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

On the set of 'Carmen Jones', Dandridge usually kept to herself when not working in a scene, partly because she felt that others in the company mistrusted her and suspected her relationship with Preminger. Preminger originally wanted Dorothy for the role of 'Cindy Lou' in the film Carmen Jones (1954).  Dorothy laughed, and insisted that she could play a hellcat or a nun.   Orly Airport (May 9,1955) Preminger paid the down payment on her new showplace house in the Hollywood Hills and kept her checking account replenished.   Like Otto, Dorothy matched him in his meticulousness and discipline. Otto bullied everyone on the set with the exception of Pearl Bailey.  Dorothy got it the worse, but according to Geri, Dorothy's best friend, Dorothy handled Otto off the set ,"She gave him hell for two weeks. She didn't yell back on the set, but i'm telling you she gave him hell." "He couldn't get me out o

Dorothy's apartment was crammed full of health foods, vitamins and iron.  She is seen here with her secretary Verda Cleveland. Beauty blessed her,but disaster was her constant companion. Despite rumours at the time, Dorothy and Lena were not rivals...Here is Lena with her husband at the Premier of the 1954 film 'Carmen Jones'. w / Vivian and Otto A movie was suppose to happen starring Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando and Dorothy Dandridge.  Both men were to vie for Dorothy in the film.  The project never came to fruition.  That would have been a great movie! Jack Denison Dorothy had regrets that she did not have a baby with Otto.  Otto did not want a child together, but still she could have had a child with him had she put her selfless ambitions aside.  Dorothy cared more about his career than her own desires to have a child with him. Dorothy's Foot Injury A pr