An acclaimed stage performer, Dorothy still struggled with the challenge of her color, in a time that wouldn't let some stars in by the front door. Yet against the odds she beat out many more famous rivals for the role of "Carmen Jones", becoming the first black woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. Marriages and affairs would break her heart, but her heart was strong. Seductive and easily seduced, she was born to be a star - with all the glory and all the pain of being loved, abused, cheated, glorified, undermined and undefeated. Here was a woman who wouldn't wait in the wings. Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandrige.
Acting
Berry's transformation—she studied Dandridge for years.
Costume
Those Carmen Jones gowns are character development.
Direction
Coolidge lets the tragedy breathe without melodrama.
Director
Martha Coolidge
Halle Berry
Dorothy Dandridge
Brent Spiner
Earl Mills
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Otto Preminger
Obba Babatundé
Harold Nicholas
Loretta Devine
Ruby Dandridge
Cynda Williams
Vivian Dandridge
LaTanya Richardson Jackson
Auntie
Tamara Taylor
Geri Nicholas
William Atherton
Darryl Zanuck
D. B. Sweeney
Jack Denison
Billy Mayo
Sergeant
Sharon Brown
Etta Jones
Guy Torry
First Actor
Sarah Scott Davis
Second Actress
Kerri Randles
Marilyn Monroe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Berry was so committed she performed Dandridge's nightclub act for live audiences to prepare. She also produced the film through her own company when studios passed.
This film exists because Berry fought for it after discovering most Hollywood executives had never heard of Dandridge. Her 2002 Oscar win for Monster's Ball made her the first Black woman to win Best Actress—completing a strange loop.
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