Check out these throwback promo shots of singer/actress Dorothy Dandridge taken in 1951. The star was 29 years old at the time and they were taken for the film, ‘Tarzan’s Pearl’.
Just in case you didn’t know, Dorothy was the first black woman nominated for the ‘Best Actress’ Oscar for her role in the 1954 film, ‘CARMEN JONES’. Even though she didn’t win, she opened a lot of doors for actresses in our era.
A troubled Dorothy passed away in 1965 at the age of 42 from an accidental drug overdose, but her contributions to film and the stage are still evident today. Some of you may even remember the 1999 HBO film, Introducing ‘Dorothy Dandridge’ starring actress Halle Berry. She won numerous awards for her portrayal of Dorothy.
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All throughout ‘Black History Month’, Concrete Loop will be posting throwback photos of legendary Icons in Black History. Keep checking back for new ones.
I heart Dorothy! Such a true beauty and talent who was never given her prop! Halle played the hell out of her in that movie..RIP to a true star!
I like the throw back pix, nice way to commemorate BHM
can’t believe these were taken 60 years ago. They look recent. Keep up the good work CL. I like this feature.
Wow.. very beautiful:)
..sigh.. Dorothy slept with a lot of white men.. at least from what I saw in that film adaptation with Halle B.. I guess that’s why she was able to get so many acting gigs in the 50′s/60′s etc
I love this post. I’m a fan of Dorothy Dandridge, and I absolutely loved Halle Berry in her portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge and I believe Halle should have won an Oscar for that movie instead of that other movie.
That last pic is Fierce!
I absolutely loved her in Carmen Jones and seeing the movie with Halle Berry gave me a better idea of what she had to deal with. Her passing was truly unfortunate. Great post CL
never heard of her before. where have i been at? I wanna see the Halle movie now.
Oh yeah, I remember in the movie when she went for a swim in the hotel she was staying at, they drained the pool!
Sad!
She is sooooo gorgeous, THANKS CL for posting this….she was truly a remarkable woman and I am so proud of her and her accomplishments..such ppl like herself make me feel proud to be a young black woman….and to also note that NO MAN or NOTHING can stop you from going after your dreams. R.I.P DD
her and such other truly pave the way for such ppl like BEYONCE TO HALLE BERRY…..this is why it is soo important to know your BLACK HISTORY and RESPECT your fellow BLACK AMERICANS because we have truly come a loooonnng way.
@jersygirl
This movie was made for HBO. Halle was only eligible for the Emmy and Golden Globe beacuse the movie was on the SMALL SCREEN. The Oscar is reserved for movies on the BIG SCREEN.
Seriously Circa – 1984? Thanks for the positive energy.
Seriously Circa – 1984? Thanks for the positive energy.
Im amazed there are folks out there that don’t know who she is but that is why posting this information is soo great. Keep up the good work CL.
Gorgeous
If, like someone said yesterday, Eartha Kitt was the original Rihanna, this woman was certainly the original Halle Berry which is why the casting of the movie about her life was so perfect. Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll, etc. all laid the blueprint and the framework of whoredom which the black women today use to rise in the entertainment industry, which is have intercourse with as many movers and shakers as possible to get fame (and drug addictions).
SOOOOOOOO beautiful!! i loved that HBO film…Halle did win a ton of awards but of course not an Oscar! How dare the Oscars give an African American actor an award 4 a dignified role…SHAME!!
But Dorothy was gorgeous and i just cant get over beauty in all honesty i think shes a better look than Halle! theres something so natural looking, almost as if shes not trying the camera…
she had a really nice body. other than that i know nothing about her and am not that interested lol but it’s nice she made such great contributions to the arts
@ # 16. your right. they always give them oscars for dirty roles. but yes, dorothy dandridge was very beautiful and that part in the movie when they drained the pool made me want to cry. but her pics are gorgeous and they do look recent.
