JENNIFER HUDSON ON COVER OF VOGUE

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Morning Show Update

February 15, 2007

Welcome to the Update

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent and General Manager of Z 1470 Totally Gospel (KZTG – 1470) is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist and speaker who is also a National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS – 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name and the launch of Totally Gospel radio in the Twin Cities. Call today for booking details. 888-639-9738.

Listen to the Freddie Bell Show, 4 to 7pm, weekdays on Z 1470 KZTG, Totally Gospel, or on the web at www.totallygospel.com.

Totally Gospel On the Internet

To enhance your gospel listening experience, you can now hear Z 1470 Totally Gospel on the new www.totallygospel.com website. Click on the web stream and then click on the link for KZTG.
No matter where you are, lock it in and write it down. The dedicated Minnesota stream for Twin Cities listeners is up and running. Tell a friend that Z 1470 Totally Gospel is now on the radio and on the internet. Churches, Pastors, Ministers and Evangelists in the Twin Cities and from around the country looking to expand their electronic ministries are invited to partner with Totally Gospel. Call 888-639-9738 today for rates and availabilities.

LUDACRIS ALMOST DIDN’T MAKE GRAMMY DEADLINE

After being nominated for five years in a row, Ludacris finally overcame the hurdle and took home the two big awards in the rap category at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, February 11th. The rapper won Best Rap Song for “Money Maker” featuring Pharrell Williams and Best Rap Album for Release Therapy.

Ludacris explained that he had to fight to make the Grammy deadline. He said: “Man I keep telling everybody tonight honestly this is pretty much the best day of my life right now. Release Therapy, September 26th was its release date and you know my record company kinda wanted to push it back but I insisted on that date because the deadline for the Grammys was September 30th. To be considered for these awards that I hold in my hands right now.”

Ludacris added: “No words can really explain how great of a night it is for me right now. And like I said this is my fifth studio album. I’ve been nominated every year for the past five years and this is my first time winning. When I recorded this album, I made it a point to say to myself that I want to win a Grammy and I’m going to and it happened.”

Ludacris won a Grammy Award in 2004 in the best rap/sung collaboration category for “Yeah!” with Usher and Lil Jon.

FABOLOUS HOOKS UP WITH YOUNG JEEZY FOR NEW SINGLE

Brooklyn-based rapper Fabolous is back. After a three year hiatus and a label change to Def Jam Records, Fabolous is back with a new album, From Nothin’ To Somethin’, that hits stores on March 27th. The rapper said in a released statement, “The album is called From Nothin’ To Somethin.’ That’s the movement we going with, man. It’s a new year, everybody’s on their hustle. For everybody that’s trying to turn nothing into something, we’re trying to make motivational music for them.”

The first single from the new project is “Diamonds” featuring Young Jeezy. The set also features guest appearances by Ne-Yo and production by Jazze Pha, Timbaland, and Steve Morales.

Fabolous’ last release was 2004’s gold certified, Real Talk, which was released via Atlantic Records.

Stu Stone, DJ Joey Nicks and break-dancer Casper.

In related news, Paul Wall will release his new album, Get Money, Stay True, on April 3rd. The album will feature guest appearances by Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Jermaine Dupri, Fergie, Trina, Lil’ Keke, Jon B and Travis Barker.

KURUPT SETS AUGUST WEDDING DATE

Rapper Kurupt and his fiancee Gail Gotti will be wed on August 16th, 2007, in Kurupt’s hometown of Philadelphia. Allhiphop.com reports that the couple is currently working on a joint album which will be released through Kurupt’s Pentagon Enterprises and Gail Gotti’s Night-In-Gail Entertainment.

So far two songs from the project have been leaked, including “Ride It Out” and “Rap or Death” featuring Prodigy.

Kurupt has previously been engaged to Foxy Brown and Natina Reed of Blaque. He and Reed have a child together.

In related news, Tha Dogg Pound will release their new album, Dogg Chit, on March 27th. The first single from the project is “Vibe With A Pimp” featuring Snoop Dogg. The album also features guest appearances by The Game, Bad Azz, Too Short, Jayo Felony, and RBX.

