Marpessa Dawn Menor, born on January 3, 1934, in Redstone Township, Pennsylvania, was an American singer. She began her career as a laboratory technician in New York before moving to England and later France, where she started performing in nightclubs. Her breakthrough came in 1958 when she was cast as Eurydice in Orfeu Negro, directed by Marcel Camus. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959 and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1960. Dawn's musical career included releases such as the EP Marpessa Dawn (1962) and Orfeo Negro (1960). She continued to act in films like Le Trésor des hommes bleus (1961) and Chérie Noire (1966), but her opportunities diminished over the years. Marpessa Dawn Menor passed away on August 25, 2008, in Paris, France.
