Dorothy Dandridge [Paperback]

Donald Bogle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1998

She captured America's hearts in such stunning films as Carmen Jones and Porgy and Bess. Finally, the true story of America's first Black movie star is revealed in this brilliant, in-depth biography-from her turbulent childhood in Cleveland, to her Hollywood girlhood, her battles against racism, her rise to fame, her marriage and affairs, and her professional and personal decline. The first Black woman nominated for an Academy Award Dorothy Dandridge paved the way for thousands of Black women entertainers. She toured the South with "The Dandridge Sisters," appeared in dozens of movies and on Broadway, played the Cotton Club, and worked with such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Maxine Sullivan. But Dandridge's stardom only seemed to exacerbate her deep-seated insecurities-shadowing her success until she died of an overdose at the age of 42. Filled with photographs, and rich with research as well as personal anecdotes from Harry Belafonte, Etta James and others, Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography is not only a fascinating study of the woman and the performer, but also a riveting look at Black Hollywood as it existed within the larger culture.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Donald Bogle was almost single-handedly responsible for reviving interest in historic black film with his seminal work, Toms, Coons, Mammies, Mulattoes, and Bucks. Here, in his new biography, he turns his gaze on Dorothy Dandrige, a bronze goddess of the silver screen. Stunningly beautiful and enormously talented, Dandridge had the misfortune to practice her craft at a time when Hollywood trafficked only in black stereotypes. She starred in several films--among them Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Bizet's Carmen, and the musical Porgy and Bess. But because there were few black male romantic leads, and Hollywood could not conceive of pairing her with a white actor, Dandridge's career languished. In 1965, she was found dead in her apartment of a drug overdose. Bogle's excellent book brings Dandrige and her times to life again, portraying this remarkable woman in all her strength and fragility. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Thanks to black pop-culture authority Bogle?not to mention Whitney Houston, who purchased the film rights to this biography?Dorothy Dandridge's name is on the lips of adoring fans as well as of those who know little about her. Dandridge (1922-65) led a life of glamour and stardom, beginning as a child performer when her mother, Ruby, put her and her sister Vivian on stage as the Wonder Kids. Her nightclub act made her famous, and she was at the height of her career in 1954 when she played the starring role opposite Harry Belafonte in Carmen Jones. She made the cover of LIFE magazine and was the first African American to be nominated for a Best Actress OscarR. Dandridge was never comfortable with the media's obsession with her sex appeal, however, and she forever blamed herself for having mothered a brain-damaged child. This and other tragedies overwhelmed the star, and, despite a comeback attempt, Dandridge gave up on life. More than chronicling this amazing actress's story, Bogle has used this tome to chart the historical course of black music and theater in America. Highly recommended for all libraries.?Corinne Nelson, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 612 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572972920
• ISBN-13: 978-1572972926
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,760,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very informative and detailed, had a lot of facts, research, September 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dorothy Dandridge (Paperback)

This book took me back to a movie theatre in Harlem, when I was 10 years old, and the feelings that went through me when I saw Dorothy Dandridge appear on that screen in Carmen Jones...I was speechless. I had never seen such a beautiful women of color on a big screen before...I remember seeing the movie over 6 times that day until my mother came to the theatre and took me home, I talked about Dorothy from that day on..Mr Bogle's book was so well written and so factual, later as I grew up my mother was the maid of Joe Glaser, who was Dorothy's manager, I got to meet her sister Vivian and I worked for Slappy White so I heard stories about Ms. Dandridge directly from them...It was such a pleasure reading this book and having the missing pieces all fit together...

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My apologies in advance, June 29, 2003

By 

G. Bradley "Gee" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography (Paperback)

I really wanted to like this book, because I've been a Dorothy Dandridge fan long before the HBO movie and am impressed by Donald Bogle's efforts to keep Black Hollywood history alive. However, like a few other reviewers mentioned, I found the pace of this book incredibly slow. This, in part, is actually due to the constant quotes of Dottie's friends- and the anecdotal examples from Bogle which precede or follow them- which quickly become repetitive. In other words, the book is too detailed (yes, it is possible for a biography to contain too much information, especially when an intended point has already been made). The prose, as well, is flat and dull. Dorothy Dandridge was a vivid, glamorous, electric, hot-blooded performer and deserved that type of stylized language to capture her and the slick era she lived in, but the book's words and structuring is very plain and uninspiring. And since her life was immensely bleak, filled with disappointments, humiliations, injustices, and defeats, all of these elements combine to make reading this biography quite painful.

I also felt cheated because of the lack of photographs. Dandridge was one of the most beautiful women of all time yet there are only two really breathtaking portraits of her here, the cover included. I've seen some fabulous ones of her over the years but why they weren't included in this bio- even reduced in size- is beyond me (two full-page pictures of her mom, though-?!). The rest of the Dottie pics are everyday candid shots, many unremarkable (a few- pics with her different men, her last singing performance- are good, though).

I got as far as when Carmen Jones was in the works (about the middle) and just skipped over the Preminger affair, her Oscar nomination, and her second marriage so I could read about the last days of her life, which is surprisingly written with conciseness and left me wanting to know much more. Maybe I'll read the middle someday when I have the patience and will for it. You'd just think that a book about her life would just jump off the pages- a drop-dead-gorgeous entertainer, possible manic depressive, a tragically [disabled] child, marriage to Nicholas brother, an affair with Peter Lawford, Otto Preminger, raised by a lesbian couple, Black superstar in segregated Hollywood, possible suicide... Whoa! Hopefully a book will one day come along that'll do justice to a goddess who should never, ever be forgotten or overlooked.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the book before you see the movie, February 29, 2000

By 

"kathrynlively" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dorothy Dandridge (Paperback)

Donald Bogle certainly did his homework in researching the forty-one years of one of Black America's first screen goddesses. Interviews with fellow actors, close friends and even people minutely involved in Dorothy's meager Cleveland childhood provide the backbone for this enthusiastic and informative portrait.

Bogle's story takes us through young Dorothy's first steps in show business with sister Vivian in a vaudevillian act called the Wonder Girls, which played to delighted black audiences packed in Baptist churches and other small venues. Pressed on by her starstruck yet cold mother, Ruby (an actress in her own right), the act moved to Hollywood and evolved into the singing Dandridge Sisters, securing chorus and bit parts in the rare all-black musicals produced during the 1930s-1940s.

Following a string of bit roles in motion pictures, her celebrity reached an apex in this country with the release of Carmen Jones, and all-black version of Bizet's Carmen. For her performance, Dorothy made history by becoming the first black actress to win an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Though such clout won her the admiration of her peers (and the love of the film's director), the nomination should have won her a better choice of film roles. As Bogle reveals, even the glitter of Oscar gold could not change Dorothy's skin color; pitting a black love interest with an A-list white actor in the 1950s was a risky venture, too risky for film companies who wanted their products to turn profits, particularly in the South. By no fault of her own, Dorothy could only watch helplessly as her career, probably the only true constant in her life, slowly declined.

I enjoyed this book very much, and I enjoyed watching Bogle on A&E's Biography episode on Dorothy. The movie with Halle Berry is also a good companion to this biography, though I thought the portrayals of Dorothy's mother tended to differ. Since the movie was based on another book, I would be more inclined to read Bogle's account.