TONI BRAXTON SETTLES SUIT WITH BARRY HANKERSON, BLACKGROUND

Vocalist Toni Braxton has settled her lawsuit with former manager Barry Hankerson and the label he founded, Blackground Records. Both parties issued press statements to that effect late Tuesday (February 13th). Under the terms of the settlement, Braxton has no further recording obligations to Hankerson or to Blackground Records and is free to pursue agreements with other labels. “My freedom from Barry Hankerson is priceless, and means everything to me,” declared the Grammy-winning singer in her statement.

Hankerson’s legal team was also jubilant, noting that the singer does have a couple of financial obligations to her former record label: She is required to pay back the $375,000 advance she received for the scheduled follow-up to her 2005 album Libra, and must pay the label and unspecified percentage from sales of her next album.

Braxton trial lawyer Peter L. Haviland stated that the issue was never money. “This settlement allows Ms. Braxton immediately to start new projects of her choice,” he said. “She wanted to end her relationship with Blackground and Barry Hankerson, and she has. Money has never been what motivates her. Integrity — artistic and personal — does.”

Blackground Records attorneys Rickey Ivie and Samuel E. Chilakos maintain that Braxton’s suit was without merit. “When Barry Hankerson began working with Toni Braxton in 1997, he loaned her a substantial amount of money to assist her in dealing with a much publicized bankruptcy,” reads their statement. “As her manager, he negotiated a contract on her behalf with Arista Records that paid her an advance of $23,000,000. However, after only two albums, Arista released her from her contract. At Braxton’s behest, Hankerson signed Braxton to Blackground Records, where she released only one of the three albums she committed to. ”

BEYONCE LANDS ‘SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT ISSUE’ COVER

It’s been revealed that Beyonce is the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model. The photograph of the singer was reportedly taken on a beach in Florida, and in true Beyonce fashion, she’s wearing a bikini designed by mom Tina Knowles. This year, Sports Illustrated asked several musicians to pose in swimsuits for the issue. Others appearing in their bathing suits are Gnarls Barkley, Kanye West, Kenny Chesney, and the guys in Panic! At The Disco.

Beyonce’s cover score comes just days after her fellow Dreamgirl Jennifer Hudson landed on the cover of Vogue.

Beyonce becomes just the second African-American to pose on the cover of the Swimsuit Issue, the other being Tyra Banks.

The list of past Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover models also includes Rachel Hunter, Aerosmith, Christie Brinkley, Tyra Banks, and Elle Macpherson — who scored the coveted spot a record five times.

JOHN LEGEND SAYS HE’S NOT ON A MUSICAL MISSION

John Legend managed to bring home two more Grammy Awards for his work on his second album, Once Again. He already earned three in ceremonies last year for his debut set, Get Lifted. Fans have responded to Legend’s mix of old school soul and pop with original lyrics.

Though he’s one of just a handful of contemporary R&B artists who rely on songcraft and live instruments for their recordings, Legend doesn’t see himself as being on a mission to lead a musical revival. He explained: “I’m not mad at hip-hop being an influence in R&B. I do think there’s an absence of melody in a lot of songwriting and I don’t need to lead a movement, I’m just doing it myself and if other people do it, that’s great. I think people like Ne-Yo is doing it, I think Alicia is doing it, there are some artists that are writing good songs nowadays, there’s not a lot, there should be more but, you know, I don’t need to lead a movement. I’m just trying to make good albums for myself and the people I work with.”

Legend will hit the road to support Once Again in April with opening act Corinne Bailey Rae.

GERALD LEVERT’S FINAL INTERVIEW IN SOUTH AFRICA REVEALED

The final album by soul singer and songwriter Gerald Levert, titled In My Songs, was just released on Tuesday, February 13th. The artist died last November, just a week after returning from a concert tour of South Africa. As it happens, he gave one of his last interviews to a South African journalist who was determined to spend 10 minutes with the Cleveland-born Levert to get comments on his career.

Writer Bonga Percy Vilakazi shared Levert’s final interview with EURweb.com , adding that the exchange almost didn’t happen because Levert wasn’t feeling very well that day. Some of his comments about his goals and the state of R&B music are quite ironic in light of his untimely death.

Asked by Vilakazi is there was still some goal or dream he hadn’t yet achieved, Levert answered, “I’ve done a lot of things, which I’m really happy about. But if I’d choose, I’d wanna do more music. Music that is just universal. Music that everyone would get to listen to, ’cause right now, that’s not happening. For example, with radio stations, there are stations that only play R&B, or Country or Rock — so people don’t really get to hear something other than what’s being fed to them. So I’d like to be a part of that group, if I may call it that, that will bring about that revolution.”

