This biography of Dorothy Dandridge follows her career through early days on the club circuit with her sister to her turn in movies, including becoming the first black actress to win a Best...
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Title: Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (TV Movie 1999)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Halle Berry | ... | Dorothy Dandridge | |
| Brent Spiner | ... | Earl Mills | |
| Klaus Maria Brandauer | ... | Otto Preminger | |
| Obba Babatundé | ... | Harold Nicholas (as Obba Babatunde) | |
| Loretta Devine | ... | Ruby Dandridge | |
| Cynda Williams | ... | Vivian Dandridge | |
| LaTanya Richardson Jackson | ... | Auntie (as LaTanya Richardson) | |
| Tamara Taylor | ... | Geri Nicholas | |
| William Atherton | ... | Darryl Zanuck | |
| D.B. Sweeney | ... | Jack Denison | |
 |
Don Gettinger | ... | Hotel Clerk |
| Nicholas Hormann | ... | Oscar Emcee | |
| Sharon Brown | ... | Etta Jones | |
|
|
Darrian C. Ford | ... | Fayard Nicholas |
|
|
M.J. Sawyer | ... | B&W Movie Actress |
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Storyline
This biography of Dorothy Dandridge follows her career through early days on the club circuit with her sister to her turn in movies, including becoming the first black actress to win a Best Actress Nomination in 1954 for "Carmen Jones", to her final demise to prescription drugs, which was debated whether it was suicide or accidental. Brent Spiner plays her faithful manager who stood beside her through all of the roller coaster of her career. The film also examines her love affair with director Otto Preminger, which is shown to have probably initially helped her career, but later probably led her to some wrong decisions. The film also examines 50's racism as the black star is not permitted to use white bathrooms or the Vegas pool. In the first situation, she was given a bathroom cup to pee in. In the second situation, the hotel drained the pool and scrubbed it after she dared put her foot in the water. Written by John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
Plot Keywords:
racial prejudice | movie star | film star | black american | racial discrimination |Taglines:
Right woman. Right place. Wrong time. See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
21 August 1999 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Dorothy Dandridge See more »Filming Locations:
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$9,200,000 (estimated)Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby DigitalColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
William Atherton and Martha Coolidge have previously collaborated on the sci-fi comedy Real Genius (1985). See more »Goofs
Sprite soft drink bottles appear on the set of a movie shot in the 1940s. Sprite was first marketed in 1961. See more »Quotes
Vivian Dandridge: You think because you've become a big film star by shaking your tail, people aren't going to treat you like you're colored? Well, I'm something too! I'm something too! I'm more than Dorothy Dandridge's *big sister*! Didn't you ever notice that? Didn't you?See more »
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Enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with Prime Video.
This film tells the sad story of Dorothy Dandridge, an African-American woman who was the first to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. She had much promise as an actress and nightclub singer, but (and I hope I'm not spoiling anything) an unhappy personal life led to a dependence on pills and booze, which destroyed her career and eventually her life. The movie tells her story in a pretty striaght-forward way. Halle Berry delivers a solid performance as Dandridge. Despite how sad it seems, however, there are supposed to be some exciting parts, such as Dandridge's nightclub scenes, in which she's supposed to sizzle. Berry doesn't sizzle very much, and in her speaking scenes has to grapple with a very obvious script. She manages pretty well, but she and the whole movie just lack oomph! There's really nothing more than meets the eye here. It's pretty one-dimensional and flat, if still very sad.