The First Time...

𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢 𝚘𝚏 "𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍: 𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝙻𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎." 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙸 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛. 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎'𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝙻.𝙰. 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚙 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍. 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎, 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚜 𝙸 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 - 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚟𝚎. 𝚒𝚗 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙿𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢 HERE 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠, 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚞𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚛𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚢. 𝚆𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝟷𝟷𝙰𝙼 - 𝟻𝙿𝙼 (𝙼𝙾𝙻𝙰𝙰 - 𝟼𝟸𝟾 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚜 𝙰𝚟𝚎, 𝙻𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑, 𝙲𝙰 𝟿𝟶𝟾𝟶𝟸).  I

Death Address: Dorothy Dandridge

El Palacio Apartments 

8495 Fountain Ave. Unit #2D

West Hollywood, California

DEAD IN MINNEAPOLIS: PRINCE (DAKOTA JAZZ CLUB)

Three years ago on April 19th, Prince attended a show at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis to hear singer Lizz Wright. CBS Minnesota reports that whenever he went to the Dakota, he'd enter through a special door. “We just kind of had a way that avoided him being seen,” said Lowell Pickett, the Dakota’s owner. “He would walk in the side door and walk up the stairs to a table that was kind of by itself, and we’d close a curtain next to it so it was kind of like a box seat.” Just about every month, Prince would show up at the club. On Thursday, my husband surprised me for my birthday with a trip to Paisley Park on the anniversary of Prince's death - Paisley Park was Prince's home and recording studio. Tomorrow we'll be touring the complex and attending "Paisley Park After Dark." On Sunday, the three year anniversary of his death, we'll be taking a VIP tour of the complex as well as celebrating his life afterward at the Dakota. Today we toured "Prince's Places" in and around Minneapolis. The following photos are of the night my husband surprised me and me standing in front of the Dakota Jazz Club. I have the fucking best husband in the world! Many more photos to come!

And the winner is...

Always Dorothy Dandridge.

Dorothy Dandridge and the 27th Academy Awards

𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟸𝟽𝚝𝚑 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝙰𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝟹𝟶, 𝟷𝟿𝟻𝟻. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝙰𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗-𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙾𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙷𝚎𝚙𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗, 𝙹𝚞𝚍𝚢 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙹𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚆𝚢𝚖𝚊𝚗. 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕," 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

Whitney.

Watched the “Whitney” documentary this past week. Two weeks ago I was staying at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills down the hall from the room where Houston died. In one of the more painful sequences of the documentary, Houston is shown struggling through a dissonant rendition of her signature hit "I Will Always Love You" during what was intended to be a comeback tour, prompting fans to demand refunds at some performances.

Whitney Houston

Sky Bar

This edit is of a photo of Dorothy Dandridge taken at the popular Cleveland nightclub, Lindsay's Sky Bar, by photographer Frank Kuchirchuk. The photo is part of the Frank Kuchirchuk Collection of Jazz Photography at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Cleveland, Ohio. Kuchirchuk donated his entire collection of jazz images of nearly 200 photographs, most of which are negatives that have never been seen by the public, and feature such artists as Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and Anita O'Day performing at the height of their careers. (Oberlin.edu)

Dead in Hollywood: Dorothy Dandridge (Issue #9) zine coming soon.

Pages: Dorothy Dandridge

𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝟺 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟻 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚙𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚢𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍: 𝙳𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎. 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚗𝚊 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚊 "𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢𝚗 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚛𝚘𝚎." 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝙱𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝙰𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍. (IG: deadinhollywoodzine)

Certificate of Death: Dorothy Dandridge, 42

Hard at work on issue #10 of the zine Dead in Hollywood. Thanks for “Find a Death” for sharing this!

The Dandridge Sisters: Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

The Dandridge Sisters are an all black girl singing trio in the 1930's whose most famous member, Dorothy Dandridge, will go on to be the first black woman nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award in 1955 for her role in "Carmen Jones." The Dandridge Sisters are comprised of Dorothy and her older sister Vivian and their friend Etta Jones - not to be confused with the well-known jazz vocalist, Etta James. You'd be surprised how many articles incorrectly list James as a member of this trio. The Dandridge Sisters find success on radio shows and in Los Angeles nightclubs. It was in one of these nightclubs that they are invited to perform at the iconic Harlem nightclub, the Cotton Club. The Sisters are so popular at the Cotton Club that they are given a regular spot in the show. They are only 14-years-old at the time.

Ruby Dandridge

Reading up on Dorothy Dandridge's life, I find myself drawn to her mother, Ruby Dandridge. Five months before Dorothy is born, Ruby leaves her husband, Cyril Dandridge, and moves in with her "companion," Geneva Williams. This was 1922! A black woman divorcing her husband was almost unheard of at the time and not to mention the fact that Ruby was also pregnant with Dorothy. But that's exactly what she does. She chooses not only to survive but to thrive in the repressed society of the 1920’s. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for Ruby.

Death Site: The Landmark Motor Hotel

On October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin, one of the most iconic female musicians of the 1960s died from an accidental overdose of heroin in room #105 of the Landmark Motor Hotel, at the tragic age of 27. The Landmark Motor Hotel (7047 Franklin Ave.) lies in the heart of Hollywood. The hotel’s name might have changed - it’s now called The Highland Gardens Hotel - but you can still stay in the same hotel room where Joplin died. She lived in this room for the last few months of her life. The closet contains a small brass plaque, commemorating Joplin’s life, and the walls are heavily decorated with fan art and notes, comprising a ever-evolving shrine to the late singer.

Ghost Boy