Vilakazi then asked for Levert’s reaction to the death of Luther Vandross, who was also beloved throughout South Africa. “You know what, strange as it may sound, we weren’t really surprised,” said Levert. “We knew that he was very ill. Inasmuch as that was the case, we were still very, very sad. Luther was the man. No one sang love songs like Luther.”

“I guess all we have to do is just accept that these things happen,” Levert added. “It’s sad, I know. What’s also sad is that it’s all the soul singers that are leaving us.”

The complete interview can be viewed at the EURweb.com site.

Levert died November 10th in his suburban Cleveland home. His final autopsy last week revealed that Levert had died from an accidental drug mix of prescription pain killers, anxiety medication, and over-the-counter antihistamines.

JENNIFER HUDSON ON THE COVER OF MARCH ‘VOGUE’

Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson will grace the cover of the March issue of Vogue magazine. The Golden Globe winner is also pictured in a spread inside the magazine, with the photos shot by noted portrait photographer Annie Liebovitz at the landmark Apollo Theater in Harlem last month.

The Dreamgirls star is the cover girl for Vogue’s annual Power Issue.

Hudson is one of only three African-American actresses to ever have appeared on the cover of Vogue since the world-famous fashion magazine was launched in 1892. The others are Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey.

Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour personally chose Hudson as a cover model, flying in the face of the long-held publishing industry belief that African Americans don’t sell mainstream magazines as well as white cover subjects.

Hudson will find out on February 25th whether she gets to collect a coveted Oscar statuette to add to her growing collection of awards and honors. After receiving a Golden Globe Award for her turn as Effie, she told reporters that she planned to celebrate very simply: “Call Mom first, and thank God again, over and over again, because it didn’t have to be me. Millions didn’t make it, but I was one of the ones that did. I’m not a party girl, so I’ll just have to celebrate quietly and cry all night. That’s what I’ll do.”

IKE TURNER SAYS TINA TURNER FILM BIOPIC WAS NOTHING LIKE HIM

Ike Turner, who snagged the Grammy Award on Sunday night (February 11th) for Best Traditional Blues Album for his Risin’ With the Blues set, feels that people have got him all wrong. Ike told The Columbus Dispatch that the 1993 biopic about his ex-wife Tina Turner, which portrayed him as a drug addict and physically abusive to her, has clouded people’s judgment towards him. Ike said that, “That movie is nothing like me, man… People meet me and say, ‘You’re not the guy I thought you were, man.’”

When asked about filmgoers who judged him based solely on events portrayed in the film he said: “I feel sorry for them. If they knew me, they would love me like Tina did. Whatever I did in my life to bring me where I am today was a rough road. But, man, I love me today.”

He said that the Grammy win came as a surprise to him: “I wasn’t expecting a Grammy nomination. I was just trying to do what I do. I just did this album because it was fun. You know I play all kinds of music — rock ‘n’ roll, the blues, Top 40 stuff, jazz, anything. I had no idea that it would be doing what it’s doing.”

Ike Turner, who was on the forefront during the early days of rock and roll told me that he’s still developing new styles, which will be further explored on his upcoming album: “I’m in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for cutting the first rock and roll record in history. So I have a new thing that I’m coming out with now — that’s why I said I was hoping I didn’t win this one, it would be next year. A new music coming out next year called ‘Blues-Hop,’ it’s the blues mixed with hip- hop.”

MICHAEL JACKSON TO ‘AMERICAN IDOL’?

Twenty-four people will be named American Idol semi-finalists (February 14th) and there’s an outside chance that they’ll come face-to-face with the most elusive idol of them all, Michael Jackson. Reality TV magazine reports that Jackson is the most likely candidate to make a surprise appearance during the show’s sixth season because he’s been meeting with Idol creator Simon Fuller. Jackson and Fuller are supposedly discussing a Vegas show for Jackson, but word is Fuller’s also pushing for a Michael Jackson theme week on Idol.

Another singer whose glory days have since past, Belinda Carlisle, also has Idol on her mind. The Go-Gos leader told PlanetOut that she was approached a couple years ago about possibly replacing Paula Abdul but didn’t pursue it. Carlisle has appeared on Celebrity Duets and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire but said Idol is not her “thing.” She said, “I’d rather listen to music that comes from a more organic place.”

