Sidney Poitier holding court at a party in 1977. To his right is actress, Tracy Reed, his co-star in the 1977 film, “A Piece of the Action.” I LOVE Tracy Reed and wish I could find more (clear!) pictures of her. Photo: Ozier Muhammad for EBONY.
Remember that beautiful picture of Dorothy Dandridge with her “Tamango” co-star Alex Cressan in Paris? Well, here they are again, very likely at the same party in 1957. Photo: Jean Tesseyre/Paris Match via Getty Images.
Sidney Poitier and Nat “King” Cole cutting up at the 1963 #Oscars at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, April 8, 1963. One of my favorite pictures EVER! Photo: Michael Ochs Archives, Corbis.
Dorothy Dandridge, on the set of “Carmen Jones” at the RKO lot in Hollywood in 1954. In the film, the police were military police in tan uniforms, so my guess is that these gentlemen were real policemen (security on the set?) I found the photo (perhaps taken by a studio photographer) via Tumblr on a Dorothy Dandridge tribute blog (dorothydandridge.tumblr.com) where it was submitted by a fan.
The one and only Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on this day 90 years ago in Cleveland, Ohio. She is pictured at home in 1954 in a photo by Allan Grant. Photo: Time & Life Pictures/Getty.
Judy Pace with actor Raymond St. Jacques in 1970 at the Now Grove (a short-lived renovation of the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub) in Los Angeles, to see Diahann Carroll perform. Mr. St. Jacques (1930-1990) was best known for his roles in “Rawhide” and “Cotton Comes to Harlem,” which also starred Ms. Pace. Photo by Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images.
Dorothy Dandridge rehearsing with composer, arranger and vocal coach extraordinaire Phil Moore in March 1951. Mr. Moore also coached, arranged and/or wrote songs for Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Pearl Bailey, Ava Gardner, Diahann Carroll, Johnny Mathis and The Supremes. Photo by Ed Clark/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.
Diahann Carroll greeting the legendary photographer Gordon Parks at the 1969 Governor’s Ball at the Academy Awards at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, April 14, 1969. Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage
Dorothy Dandridge and Alex Cressan, her co-star in the 1958 film “Tamango” (he played the title role, the leader of a slave revolt) at Maxim’s in Paris in April, 1957. Mr. Cressan was a medical student in Martinique before he made “Tamango,” his only film. Photo: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images.
Miriam Makeba and Marlon Brando enjoying champagne on Ms. Makeba’s opening night at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles on April 2, 1968. Photo: Max B. Miller/Fotos International/Getty Images.
Speaking of Marilyn Monroe and the Mocambo in Hollywood. In 1955, Ms. Monroe persuaded the owner of the Mocambo to hire Ella Fitzgerald (the Mocambo did not book Black artists). Ms. Fitzgerald on Ms. Monroe to Ms. magazine in 1972: “I oweMarilyn Monroe a real debt…it was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very popular nightclub in the ’50s. She personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him - and it was true, due to Marilyn’s superstar status - that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman - a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it.”
Composer, arranger and vocal coach Phil Moore giving singing lessons to a 22-year-old Marilyn Monroe at the legendary West Hollywood nightclub, the Mocambo, in 1949. Ms. Monroe was quoted in Ebony magazine in 1960 as saying, “I will always be grateful to Phil Moore for his patience… he gave me confidence in my own vocal ability and made me realize that people would be willing to listen to me as well as look at me.” Photo: J.R. Eyerman - Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.
