Strikingly beautiful Dorothea Durham was a popular dancer in the 1930's and 1940's, who also appeared in Hollywood films. Dorothea's beauty and graceful, sensual dancing style was often written about in African American newspapers of the time. She headlined at popular clubs such as Sebastian's Cotton Club and Rhumboogie, and theater revues billed as Garbo, after the actress Greta Garbo, possibly because her of her aloofness, like the actress.

Dorothea started her dance career in popular Chicago and Harlem nightclubs and was one of the women brought out to California to become apart of the thriving African American nightclub nightlife on Central Avenue in the 1930's and 1940's, known as the Harlem of the West. Her beauty and talent got her into films. She appeared in most of all the black cast musical numbers in Hollywood films, including "Cabin In The Sky" and "Stormy Weather." Dorothea also was a sensation in Duke Ellington's Jump For Joy. She was once married to musician Jackie Kelso.