American Idol airs at 9 on Fox.

THE 100 GREATEST LOVE SONGS OF ALL-TIME

In honor of Valentine’s Day, The New York Daily News has compiled a list of the Top 100 Greatest Love Songs of All-Time. Their #1 choice??? “My Girl” by THE TEMPTATIONS. Here’s the Top 10:

#1.) “My Girl”, THE TEMPTATIONS
#2.) “I’ll Be There”, THE JACKSON 5
#3.) “Wonderful Tonight”, ERIC CLAPTON
#4.) “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, STEVIE WONDER
#5.) “You Are So Beautiful”, JOE COCKER
#6.) “In My Life”, THE BEATLES
#7.) “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, ROBERTA FLACK
#8.) “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”, ELVIS PRESLEY
#9.) “Michelle”, THE BEATLES
#10.) “I Can’t Stop Loving You”, RAY CHARLES

ACTOR GETS CHANCE TO STUDY CHARLEY PRIDE UP CLOSE

Actor Terrence Howard is working full-throttle on his portrayal of Charley Pride for an upcoming film on the black country pioneer’s life. Howard and Pride both attended The Soul Of Country event last week in Los Angeles as part of the Grammy Awards festivities, and the Nashville Tennessean reports that Howard — best known for his parts in Crash and Hustle And Flow — was carefully studying Pride’s gestures and facial characteristics as the two chatted. He told the newspaper that he was offered three music- related parts at the same time — Pride, Rick James, and Bob Marley — and he chose Pride because he was “the one I love the most…I am so ready and so excited.”

The Pride film is expected to start shooting this summer, with a hoped-for 2008 release.

Howard is planning to sing Pride’s songs himself and play guitar in the film. He performed at The Soul Of Country gathering last Thursday (February 8th).

TIKI BARBER JOINS THE ‘TODAY SHOW’

Former NFL running back Tiki Barber is now a news correspondent for NBC’s top-rated The Today Show. The 31-year-old football star was introduced as an NBC Universal employee on Tuesday. Barber’s beat will include contributing news and human interest stories to Today, and he’ll also serve as an analyst on NBC’s Sunday highlight show, Football Night in America, this fall.

Barber had been serving as a correspondent for the Fox News Channel morning program Fox & Friends, and has two programs on Sirius Satellite Radio, one on general topics and another on football that he does with his twin brother, Ronde Barber of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Barber turned down offers from ABC/Disney and Fox to take the NBC job. “My dream has always been to be on the Today show,” Barber said.

FORMER BET VEEJAY JOINS FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT TOUR

Former 106 & Park host Free has signed on to co-moderate the Hip Hop Summit Action Networks 2007 “Get Your Money Right” financial empowerment national tour. Free and Dr. Benjamin Chavis will lead the panel discussions at each tour stop.

Free said in a released statement, “I am extremely excited and honored to be a part of this year’s HSAN movement. I applaud Russell Simmons, Dr. Benjamin Chavis and HSAN for historically and consistently focusing their energies on the pulse of our social issues. I know what some of you are thinking…’ What exactly is financial literacy? How and where do you get it?’ More important, ‘How do you keep it?’ Well, in our communities across the nation, the misunderstanding of what exactly Financial Empowerment can and should mean, continues. We shall set out to inform our audiences (YOU) at these Summits about becoming ‘financially literate’ and remaining ‘financially sound’. P.S. Real Talk y’all…I’m coming to learn, too, so let’s get empowered TOGETHER! See you there!”

This year’s tour stops include: Houston, Texas – March 3rd; Detroit, MI – April 14th; Toronto, Ontario – August TBA; Greensboro, N.C. – September 8th; Washington, D.C. – September 29th; Miami, FL – October 20th and Atlanta, GA – November 3rd.

NICOLAS CAGE DEFENDS ‘GHOST RIDER’

Nicolas Cage is not above making popcorn entertainment. For decades, he’s starred in blockbusters like National Treasure and Con Air as well as in artsy fare like Adaptation and Wild At Heart, and his career hasn’t suffered from any of his choices.