Beautiful. Janet Jackson said she was a major inspiration to her, check out her video Twenty Foreplay on youtube.
As # 11 said., The Dorothy Dandridge movie was a made for TV movie, that aired on HBO. It WASN’T eligible for an Oscar. However, Halle won like all the awards it was eligible for including an Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG.
yeah she has druggie eyes. what a waste somebody so beautiful and talented being sad at that time. It’s always the gentil spirits. If yall doin black history pls gimme Dinah, whats really good man?Canyou educate my brethren loop?
Such a beautiful smile!!..
And yes I loved that movie as well. Halle was so fascinated with Dorothy Dandrige that she produced the movie all on her own..with her own funding i mean. She really wanted Dorothy’s story to be told..
Great pics CL!.:)
Loving the throwback pics, CL
Loving these pics.. she was extremely beautiful and talented.. I can definitely see why Halle chose her story to produce.. This is why Halle is a high caliber actress and most sought after.. Keep the pics coming..
LOL.. side note.. has anyone else noticed the “Gay Thug” Dating advertisment!! LOL.. I wonder if these guys know there pics are being used for this..
nothing much has changed in 60 years all the red bones get all the exposure…..
^ right. that’s why darkskin fantasia is on ophra.
She was beautiful and she was great in “Carmen Jones”.
You rite ^ (comment above), i’m a light skinned woman, but i find it so disturbing when a man will treat me better and talk down on dark skinned women and not wanting them, and the 1st time i hear anything racist like that proceed out of their mouth i tell em’ about theirselves & how disgusting and disturbing it is to hear something like that and cut em’ off for good. Our world is so colorstruck after all these years, nothing has changed smh.
absolutely flawless
#26.. Whatever.. Halle is talented, Dorothy is talented.. they just happen to be light-skinned..
It would be nice if this website would have a post about a black woman that isn’t fair complexion that’s about her beauty. But usually, we only read about brown -chocolate sistas who are militant leaders, nonsexual or a femme fatale. Can you do a post on Dianne Carol or the ultimate diva Ms. Dianna Ross.
@ 32. I just started posting Throwbacks on Monday. There are 25 more days left in this month, so quit jumping to conclusions.
I hope you guys include HATTIE MCDANIEL in the throwback posts, the first black peformer to win an acadamy award for Mammy in Gone with the wind in 1939 !!!
^^ correction she won the oscar in 1940
These are great photos. Of all the roles Halle has had, I have liked her the most in the movie where she played Dorothy.
she was very beautiful
Great Post!
Dorothy is a truly gorgeous woman!
A beautiful women.
Does it really matter if she was lighter than some others? Even still she had the same trials & tribulations as dark skin actors @ that time because she was still black. She helped pave the way for us to even see ourselves on the big screen. Before you guys start talking do some research about her because its obvious you don’t know much. She was in a movie called Porgie & Bess with Dihann Caroll & Sammy Davis Jr.Thanks a lot Concrete for exposing us to different people other than the regular Martin Luther King, & Malcolm X as if they’re the only blacks that contributed to our culture.
This is pure beauty; no plastic surgery or botox treatments needed.
@Circa-1984
In the movie Dandridge slept with two white men. One was her second husband, the other was Otto Preminger with whom she began having an affair after he auditioned her for Carmen Jones. Not sure if two qualitfies as a lot. Her first husband was black, as well, but I see you conveniently didn’t mention that. By the way, in addition to seeing the movie I got my info from a BOOK…something I highly recommend to you.
Again….Judah’s misogynist bullshit….
Right….because sleeping their way to the top is a unique phenomenon limited to black women, because Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, and Marilyn Monroe were totally beyond such licentious behavior and never did any favors in exchange for some exposure, because the men are never accountable for equally ethically questionable actions.
OMGosh the woman was beautiful. Absolutely stunning!
Btw as much as I love Halle Berry she really cannot compare to Dorothy…
Btw @ 21 are you talking about the divine Ms. Dinah Washington?
