Vivian Dandridge
Vivian Dandridge | |
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Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |
Other names |
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Occupations |
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Years active | 1933–1970 |
Spouses | Jack Montgomery
(m. 1942; div. 1943)Warren Bracken
(m. 1945; ann. 1945)Ralph Bledsoe
(m. 1946; div. 1948)Forace Stead
(m. 1951; div. 1953)Gustav Friedrich
(m. 1958; div. 1968) |
Partner | Emmett "Babe" Wallace |
Children | 1 |
Parent |
|
Family | Nayo Wallace (granddaughter) Dorothy Dandridge (sister) |
Vivian Alferetta Dandridge (April 22, 1921 – October 26, 1991) was an American
Early life and career
Dandridge was born in
Because their income was more important to the family than their education, Dorothy and Vivian did not attend regular classes at school until the 8th grade, instead relying on tutors (since they were the primary breadwinners of the family). After the stock market crash in 1929, the Wonder Children were added to the long list of the unemployed. Ruby Dandridge, still clinging to the hopes of a film career for herself and her daughters, bought four bus tickets and moved the family to Los Angeles. After immersing herself into the professional community of black Hollywood, Ruby found limited opportunities for herself or her girls. After Clarence Muse, a working black actor in Hollywood (who befriended the family) told Ruby that her daughters were unlikely to meet with success in California, she enrolled them in a dancing school run by Laurette Butler.
The Dandridge Sisters
In California, the Dandridge daughters befriended another girl, Etta Jones, and began to sing together.
Solo career, Film and television
Dandridge appeared in some minor film roles: she co-starred with Frances Dee as native girl Melisse in the 1943 classic I Walked with a Zombie and appeared alongside her sister in 1953's Bright Road, where she played a small role of schoolteacher Ms. Nelson (she was uncredited in both films) and acted as Dorothy's hairdresser on the film. She appeared with the Dandridge Sisters in musical sequences of the films The Big Broadcast of 1936 (with George Burns and Gracie Allen), A Day at the Races (with the Marx Brothers), It Can't Last Forever (with Ralph Bellamy and Betty Furness), Irene (with Ray Milland, Anna Neagle, and Billie Burke) and Going Places (with Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan). She also appeared in the soundie Snow Gets in Your Eyes as a member of the Dandridge Sisters and as the voice of "So White" in the controversial cartoon Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs opposite her mother Ruby Dandridge. Dandridge appeared as an uncredited extra in 1943's Stormy Weather. In the summer of 1955, Dandridge replaced Thelma Carpenter in the Broadway play Ankles Aweigh. She moved to the Alvin Hotel in New York City, but after this engagement she largely disappeared from show business. Dandridge attended the Academy Awards in 1955 with Dorothy Dandridge when Dorothy was nominated for Best Actress for her role in Carmen Jones.
Disappearance
By 1956, friends and family members were concerned for the welfare of Dandridge, as she moved away and went into seclusion. Her sister Dorothy hired a
Solo recording
In 1968, Vivian signed a recording contract with Jubilee Records and released a jazz LP, The Look of Love, that same year. The album was produced by Bob Stephens and conducted by Charles Coleman, and included such tracks as "Love is Blue", "Try to Remember", "Sunny", "Strange Fruit", and "Lover Man". On the cover, Vivian is lying on a sofa, looking pensive while holding a snifter of brandy. The album was not successful.
The Look of Love
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Roger "Ram" Ramirez and James Sherman | 2:20 | |
10. | "Trav'lin' Light" | Trummy Young and Jimmy Mundy | 2:30 |
11. | "You Don't Know What Love Is" | Don Raye and Gene de Paul | 3:10 |
12. | "Lover, Come Back to Me" | Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II | 2:15 |
Personal life, death and legacy
Dandridge, under the alias "Marina Rozell," later settled in
References
- ^ "Dandridge Popular At Hollywood Studio". Google Books. JET Magazine/Johnson Publishing Company. September 4, 1952. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ "Ohio Deaths 1908–1932, 1938–1944, and 1958–2002 [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
- ^ "Social Security Death Index [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
- ISBN 0-8246-0459-8.
- ^ "Dorothy Dandridge." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 18, Gale, 2004, pp. 112-114. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3404707146/GVRL?u=txshracd2598&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=45488943. Accessed 20 July 2022.
- ^ Johnson, John H., ed. (December 10, 1953). "Singer Vivian Dandridge wins divorce". Jet. 5 (5). Chicago, Illinois: Johnson Publishing Company, Inc.: 15.
- ^ "California Birth Index, 1905–1995 [database on-line]". United States: The Generations Network. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
External links
- Vivian Dandridge at IMDb