Cage’s first foray into the comic book genre, Ghost Rider, takes him even deeper into crowd pleasing territory. He plays Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman by day and devil’s bounty hunter by night. The role isn’t something you’d imagine other Oscar winners like, say, Daniel Day-Lewis or Sean Penn doing, but Cage says detractors just don’t get it: “If you’re a magazine like Entertainment Weekly, you say something like, ‘Oscar winners shouldn’t be seen in this kind of material.’ They’re being foolish because it’s a way of introducing a classic story in a pop art fashion to massive audiences around the world. They won’t be able to see that. They have to have the beret and the jeton and say, ‘I’m cool. I only go to pretentious art movies.’”

Cage won the Best Actor Oscar in 1995 for Leaving Las Vegas.

Ghost Rider rolls into theaters Friday (February 16th).

TYLER PERRY’S DADDY’S LITTLE GIRLS

An unlucky in love attorney and a hard-working mechanic fall for each other when he hires her to help him win custody of his three daughters from their drug- dealing mother. But despite their obvious chemistry, the lady lawyer questions having a relationship with a blue collar dad. Her own father doesn’t help matters by harping on her to find a man on the same financial footing. Daddy’s Little Girls stars Gabrielle Union and Idris Elba, and co-stars Louis Gossett Jr.

Gabrielle Union on kissing co-stars: “I’m divorced, so I can tell you, for the most part when you’re working with really attractive men, you know, and their breath is, you know, reasonable — it doesn’t even have to be minty fresh really, I don’t really care — it’s nice. It’s, you know, it’s nice. It’s not a bad day’s work.”

Gabrielle Union on working with Lou Gossett Jr. of An Officer And A Gentleman fame: “He’s like the veteran. You know, it’s like, you know, when you’re watching a football game and they take out the quarterback that they paid 50 million that’s been jacking up the whole season and they put in that old veteran, that’s what Louis Gossett brought, just an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience. But of course I was fighting the urge to say, ‘Mayonnaise!’ I really wanted to say that really bad.”

ENTERTAINMENT QUICKIES

Oprah Winfrey loves her some Mitch Albom. The talk show billionaire has already turned one of his books into an Emmy winning film for ABC, and has just signed on to adapt a second book from the popular author. Click here to find out more!

They both deny it, but Beyonce is having trouble hiding her jealousy of Dreamgirls co- star Jennifer Hudson. According to the New York Daily News, Hudson was deliberately excluded from the guest list to Beyonce’s post- Grammy party in West Hollywood. A source tells the paper, “At a lot of events recently, it’s been all about Jennifer Hudson. Beyonce is successful because she’s continually been out there. She doesn’t want to look like she’s slipping.” Meanwhile, Be leads the pack with the most nominations, in next month’s annual Soul Train Music Awards. Knowles garnered three nominations, including Best Female Album for B’Day, Best Female Single for the hit song “Irreplaceable,” and for Michael Jackson Award for Best Music Video.

A 23 year old woman is claiming that R&B singer Monica’s fiance Rodney Hill physically assaulted her at Young Jeezy’s platinum party at ATL’s Velvet Room. An anonymous user created a MySpace account to give an eyewitness account on what occured that night.

Forget about the whispers that Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown are getting back together — Whitney’s publicist says it’s just not true. The two were recently spotted having dinner in L-A with their 13-year-old daughter Bobbi Christina, her friend and her friend’s mother. But Houston’s rep Nancy Seltzer tells People magazine, “It was a one-night dinner between divorcing parents for the sake of their daughter. They are not reuniting.”

Fat Man Scoop and his wife Shanda may have very well discovered the secret to a successful marriage in the spotlight: air it all out and take callers. What began as a small webcast about sex has now exploded into a live show with potential TV, DVD, and radio deals. Man and Wife takes place primarily in the bed of the happy couple, where they discuss sex; check voicemails and emails from fans, and vibe with one another like no other televised couple. Ever. Find out more here

From the projects to living in a plush crib in the Hollywood Hills, not bad at all. Check out Mary J. Blige’s new digs at $30,000 a month rent.

Rapper/Actor David Banner isn’t shy about his next LP. While working on a new film, Banner spoke out on the future of his rap career, the new LP’s title and more. Plus, read on about how he’s been working with some of the biggest names in the industry. and hear his plans for releasing one of the greatest LP’s ever. Will he succeed? See what he has to say about that.

