''Introducing Dorothy Dandridge'' is a 1999 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Martha Coolidge Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946) is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as ''Valley Girl'', ''Real Genius'' and '' Rambling Rose''. Early life Coolidge was born in N ...

from a screenplay by Shonda Rhimes and

Scott Abbott Charles Scott Abbott is the co-inventor of the board game Trivial Pursuit along with Chris Haney (Trivial Pursuit), Chris Haney. Abbott is the owner of the North Bay Battalion hockey team of the Ontario Hockey League. For his work in building th ...

, based on the biography ''Dorothy Dandridge'' by Earl Mills. Filmed over a span of a few weeks in early 1998, the film stars

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry (; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Mi ...

as actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge and premiered on HBO on August 21, 1999. The teleplay is drawn exclusively from the biography of Dorothy Dandridge by Earl Mills. The original music score was composed by

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

, who had known Dandridge and Otto Preminger.

Cast

as Dorothy Dandridge **

Wendi Williams For Real is an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1990. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award and a Soul Train Music Award. The ladies have now reunited and are touring. Biography For Real s ...

provides the singing voice for Dorothy Dandridge *

Brent Spiner Brent Jay Spiner (; born February 2, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the android Data on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', as well as four subsequent films. In 2019, he reprised the role for ...

as Earl Mills * Klaus Maria Brandauer as

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

Obba Babatundé Obba Babatundé (born Donald Cohen; December 1, 1951) is an American actor. A native of Queens, New York City, he has appeared in more than seventeen stage productions, thirty theatrical films, sixty made-for-television films, and two prime-time ...

as Harold Nicholas *

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamg ...

Ruby Dandridge Ruby Jean Dandridge (née Butler; March 3, 1900 – October 17, 1987) was an American actress from the early 1900s through to the late 1950s. Dandridge is best known for her role on the radio show '' Amos 'n Andy'', in which she played Sadi ...

* Cynda Williams as Vivian Dandridge *

LaTanya Richardson LaTanya Richardson Jackson ( Richardson; born October 21, 1949) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in off-Broadway productions, before playing supporting roles on television and film. Richardson has appeared in films includi ...

as Auntie *

Tamara Taylor Tamara Taylor (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the role of Dr. Camille Saroyan, head of the Forensic Division, in the forensic crime drama ''Bones''. She also appeared in season seven of '' Marvel's Agents of S. ...

as Geri Branton-Nicholas *

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in ''Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

as Darryl Zanuck *

D. B. Sweeney Daniel Bernard Sweeney (born November 14, 1961) is an American actor. Early life Sweeney was born in Shoreham, New York, on November 14, 1961. He attended both Tulane and New York University. Career In 1990, Sweeney starred as Treplev in Jeff Co ...

as Jack Denison * Don Gettinger as hotel clerk * Nicholas Hormann as Oscar emcee * Sharon Brown as Etta Jones * Darrian C Ford as Fayard Nicholas * Andre Carthen as

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

* Jon Mack as

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

Kerri Randles Kerri Lee Randles (born June 15, 1971) is an American actress, writer and producer. Biography Early life Randles was born in Decatur, Illinois, the daughter of Virginia, a secretary, and Terry, a business owner. She attended the University o ...

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

* Benjamin Brown as

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

* Tyrone Wade as

Lex Barker Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. (May 8, 1919 – May 11, 1973), known as Lex Barker, was an American actor. He was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May's novels, notably a ...

Soundtrack

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

released a soundtrack album on August 10, 1999. #"Your Red Wagon" – Wendi Williams (2:29) #"

I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the " rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes suc ...

" – Wendi Williams (2:44) #"Hep Hop" – Bill Elliott (3:17) #"

Chattanooga Choo Choo "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie '' Sun Valley Serenade''. It was ...

" – Wendi Williams (2:27) #"Sportsman's Mambo" – Bill Elliott (3:08) #"Somebody" – Wendi Williams (2:33) #"Twelve Cylinders" – Bill Elliott (3:39) #" You Do Something to Me" – Wendi Williams (2:19) #"Zoot Suit for My Sunday Gal" – Wendi Williams (3:28) #" That's All" – Wendi Williams (2:34) #"Streamliner" – Bill Elliott (3:49) #"First Telephone" –

(2:05) #"Try Again" – Elmer Bernstein (1:17) #"No Song" – Elmer Bernstein (1:18) #"Dorothy" – Elmer Bernstein (2:04)

Awards and nominations

2000 Black Reel Awards * Best Actress—Halle Berry (won) * Best Film (won) * Best Supporting Actor—Obba Babatundé (nominated) * Best Supporting Actor—Brent Spiner (nominated) 2000 Directors Guild of America * Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television—

(nominated)

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

* Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (won) * Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (won) * Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (won) * Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (won) * Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie—

(won) * Outstanding Choreography (nominated) * Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special—

(nominated) * Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie— Klaus Maria Brandauer (nominated) * Outstanding Made for Television Movie (nominated) 2000 Golden Globes * Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television—

(won) * Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (nominated) * Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television— Klaus Maria Brandauer (nominated) 2000 Image Awards * Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie/Miniseries/Dramatic Special—Halle Berry (won) * Outstanding Television Movie/Miniseries/Dramatic Special (won) * Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie/Miniseries/Dramatic Special—Obba Babatundé (nominated) 2000 Screen Actors Guild Awards * Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries—

(won)

References

External links

* * {{Shonda Rhimes 1999 television films 1999 films 1999 drama films 1990s biographical drama films African-American biographical dramas American biographical drama films Biographical films about actors Biographical films about singers Films about drugs Films about race and ethnicity Films based on biographies Films directed by Martha Coolidge Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films set in the 1950s Films set in 1965 HBO Films films American drama television films 1990s American films Films about disability