She was a beautiful actress and singer whose star shone too
briefly. Dorothy Dandridge, a fragile boned beauty with skin often
described as "cafe au lait", was sadly a victim of her own
circumstances.
She rose to the top of her profession with her first starring
role and became the first black woman to receive an Academy Award nomination
for Best Actress. But, just as fast as her success was achieved, so
did it begin to fade.
She knew it was hard, close to impossible, for a black actress
to maintain a long running career in Hollywood because the roles were
simply not there. She once said, "If I were white, I could capture
the world".
Dorothy had the drive and the talent to make it but the color
of her skin held her back and her life soon began a downward spiral
which in the end turned tragic.
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