I love love love her!
She was truly an icon & I could watch Introducing Dorothy Dandridge over & over & over again! She was classic, but sad way that her life ended though.
COMMENT 15:
The Truth…GLAD o Be GORGEOUS & WEALTH & DID NOT have to do anything IMMORAL to Acquire My FORTUNE.
AMEN
yasss! She’s the lady I’m referring too
I would to read a special about her on the loop. My God, she’s just fabulous, she’s just as alive as she was in the 40ies to me through her music *sigh*
Otto Preminger with whom she began having an affair after he auditioned her for Carmen Jones
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This was my point. I don’t want to speak for “Judah” but I think this is what he was alluding to in his post. That in order for her ot secure her role for “Carmen”, she had to give Otto a little time on the casting couch. I don’t think this behavior should be celebrated. Sure, Dorothy was talented, but a lot of black actresses had to sleep with numerous white men to get the big roles. If that’s what would should celebrate as paving the way, then call me ungrateful.
Thanks for showcasing Dorothy Dandridge and Eartha Kitt. They are both beautiful african american women.
@VIKTORYGYIN
Lol, if sleeping with at least two white men for one movie doesn’t qualify as “a lot” to you, then you are a testament to what I stated about Dandridge and other black women in her era being used to establishment whoredom as a standard for achieving success (and in general), which is why you see nothing wrong. You must have some form of emotional investment in this issue, and if I be a betting man, you’re either with a white man, or have been with many. Either way it is irrelevant. Why would I speak about the conduct of white women when the post is concerning a so-called black woman? No strawman arguments please.You mentioned that her first husband was black, as if that gives her credibility lol. All that means is that she ran to play the whore at the nearest opportunity for success. It’s hilarious to me that people believe that casting directors and producers sat back and said, “What awesome talent! Give her the job!”, lol. It’s not a “misogyny” issue because black men get bent over by the casting directors just as much, and made to emasculate themselves by crossdressing.
@JUDAH There are ways to talk about the inequities in the white-dominated entertainment industry, and a heritage of hypersexualising black womens’ bodies that do not resort to misogynistic and homophobic comments which berate talented black men and women who were/are trying to negotiate a racist and patriarchal industry.
When casting directors manipulate performers or extort sex from them for roles they abuse their power, exacerbate the uneven power dynamics of the situation, and abuse those performers’ autonomy and dignity. To call this ‘emasculation’ is homophobic because it suggests that to have sex with another man (to be ‘bent over’ in your words or a ‘bottom’ in mine), or to wear womens’ clothing – in drag – is emasculating. And that is just plain wrong. Masculinity is not just one mode of behaviour, there are varying and varied mascilinities.
What you’ve written is so offensive.
I love Dorothy Dandrige in Carmen Jones & Porgy & Bess.
Beautifal Pics! She went through a lot like so many other black actresses in that time.
TCM channel is one of my favorite channels, but it does hurt to see that we were pretty much non existent in that time.
Also Carmen Jones is an excellent movie!
Thanks for the pics. I love 20s thru 50s black hollywood. I love Dorothy. Americas first black sex symbol too. Can’t wait to see the rest of the pics to come. CL, try to find some pics of Nina Mae Mckinney or Freda Washington.
I love Dorothy Dandridge….American beauty
shes gorgeous
YES DOROTHY WAS LIGHT SKINNED BUT WHEN SHE DIPPED HER TOE IN THAT POOL THEY STILL DRAINED IT BECAUSE SHE HAD MADE IT “DIRTY” WITH HER LIGHT SKINNED TOE. RACISTS DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE LIGHT BRIGHT AND DAMN NEAR WHITE. YOU ARE STILL JUST BLACK TO THEM AT THE END OF THE DAY.
Halle is pretty to me but the only thing I really thought she did a good job in acting was when she did Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
Legend! Love the pics