Dorothy Jean Dandridge (1922 - 1965)

Born 9 Nov 1922 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Harold Lloyd Nicholas — married 8 Sep 1942 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States

Died 8 Sep 1965 at age 42 in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

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Biography

Dorothy Dandridge is Notable.

Dorothy Dandridge was an African-American actress. She was the first Black actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the 1954 film Carmen Jones.

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio to aspiring entertainer Ruby Dandridge (née Butler) and Cyril Dandridge (October 25, 1895 – July 9, 1989), a cabinetmaker and minister, who had separated just before her birth.^[1]

Dandridge married dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas on September 6, 1942, ^[2]and gave birth to her only child, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas, on September 2, 1943. Harolyn was born brain-damaged, and the couple divorced in October 1951.

On September 8, 1965,^[3] Dandridge was found dead by her manager, Earl Mills. Two months later, a Los Angeles pathology institute determined the cause to be an accidental overdose of Imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office came to a different conclusion: “Miss Dandridge died of a rare embolism—blockage of the blood passages at the lungs and brain by tiny pieces of fat flaking off from bone marrow in a fractured right foot she sustained in a Hollywood film five days before she died.” Dorothy is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Dorothy Dandridge
2. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8VT-64H : 8 December 2017), Harold Lloyd Nicholas and Dorothy Jean Dandridge, 06 Sep 1942; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,963.
3. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPK2-TRY : 26 November 2014), Dorothy J Dandridge, 08 Sep 1965; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
4. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ1-BPS5 : 16 December 2020), Dorothy Jean Dandridge, ; Burial, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, Forest Lawn Memorial Park; citing record ID 2097, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9Z9-PNC : 13 May 2020), Dorothy J Dandridge in household of Ruby J Dandridge, Councilmanic District 8, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Township, Los Angeles, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 60-566, sheet 7A, line 17, family 174, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 414.

See Also

• Space: Dandridge Family