Dorothy Dandridge: The Life and Legacy of One of Hollywood's First Successful Black Actresses, Charles River Editors
  • $4.46
    • Facebook Share
    • Twitter Share
    • Pinterest Share

Details

Dorothy Dandridge: The Life and Legacy of One of Hollywood's First Successful Black Actresses

Author: Charles River Editors

Narrator: Kelly McGee

Unabridged: 1 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook

Publisher: Findaway Voices

Published: 03/23/2020

Genre: Biography & Autobiography - Entertainment & Performing Arts

Synopsis

“If I were white, I could capture the world.” – Dorothy Dandridge

The bright summer sun shined blissfully on a secluded valley tucked into the romantic Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Water bubbled friskily over a rocky streambed as trees swayed in the gentle tropical breeze and dappled the banks in playful shadows. A closer look reveals a man and a woman entwined on the rocky shore in an intimate embrace. The man trembles with longing as he bends over the woman, his parted lips just inches from hers. She eagerly folds her arms around him, her fingertips passionately digging into the skin on his back as she draws him closer.

Suddenly, a director’s voice rings out, “Cut!”

The man was white. The woman was black, and in Hollywood in 1959, that was still taboo.

The steamy scene was being shot for the film Malaga, and the actress in the scene, Dorothy Dandridge, had just shared Hollywood’s controversial first interracial kiss on screen a year earlier. Despite this distinction and other more notable accomplishments, many people today are not familiar with the groundbreaking actress, even as she was among the most charismatic and beautiful actresses of the era. Her alluring nightclub acts set pulses pounding across the globe, and she was Hollywood’s first black leading actress.

Sadly, all of it came at a high price. Dorothy bore the scars of a tormented childhood, endured the fallout from multiple failed relationships, suffered professional and financial setbacks, and battled ongoing alcohol and prescription drug abuse. Throughout all that, racism was the most tenacious demon she had to fight, because Dorothy came of age in an era when society and the entertainment world largely held to demeaning racial stereotypes.

Recommended

Shockaholic
Shockaholic
by Carrie Fisher

Infused with Carrie Fisher’s trademark incisive wit and perfectly poised on the heels of Wishful Drinking’s instant New York Times bestselling success, Shockaholic takes listeners on another rollicking ride into her crazy life. Told wit...

Narrator: Carrie Fisher
Published: 11/01/2011

Perfect Sound Whatever THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
Perfect Sound Whatever
by James Acaster

The brand new memoir from James Acaster: cult comedian, bestselling author of Classic Scrapes, undercover cop, receiver of cabbages.PERFECT SOUND WHATEVER is a love letter to the healing power of music, and how one man's obsessive quest saw him def...

Narrator: James Acaster
Published: 08/22/2019

Janis Joplin - Rock of Ages
Janis Joplin - Rock of Ages
by Geoffrey Giuliano

The music of Janis Joplin lives forever but just who was this brash young woman from rural Texas? In this exciting audio event, author Giuliano takes up the task via rare archival interviews and insightful commentary.

Narrator: Geoffrey Giuliano
Published: 07/18/2019

The Making of the Godfather
The Making of the Godfather
by Mario Puzo

In this entertaining and insightful essay, Mario Puzo chronicles his rise from struggling writer to overnight success after the publication of The Godfather. With equal parts cynicism and humor, Puzo recounts the book deal and his experiences in Ho...

Narrator: Max Casella
Published: 06/25/2013

Bruce Lee Legend
Bruce Lee Legend
by Introbooks Team

Bruce lee, the little phoenix, is dedicated to the legends 75th birthday that is to be celebrated this November, towards his humongous number of fans, and followers all over the world, even today. If avid readers of Bruce lee legend are not a fan or...

Narrator: Andrea Giordani
Published: 05/08/2016

Short Stories The Autobiography of Columbus Short
Short Stories
by Columbus Short

The life of actor, choreographer, and musician Columbus Short has been punctuated with trauma that extends well beyond the plot lines of his previous role on the hit series Scandal. Short has lived many lives packed into one—from a family fill...

Narrator: Columbus Short
Published: 09/29/2020

Wishful Drinking
Wishful Drinking
by Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher reads her New York Times Bestselling Memoir! Finally, after four hit novels, Carrie Fisher comes clean (well, sort of) with the crazy truth that is her life in her first-ever memoir. In Wishful Drinking, adapted from her one-woman st...

Narrator: Carrie Fisher
Published: 02/17/2009

Nowhere But Up The Story of Justin Bieber's Mom
Nowhere But Up
by Pattie Mallette

Most people only know her as Justin Bieber's mom, but Pattie Mallette has had an incredible journey of her own. Many people have heard of her son's rags to riches triumph. A few know she was a teen mom who had to overcome a drug and alcohol addictio...

Narrator: Pattie Mallette
Published: 09/28/2012

Steve McQueen The Salvation of an American Icon
Steve McQueen
by Greg Laurie

Join Greg Laurie as he takes a cross-country drive in his 1968 Highland Green Ford Mustang 390 GT through the canyons of Malibu, the alleys of Hollywood, the wide and open roads of the Midwest, the streets of New York, as he traces the wooly geograp...

Narrator: John Pruden
Published: 06/13/2017
{"id":"4030307","ean":"9781094276700","abr":"Unabridged","title":"Dorothy Dandridge: The Life and Legacy of One of Hollywood's First Successful Black Actresses","subtitle":"","author":"Charles River Editors","rating_average":"0","narrator":"Kelly McGee","ubr_id":"4030307","abr_id":"0","ubr_price":"6.95","abr_price":"0.00","ubr_memprice":"4.17","abr_memprice":"0.00","ubr_narrator":"Kelly McGee","abr_narrator":"","ubr_length":"Unabridged: 1 hr 27 min","abr_length":"Abridged: "}