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Sunday, November 15, 2015

Dorothy Dandridge: A Portrait In Black (Part 2)

Dorothy thought of herself according to Mills as being less than capable, not productive, almost worthless.  The fact that she was able to give birth to a baby was a genuine miracle.

Dorothy with Harolyn - her most prized photo.

Dorothy refused to believe that Harolyn's brain damage was incurable  Dorothy felt guilty and depressed because she felt it was her fault that Harolyn was retarded.  That the mental disability was either due to her prolonging the labor waiting on Harold (that never showed up) and / or the use of forceps used on Harolyn's head to remove her from Dorothy.







Dorothy teamed up with Jacqueline Kennedy in later years in a concerted effort to help the retarded. At the request of the White House, Dorothy recorded radio messages on behalf of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation along with Dale Rogers Evans, Bette Davis, Pearl Bailey and others.






with Harolyn and Ruby

For years the tragedy of a retarded child was a blot on Dorothy's life for many, many years.

Dorothy in very poor health (1962) was arranging her divorce and bankruptcy, a careless doctor dropped of Harolyn (age 17 with a mentality of a four-year-old).  Harolyn did not recognize Dorothy as anyone in particular; not even as her mother.

Dorothy had no money left for the private care of her mentally retarded daughter.  Lynn would have to be committed to a state institution.

In her divorce papers to Jack, Dorothy accused him of extreme cruelty, claiming he struck her on many occasions. During her marriage to him she started to drink heavily, take many kinds of pills, lose her health, lose her money, and become less and less successful in her career as each month passed by.  




Sunday, November 8, 2015

Dorothy at Home









Dogs I could see Dorothy owning :)

American Eskimo Husky, Duke may have looked like this.  Have to re-read all of her books to find out.

Monday, November 2, 2015

This Is Not Dorothy Dandridge


Saturday, October 31, 2015

Rita Moreno, If Only Dorothy Did Not Listen to Otto...



Dorothy Dandridge and Rita Moreno, LIFE Magazine Covers 1954.  Rita's came out in March and Dorothy's came out in November.  Am so glad Dorothy did not meet Otto until the film 'Carmen Jones' was in the making.  Could have seen the role going to Rita even though Joyce Bryant and others were looking to be cast as Carmen.  



Rita Moreno as Tuptim in the 1956 film 'The King and I'. A role Otto convinced Dorothy to turn down.  






Rita Moreno won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story (1961) for her role as Anita

If Dorothy did not listen to Otto, this would have been her win.




Above left is Dorothy as Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba in Tarzan's Perils (1951). To the right is Rita as Tuptim.  





Rita looks like 'Carmen Jones' in this photo.


Anita with the fire of  'Carmen'



Link to more of Rita






Rita's dark complexion attracted Brando, who had never got over his first object of desire — a Danish-Indonesian nanny — and craved exotic, darker-skinned women for the rest of his life.  Brando lusted after Dorothy Dandridge as well.


Dorothy (l), Rita (r)























Dorothy Dandridge: A Portrait In Black (Part 1)

Earl Mills was Dorothy Dandridge's manager and friend during her successful professional life.  He celebrated victories with her and suffered with her when things were tough.  Their relationship often bordered on the romantic according to Earl.  Geri Branton, Dorothy's best friend disagrees with that.





Earl wrote this biography as a labor of love.  Earl's love shines through for Dorothy in this biography.




Birth Name: Dorothy Jean Dandridge
DOB: November 9, 1922
Birth Place: Cleveland, Ohio



"In the black ghetto there is a saying that black is disliked by two races; the white and the black." - Earl Mills.   So true, especially today. 





Dorothy was born with what turned out to be two curses - she was light and she was beautiful. Those two curses gave her both triumph and tragedy.  





Earl Mills with Geri Branton


In this book Earl describes himself as Dorothy's manager, close friend and lover for many years.  With the latter, Dorothy's best friend Geri Branton, will always reject that notion.  





Judy Garland as Vicki Lester / Esther Blodgett, in 1954's 'A Star is Born'



Dorothy wanted to win the Oscar for "Carmen Jones", but if she didn't she was really pulling for her friend Judy Garland in 'A Star is Born'.



Dorothy was the first Negro ever to appear at the plush Empire room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. 




Dottie Mae was also living in a Waldorf Towers suite while performing at the Empire Room.





Dorothy loved munching on a plate of chitterlings.



Published by Holloway House Publishing Company
First Printing 1970


Dottie's Dogs

With Cissy, Mongrel

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Going Places (1939)


Dorothy's Makeup Bag






Dorothy with MGM makeup artist Bob Dawn on the set of the film Bright Road (1953).