born director Otto Preminger.

It is the folklore of Hollywood; the ugliness is much commented upon, it is known and understood that out of their ugliness they fashion an armor of toughness with which to prey, and rule and succeed, and these alone are the kings of Hollywood. Preminger was equally nonplussed by Dandridge, telling her she was all wrong for the role of Carmen, a hard-living sex worker. She raised Dorothy and her other daughter, Vivian, to be performers as well. At a young age, Dorothy and Vivian right began performing as a singing act known as the Wonder Children.

Dorothy's family moved to Hollywood around The future star formed a singing group with Vivian and their friend, Etta Jones, called the Dandridge Sisters. The Dandridge Sisters were a success. Soon, they became a fixture at clubs across the country and began opening for acts like Cab Calloway and Jimmie Lunceford pictured.

Although the Dandridge Sisters were highly regarded in the nightclub scene, segregation was still prevalent during this time. The group notably performed at the famous Cotton Club in Harlem, where Black performers "were instructed not to mix with white patrons," per The New York Times.

It wasn't long before the singing group found themselves on the screen. In , the trio began appearing in film roles as the Dandridge Sisters. In , Dandridge appeared in her first solo film role. After her solo debut, Dandridge's talents led her to a successful film career. While working in New York , Dandridge met and struck up a relationship with Harold Nicholas, who was a tap dancer in the Nicholas Brothers group alongside his older brother, Fayard.

The two were wed on September 6, She was born with severe brain trauma, which Dandridge attributed to a delay in her labor after Nicholas left her at home without car keys when she was nine months pregnant. After a brief hiatus from performing, Dandridge embarked on a solo singing career and became a regular on the nightclub circuit, including at the Waldorf Astoria's Empire Room. In , Dandridge divorced Nicholas.

After nine years of marriage, Nicholas's wandering eye reportedly led to the split, as well as him leaving Dandridge to care for their disabled daughter alone. Dandridge's stardom took off internationally after she appeared in a sold-out residence with Desi Arnaz in at the Mocambo club in Los Angeles. Although Dandridge had worked in film for years, she didn't land a starring film role until , when she appeared in Bright Road as teacher Jane Richards.

By , Dandridge had established herself as a star. That year, the singer-actress took to the screen to star as herself in the musical comedy Remains to Be Seen. The peak of Dandridge's career was earning the starring role in Otto Preminger's musical Carmen Jones. Here, the actress films a scene for the movie with her costar, Harry Belafonte.