In an age of limited opportunities, she was the first African-American actress to win stardom. But her life was a continual--and ultimately unsuccessful--battle against the pressures of fame.
In films like Sun Valley Serenade and Carmen Jones, Dorothy Dandridge won critical acclaim and legions of fans with her beauty, beguiling manner and dramatic gifts. BIOGRAPHY® reveals how, despite being a gifted performer from a very young age--at age five, she and her sister were earning enough money with a stage act to support their family--she was plagued with self-doubt and bent on self destruction. Find out how, after winning recognition and respect as the first African-American actress nominated for an Oscar®, her career took a downward spiral that led to her death (likely from suicide) in 1965. See clips from her films and rare footage of her nightclub career, and hear from friends, colleagues and those whom she inspired, including Bobby Short, Diahann Carroll, Halle Berry and more.
From Cleveland to Hollywood, obscurity to acclaim, success to tragedy, trace the groundbreaking career and turbulent life of a silver-screen pioneer.
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