Donald Bogle, Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography; Otto Penzler, Editor.Black Noir

Description

Donald Bogle, Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography; Otto Penzler, Editor.Black Noir. Universally admired, she was Hollywood's first full-fledged Black movie star. Donald Bogle, Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography. Otto Penzler, Editor, Black Noir. Otto Penzler is a. These include the annual. Donald Bogle, Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography Donald Bogle is a distinguished film historian, author, and educator, considered one of the foremost authorities on African Americans in Hollywood. His acclaimed 1997 biography, Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography, is a deeply researched account of the groundbreaking actress and singer, covering her triumphs and the systemic racism and personal struggles that contributed to her tragic death. About Donald Bogle Bogle is known for his extensive work on the history of Black representation in film. His 1973 book, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, is considered an essential study. Other notable works include Brown Sugar: Over 100 Years of America's Black Female Superstars and Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood. He has served as a commentator for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and co-hosted the series "Race and Hollywood". Bogle has been recognized with the Robert Osborne Award and has taught at universities including NYU and the University of Pennsylvania. About Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography Bogle's biography is based on extensive research, including interviews with those who knew Dandridge and visiting the location of her death. The book offers an in-depth look at Dandridge's life, from her challenging childhood and rise as a performer to becoming the first Black woman nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for Carmen Jones. It explores her complex life, including the ambitions, successes, and pressures she faced as a Black actress in Hollywood. The biography highlights her groundbreaking career and the barriers she overcame, while also detailing her personal struggles, including insecurities and pain from relationships and worry over her daughter, which contributed to her death at 42. The book garnered significant attention upon release, leading to a film retrospective and inspiring the 1999 HBO film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. Available once again, the definitive biography of the pioneering Black performer—the first nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award—who broke new ground in Hollywood and helped transform American society in the years before Civil Rights movement—a remarkable woman of her time who also transcended it. “An ambitious, rigorously researched account of the long-ignored film star and chanteuse. . . . Bogle has fashioned a resonant history of a bygone era in Hollywood and passionately documented the contribution of one of its most dazzling and complex performers."— New York Times Book Review In the segregated world of 1950s America, few celebrities were as talented, beautiful, glamorous, and ultimately influential as Dorothy Dandridge. Universally admired, she was Hollywood's first full-fledged Black movie star. Film historian Donald Bogle offers a panoramic portrait of Dorothy Dandridge’s extraordinary and ultimately tragic life and career, from her early years as a child performer in Cleveland, to her rise as a nightclub headliner and movie star, to her heartbreaking death at 42. Bogle reveals how this exceptionally talented and intensely ambitious entertainer broke down racial barriers by integrating some of America's hottest nightclubs and broke through Tinseltown’s glass ceiling. Along with her smash appearances at venues such as Harlem’s famed Cotton Club, Dorothy starred in numerous films, making history with her role in Otto Preminger’s Carmen Jones, playing opposite Harry Belafonte. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress—the first Oscar nod for a woman of color. But Dorothy’s wealth, fame, and success masked a reality fraught with contradiction and illusion. Struggling to find good roles professionally, uncomfortable with her image as a sex goddess, coping with the aftermath of two unhappy marriages and a string of unfulfilling affairs, and overwhelmed with guilt for her disabled daughter, Dorothy found herself emotionally and financially bankrupt—despair that ended in her untimely death. Woven from extensive research and unique interviews, as magnetic as the woman at its heart, Dorothy Dandridge captures this dazzling entertainer in all her complexity: her strength and vulnerability, her joy and her pain, her trials and her triumphs. Otto Penzler, Editor, Black Noir Otto Penzler is a prominent American editor, publisher, and bookseller specializing in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction. As an expert in the genre, he edited the anthology Black Noir: Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction by African-American Writers. Biographical highlights Bookselling: Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, which he founded in 1979 . The shop is recognized as one of the oldest mystery-specialist bookstores in America. Publishing: Mysterious Press: In 1975, Penzler founded the Mysterious Press publishing company. After selling it to Warner Books in 1989, he later reacquired the imprint, which now operates in partnership with Grove/Atlantic and MysteriousPress.com. Other imprints: He has also created other publishing imprints, including Otto Penzler Books and Penzler Publishers, which launched the American Mystery Classics line in 2018. Editing: Penzler is a prolific editor who has compiled over 70 crime fiction anthologies. These include the annual Best American Mystery Stories series, The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, and The Best American Noir of the Century, co-edited with James Ellroy. Awards: His contributions to the genre have earned him several honors from the Mystery Writers of America, including two Edgar Awards, the Ellery Queen Award, and the Raven Award. Black Noir anthology Published: Penzler edited Black Noir: Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction by African-American Writers, which was published in hardcover by Pegasus Crime on March 3, 2009. Purpose: The collection gathers influential crime and suspense stories from African American writers. Penzler highlighted how authors like Walter Mosley and Chester Himes shaped the mystery genre with their distinct voices and perspectives. Writers: The anthology includes stories from both historical and contemporary authors, such as Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Richard Wright, Robert Greer, and Gary Phillips. Critical reception: While acknowledging the quality of the stories, a Kirkus Reviews blurb from May 2009 noted that, despite featuring African American writers, most of the stories would not traditionally be considered "noir" in the strictest sense.