Let's Kick Off Women's History Month with Early Black Queens of Stage & Screen

[appalachiablue]

- Ethel Waters, American singer and actress.
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- Ethel Waters, (Oct. 31, 1896 – Sept. 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Waters notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow".

Waters was the 2nd African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was the 1st African American to star on her own television show and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Waters


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- Daily Kos, By Denise Oliver Velez. March 6, 2021. Ed.

As we settle into Women’s History Month, which—just like Black History Month—I celebrate all year long, today’s #BlackMusicSunday is an exploration of the lives of four women whose musical contributions broke though barriers on both stage and screen. Ethel Waters, Juanita Hall, Muriel Smith, and Pearl Bailey are four Black women who trod the boards, whose voices were heard here and abroad, and who will forever be a part of our collective history of song.

When I was growing up, I cherished glimpses of Black women on television. My parents didn’t own one until 1957, but my modern grandparents were a bit quicker to adopt the new technology. We would all gather in their apartment to watch The Ed Sullivan Show, which premiered in 1948—the year after I was born—and helped break barriers for many Black entertainers.

Because my dad was in the theater, I grew up very familiar with the contributions of Black actors and actresses on Broadway, and the all-Black films of that time—many of which were also musicals. - Join me as I share some of those memories. My parents bought the cast albums from all the Black musicals on Broadway and the films they spawned. So though I was not even born when Ethel Waters starred in Cabin in the Sky in 1940 on Broadway and the film by the same name in 1943, I was very familiar with the music and who she was.

Link to tweet

Here’s “Happiness is a Thing Called Joe” from the movie cast album.

I will never forget watching Waters’ performance as Petunia in the film version.

- Read More+ Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/6/2081372/-Let-s-kick-off-Women-s-History-Month-with-early-Black-queens-of-stage-and-screen
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- Also: African American History & Womens Timeline. ThoughtCo. Dec. 20, 2020.
https://www.thoughtco.com/african-american-womens-history-timeline-1920-1929-3528307

[Walleye]

1. Alberta Hunter

Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 – October 17, 1984) was an American jazz and blues singer and songwriter from the early 1920s to the late 1950s.[1][2][3] After twenty years of working as a nurse, Hunter resumed her singing career in 1977.
https://m.

[appalachiablue]

2. Tx. Great voice, I'll read up more on Alberta Hunter.

[Walleye]

3. I saw her perform in Greenwich Village at the Cookery in the 80s

Amazing show. She wrote some of Bessie Smith’s big hits. Between songs she lectured the young people to respect their parents. I just loved her. I went by myself I will never forget it.
“Just as sure as Amtrak leaves from Pennsy yard. I’m going back to Memphis if I have to ride the rod.” She was a big hit in Europe in the 30s. Came back to racist America and went back to her career as a nurse then revived her singing career as a senior citizen.

[appalachiablue]

4. Good for you! Didn't know all this, what a talent, force & great woman,