Camera flashes followed Dorothy Dandridge as she arrived at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1955 clad in a cream gown and a mink stole. The first Black woman to be nominated for best actress smiled as she took her place among fellow nominees Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, Jane Wyman and Grace Kelly, who would be the night's winner.
With beauty, talent and a keen intelligence, Dorothy spent her life battling prejudice and kicking down doors. “She was one of the first African American entertainers to refuse to perform in hotels and casinos that would not admit Black people,” says William Schoell, author of Heartbreaker: The Dorothy Dandridge Story. Despite the path she blazed, Hollywood never allowed Dorothy to live up to her full potential, and personal sorrows – including a child born with a mental disability and the overuse of prescription drugs – lead to her death at just 42.
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