Jack Denison is the ex-husband of Dorothy Dandridge. Jack Denison’s ex-wife Dandridge was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Dorothy is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in Carmen Jones. She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater.
How did Jack Denison and Dorothy Dandridge meet?
How did the two love birds meet an started their relationship? Its wirth to note that, Jack Denison is the second man Dandridge got married to. Before him, she was married to Harold Nicholas. During an engagement at the Cotton Club, Dandridge met dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas. The couple tied the knot at a Hollywood ceremony on September 6, 1942.
Their wedding was graced by top Hollywood personlaities included Oscar-winner Hattie McDaniel, jazz singer Etta Jones, and choreographer Nick Castle. However, their marriage was an unhappy one which deteriorated due to Nicholas’ womanizing and inattentiveness. By 1948, Nicholas had abandoned his family. Dandridge filed for divorce in September 1950, and it was finalized in October 1951.
Dandridge gave birth to her only child, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas, on September 2, 1943. While she was in labor, her husband left her stranded at her sister-in-law’s home without the car when he went to play golf. At first, Dandridge refused to go to the hospital without him.
Harolyn’s delayed birth required the use of forceps, which possibly resulted in the brain damage that left her requiring lifelong constant care. Dandridge blamed herself for her daughter’s condition for not getting to the hospital sooner. Harolyn was unable to speak and couldn’t recognize Dandridge as her mother. Dandridge was private about her daughter’s condition; she didn’t publicly speak about it until an appearance on The Mike Douglas Show in 1963.
While filming Carmen Jones (1954), she began an affair with director Otto Preminger that lasted four years, during which Preminger advised her on career matters, demanding she accept only starring roles. Dandridge later regretted following his advice.
She became pregnant by him in 1955, but was forced to have an abortion by the studio. She ended the affair when she realized that Preminger had no plans to leave his wife to marry her. Their affair was depicted in the HBO Films biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, in which Preminger was portrayed by Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer.
Dandridge met her second husband shortly after separating from married director Otto Preminger. Jack Denison was a Las Vegas restaurant owner who showed his affection for Dandridge by having fresh flowers sent to her dressing room every single night. Even in 1959, when their romance began, this must have been a costly way to show interest.
Dandridge married Hotel restaurant owner Jack Denison on June 22, 1959. The couple never gave any public information about the circumstance sthat lead to their path crossing and hence their relationship and marriage. They divorced in 1962 amid financial setbacks and allegations of domestic violence.
Jack Denison and his ex-wife didnt have any children before calling their marroage a quit. There isnt much information avilable about Jack, he only came into the limelight after his marriage with the popular actress and dancer.
Dandridge discovered that the people who were handling her finances had swindled her out of $150,000 and she owed $139,000 in back taxes. She was forced to sell her Hollywood home and place her daughter in a state mental institution, Camarillo State Hospital, in Camarillo, California. Dandridge moved into a small apartment on Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood, California.
Jack Denison’s ex-wife, Dandridge
On September 8, 1965, Dandridge spoke by telephone with friend and former sister-in-law Geraldine “Geri” Branton. Dandridge was scheduled to fly to New York the next day to prepare for her nightclub engagement at Basin Street East.
Branton told biographers that during the long conversation, Dandridge veered from expressing hope for the future to singing Barbra Streisand’s “People” in its entirety to making this cryptic remark moments before hanging up on her: “Whatever happens, I know you will understand.”
Several hours later, Jack Denison’s ex-wife, Dandridge was found naked and unresponsive in her apartment by her manager, Earl Mills. A Los Angeles pathology institute determined that the cause of death was an accidental overdose of the antidepressant imipramine, while the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office concluded that she died of a fat embolism resulting from a right foot fracture sustained five days previously.
On September 12, 1965, a private funeral service was held at the Little Chapel of the Flowers; she was cremated and her ashes interred in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
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