Dorothy was scarred by her childhood. She once said she regretted never having gotten to know her father, a cabinet maker / draftsman named Cyril Dandridge, who her mother left before Dorothy was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Cyril was a quiet man, unassuming and sensitive. Ruby, on the other hand was all energy and chatter. Not a usual match. Dorothy did not get a chance to find out what her father was like until she was sixteen and performing at New York's Cotton Club. Through a star of the show, Bill (Bojangles) Robinson, Cyril made arrangements to see Dorothy and Vivian. According to Dorothy, her mother Ruby was both mother and father to her. Ruby walked out on Cyril shortly after having Vivian. Cyril did get her to come back and she gave birth to Dottie, then left again. Vivian Dandridge born in 1921.
Portrait in Black