New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 204264" data-attributes="member: 7">Although I'm quite ashamed to admit it, I cannot precisely remember how I first heard of Dorothy Dandridge. My memory seems to feed me that I first heard of her through the film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, the late nineties HBO biopic which I bought in the Walmart bargain bin for one reason: I knew an actress, by name of Kerri Randles, I believe, briefly appeared as Marilyn Monroe.Speeding along here, I watched it and I liked it. The film itself is quite a little masterpiece, and Halle Berry does superbly in her turn as Miss Dandridge. Still, it was some time before I got into Dorothy Dandridge herself and decided to do further research into her life and career. Naturally, her being the first leading woman nominated for an American Oscar struck my interest, but for a long time, my interest never went past the initial stages.I was very young when I got the hankering to start digging into Dandridge's life and career. I got all these biographies and essays printed off the internet, all feeding my then-current interest in her, which was considerably heavy. I learned she had a long show business career, but suffered typecasting and unfulfilled promises quite simply because the color of her skin. Her talent was immense; she had an excellent singing voice, and for years she toured the States and other parts of the world as a powerful songstress with pianist Phil Moore as her acting svengali.Dandridge longed for movie success. True success alluded her until she caught the eye of director Otto Preminger, who, after initial reluctance, gave her the titular role in Carmen Jones, one of Hollywood's first films to feature an all-black cast. It was a runaway hit, and it brought her an Oscar nod (she lost to Grace Kelly) and a three-movie deal with Twentieth Century-Fox. She turned down supporting roles in The Lieutenant Wore Skirts and The King and I, allowing room for Rita Moreno to step in to fulfill those gaps, and her career soon stalled. It wasn't until Island in the Sun that she made a comeback, one of my favorite movies ever. It was a popular success, but riddled with controversy because of its interracial on-screen romances. She followed that with a top role in the Italian production of Tamango, and a costarring role as a showy ship bride in The Decks Ran Red. Dandridge seemed to have high hopes for Samuel Goldwyn's film version of Porgy and Bess, but the film suffered from rewrites, production delays, controversy over black stereotyping, and was ultimately as financial failure. By the early sixties, Dorothy's career had long hit the skids. She spent the rest of her life touring nightclubs and accepting the occasional stage role. She died poor and mostly forgotten in 1965. <img src="https://img3.goodfon.com/wallpaper/nbig/3/53/dorothy-dandridge-doroti.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?