Here’s a song you may never hear: Christina Aguilera has written a full-on pornographic song that you will NEVER hear. And I can’t really even tell you the name of it without getting FIRED. This is the most cleaned-up version of the title I can provide you with: “(Eff) You, (Ess) You”. . . (with the “S” word being the one that rhymes with LUCK.) Christina says she recorded it during a drunken night in the studio.

Now that Kevin Federline has moved on up to multi-million dollar Super Bowl ads, the original K- Fed –Vanilla Ice – has also decided to jump into the promotions game. Turbo Tax has enlisted Ice to be the face of an online contest called “The Tax Rap”. To participate, all you have to do is make a video of yourself RAPPING about taxes. Then, upload it to http://www.thetaxrap.com/. Ice, who will be judging the entries, will announce the winner of this insanity on Tax Day, April 15th. And he also busted his own tax rap. Check it out.

The upcoming issue of Us Weekly is your hookup for the 4,675th interview in which Paula Abdul denies that she’s a substance-abusing mess. She says, quote, “I’ve never been drunk. I have never done recreational drugs. Just look at my 20-year career. Tell me someone who is into partying or doing drugs that could have done that.” She adds, quote, “There have been 100 million lies about me. I’m squeaky clean. I’ve worked my ass off my entire life. [But] being involved in the show causes people to question everything.”

Eva Longoria and Tony Parker have mailed out the invitations for their Paris wedding on July 7. Yep, should be in the mail any day now.

BET’s new season of College Hill, from the Caribbean, begins on March 6th at 10 PM with eight students from the University of Virgin Islands St. Thomas. Season four will include four Virgin Islanders and a group California transfer students living large in a fabulous home. The group of college students, all twenty and up, will bring excitement and will be filled with different personalities and cultural tension.

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Black History Fact

Fifties screen siren Dorothy Dandridge was the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for a leading role. In an era when black actresses were typically only given parts as domestics or slaves, Dandridge became known as “the black Marilyn Monroe” by starring in such films as the 1954 classic Carmen Jones opposite Harry Belafonte.

Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1923, to actress Ruby Dandridge. Dorothy began her stage career as a child, performing with her older sister Vivian after they moved with their mother to California. The sisters eventually landed parts in the Marx Brothers’ film A Day at the Races in 1937, and performed, along with Etta James, as “The Dandridge Sisters.”

In 1945, Dandridge married dancer Harold Nicholas of the legendary Nicholas Brothers dance team, and a year later they had a daughter named Harolyn, who was born with brain damage. Dandridge’s marriage ended the same year.

Dandridge returned to the stage, and made her living as a singer appearing in prestigious clubs such as the Mocambo, Cafe de Paris, and La Vie en Rose. She was also the first black woman to perform at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Her big break came in 1951 when she starred as a country schoolteacher in the film Bright Road. In 1954 she landed a lead role Carmen Jones and got an Oscar bid.

Dandridge waited for more demanding film roles to come her way, but was usually offered parts that were little more than variations on the Carmen Jones character — lusty young women of dubious morality who meet with tragic ends. It was a frustrating turn of events for Dandridge, who saw herself locked into a racial stereotype. As a result, three years passed before Dandridge starred in another film. Island in the Sun (1957) was a daring foray into interracial romance that paired Dandridge with a white leading man. Although a number of theaters (mostly in the South) would not show the film, it was a hit at the box office. Dandridge went on to star in Tamango (1957) and Porgy And Bess (1959), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.

Sadly, her second marriage, to abusive Las Vegas businessman Jack Denison, who took much of her money, ended in divorce in 1962. Her career suffered and she was forced to declare bankruptcy a year after their divorce. She suffered from drinking and drug problems, and died in 1965 at the age of 42, from a barbiturate overdose. Her manager, Earl Mills, had just completed a new movie contract before this tragedy occurred.

In January 1984, Dandridge finally received the recognition she deserved when her gold star was unveiled on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame. Actress Halle Berry won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Dandridge in the 1999 HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
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Celebrity Birthdays

Richard “Rip” Hamilton, member of Detroit Pistons, 29

Maceo Parker, jazz musician, James Brown’s legendary sax man, 64

D’Wayne Wiggins, member of Tony Toni Tone, 44

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Words To the Wise

Stay the course
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Contact Information
Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
fbellsolidgoldsoul@gmail.com
888-639-9738