• Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas is the only daughter of Dorothy Dandridge, the first African-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award.
• She was born with cerebral anoxia, resulting in speech and communication impairments.
• Her parents divorced in 1951 and Dorothy gave up her parental rights, leading Harolyn to become a ward of the state of California.
• Dorothy passed away in 1965, while Harold passed away in 2000.
• There is no available information on her current net worth or her current whereabouts.



Known for movies



Who is Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas?

Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas was born on the 2nd September 1943, in Los Angeles, California USA, and is probably best recognized as the only daughter of Dorothy Dandridge, who is known for being the first actress of African-American descent to be nominated for an Academy Award.

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Parents

Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas’ mother is the late Dorothy Jean Dandridge (1922-1965), one of the most famous Hollywood actresses of the period, as well as the first African American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film “Carmen Josen” in 1954. She was also the first African-American actress to be on the cover of Life Magazine.

Harolyn’s father is the late Harold Lloyd Nicholas (1921-2000), who was known all over the world for being a dancer and member of the world’s greatest tap-dancing pair called the Nicholas Brothers, along with his brother Fayard Nicholas. Her parents married in 1941 and two years later Dorothy gave birth to their daughter Harolyn. However, the couple divorced after nine years of marriage.

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Cerebral Anoxia

Unfortunately, Harolyn was born with cerebral anoxia, which affected her a lot, and she required full-time care. The speech center of her brain was damaged, so she could not speak by the age of four, nor could she recognize or communicate with anybody, including her parents. Because of that, her mother put her in a private care institution in the hope of improving her life. The mental disability limits Harolyn’s whole life, and Dorothy blamed herself for her daughter’s brain damage, because she tried to delay her birth, waiting for her husband to go into hospital with her. However, the disability was identified as being caused by the surgical instruments used during the delivery.

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Divorce and Death

All of these circumstances led to the couple’s divorce in 1951. Moreover, Dorothy was faced with several financial losses and bankrupts, after which she had to give up her parental rights to Harolyn, making her a ward of the state of California. In September of 1965 Dorothy died, the cause of death being a drug overdose, while her father, Harold, passed away in 2000.

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Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas Net Worth

Although she came from a very successful and talented family, she was not able to have her own career due to her mental disability. So, if you ever wondered how rich Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas is, we can say that there is no information about that in the media, but the indications are that her net worth would be minimal.

Is She Still Alive?

Regarding the main question about her, there were a lot of speculations that Harolyn passed away in 2003, which were unconfirmed. Otherwise, if she is still alive today, she is probably in a mental hospital facility and she is 75 years old. Apparently, no one seems to have any current, confirmed information about her.

Movies

Miscellaneous

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Loser's Crown2014production coordinator
The Grey2011assistant: Joe Carnahan
The A-Team2010assistant: Joe Carnahan
Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball2010Video assistant: Mr. Carnahan
The Fourth Kind2009assistant: Mr. Carnahan

Producer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!2005TV Series documentary producer - 2 episodes

Director

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Susannah2009Short

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball - Confessions of an Assassin2010Video documentary short special thanks

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia

7 Comments

  1. EILEEN LEE Reply

    TO LEAVE YOUR CHILD IN THE WARD OF THE STATE,,,HAROLYN GREW WITH NO LOVE,,,,,IM JUST HEART BROKEN,…TO KNOW HER MOTHER DID NOT LOVE HER ENOUGH TO KEEP HER,,,IM DONE,,,NOTHING NOT ONE PIC ON THE INTERNET OF HAROLYN,,NOTHING, JUST GROWN FORGOTTON AND DIED . HOW COULD A MOTHER DO THAT?

    • If you look at the above article, you will see 2 pics of the child with her mother. It was a different time back then, people were encouraged by doctors to put handicapped children into facilities equipped to meet their needs. It was thought they would be better off there, & the average person had no idea how to care for severe disabilities. There were no social service agencies or home health organizations like we have today. If parents had to work for a living, they had little choice.

    • My understanding is the Ms. Dandridge never gave her daughter up. It was only when she went bankrupt that she turned the disabled child over to the state. Tragically after working for decades to support her, Ms. Dandridge could no longer pay for her care. That was one of several reasons for the star’s deteriorating mental state and perhaps her death.

    • She tried and wanted to take care of her, but due to her disability she never spoke and her brain was affected. She did not have the brain capacity to know love or anything for that matter. She loved her dearly, but went through problems herself. She died from a drug overdose. Who are you to judge someone for their choices? People make choices to fit them not you or I. Now it is bad that there is no updated information about her daughter. Her dad lived a long time and had nothing to do with her. Why are you not mad at him? It’s okay for him to leave, but not the mother. Dorothy died in 1965 but Harold didn’t die until 2000. He lived 35 years after Dorothy and never had anything to do with Harolyn. He just went on with his live. He even had another child.

  2. May be of the father would stop being so Hypocrite. And help his wife with there daughter she would have little love. Her Grandmother was a Dyke and Dorothy Dandridge white Husband abused her and stole all her Money and maybe that lead her to commit suicide because she didnt have any help from the Government her x Husband’s didnt Too much care for her. And she admitted it her self that she lost all her money when she was married to the white man. And he didnt pay her a dam.dime. where is The Loyalty in that marriage is 50/50 Give and Take just not Take .Take and Take

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