Vivian Dandridge

Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Cyril Dandridge,[2][3] and the former Ruby Jean Butler, an aspiring entertainer. Dandridge's parents separated shortly before the birth of her sister Dorothy.[4] Initially, Ruby Dandridge put her two girls to work performing acrobatics, songs, and skits. She billed them as the "Wonder Children". Realizing the potential success of her girls (and acknowledging her chance of stardom in the entertainment industry was at best, limited), Ruby and her girlfriend Geneva Williams decided to have her daughters embark on a tour of the United States. Under Neva's tutelage, the Wonder Children earned $400–$500 per appearance during the late 1920s, touring through Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and many other states. Neva accompanied the girls on piano as well as acted as their manager and was a particularly aggressive disciplinarian. Both Dorothy and Vivian suffered from her angry outbursts, which were frequent and severe.

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.

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 private detective to find her missing sister, but to no avail; Dorothy later found out that her sister was in the south of France trying to find work. Later, she found out that her sister was residing in New York City. At this point, Dorothy and Vivian did not remain in contact, though Dorothy sometimes provided financial assistance to Vivian and her son Michael Wallace. Other than the occasional telegram, Dorothy and Vivian remained estranged. Upon Dorothy's death in 1965, Dandridge could not bear to attend the funeral. Instead, she disappeared from the public eye.

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.

Dandridge, under the alias "Marina Rozell," later settled in Seattle, Washington, where she lived for the rest of her life. Author Donald Bogle did an interview with Dandridge discussing her sister and mother in 1991; later that year when Bogle returned, he found that Dandridge had died of a massive stroke. Dandridge was married at least five times: Jack Montgomery (1942–1943), Warren Bracken (1945–1945), Ralph Bledsoe (1946–48), Forace Stead (1951–1953)[6] and Gustav Friedrich (1958–1968). Dandridge was also romantically linked to actor Emmett "Babe" Wallace, with whom she had a son, Michael Emmett Wallace.[7] Dandridge did not attend the funeral of her sister, admitting that it was just too painful to return. She said, "I grieved in my own way, in my privacy. Dottie knew that I loved her." Vivian later rekindled a relationship with her mother (albeit an adversarial one) until her mother died penniless in a Los Angeles nursing home of a massive heart attack in 1987. Dandridge's granddaughter, Nayo Wallace, is also an actress, appearing on television series, film and on Broadway.

• Vivian Dandridge at IMDb