Dorothy Dandridge, Angel Face

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 ...

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 f...

With Cissy, Mongrel

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