Black American Women in Entertainment
I have really enjoyed the stories of all the brave Black Women in the United States. Just as in the other fields we have covered – sports, medicine, education, and the arts, the field of entertainment was a mostly white profession before the mid-twentieth century. During the 1950’s some courageous black women began to seek careers in visual media. Gradually it became more acceptable for Black people to participate in the Movies, Broadway, and Television.
At first, I thought the topic of “Television” might not be as important as other categories. But now I think that the women who pioneered in this area should get a lot of credit for raising the perception of Black Americans as gifted, intelligent, talented, and equally able to accomplish anything a white person can if only given the opportunity. By the 1970’s, Americans could see for themselves the wonderful personalities of Black women on the screen. Prejudice began to decrease as the perception of Black people slowly began to change.
For the next two posts we will cover the stories of six Black Female Firsts in television. This week we will look at two women who were especially talented in music – Ethel Waters and Hazel Scott. Next time we will look at popular television firsts in long-running television shows.
Black Women in Television
Ethel Waters – (1896-1977)
“We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.”
– Ethel Waters
Yes, Ethel was right. We are all gifted no matter what our gender, skin color, or economic class. It is time to recognize this important truth and make sure everyone is given an opportunity to succeed.
Of course, some people seem “more gifted than others” and that would be the great Ethel Waters.
Ethel was born on October 31, 1896, into abject poverty. She had a difficult childhood, saying later in life that she missed the loving attention that she would have liked to have had from her parents. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she rose above her circumstances to succeed as a singer, an actress, and a TV personality.
In 1921 Ethel became only the fifth black woman in history to make a record. During the 1920’s and 1930 three of her songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
During her lifetime she attained many “firsts”.
1. She was the first black woman to confront racism in her singing. In 1933 she recorded “Suppertime” and “Stormy Weather”.
2. Ethel was the first black woman to get billing with white stars on Broadway. In 1933 she starred in the Broadway musical, “As Thousands Cheer”.
3. In Hollywood, she was the first black woman to establish herself as a major dramatic actress. In 1939 she starred in the matriarchal role of Hagar in “Mamba’s Daughters”.
Ethel was the second black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for her role in “Pinky” (1949).
4. Ethel was the first African American to star in her own television show, “The Ethel Waters Show” which started in 1939. Some believe that she may have been the first black person on television.
In 1950 she won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as best actress for her role in “Member of the Wedding”. Other achievements include a nomination for an Emmy award (1962) for her appearance on the television series “Route 66”.
But Ethel may define the most important moment in her life as the time she accepted Christ as her Savior. In her later life she sang for the Billy Graham Crusades for almost 20 years. Her signature song, which is also the title of her autobiography is “His Eye is on the Sparrow”.
At Billy Graham Crusades, Ethel gave her moving testimony as she sang “His Eye is on the Sparrow”. Ethel Waters helped to pave the way for more black people in entertainment.
For her moving testimony go here:
Hazel Scott – (1920-1981
Hazel Scott was a jazz pianist and singer. She was the first black woman to host a TV show in 1950. I know we just said that Ethel Waters was the first black woman to have her own TV show; I guess the difference is that Hazel was the first show host.
Hazel Dorothy Scott was born on June 11, 1920, in Port of Spain, Trinidad. She had gifted parents. R. Thomas Scott was a West African scholar from England and her mother, Alma Long Scott, was a classically trained pianist and saxophonist. It must be no surprise then that the young Hazel was soon displaying a talent for music. By the age of three she could play the piano by ear!!
Sadly, her parents separated when she was only four. Her mother and grandmother raised her in New York City. Her mother earned money playing in all women bands. Hazel had the opportunity to be around great musicians, such as Fats Waller, and so she learned a variety of music. She later combined her love of classics and jazz in a unique way.
Though students were supposed to be 16 to audition for a place at the Prestigious Juilliard School of Music, 8-year-old Hazel’s rendition of Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in C-Sharp Minor” convinced the professors that she was a genius and they enrolled her.
When she was 13, Hazel joined her mother’s jazz band. When she was 15, she made a stage debut opposite Count Basie’s big band at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.
Hazel won a local competition to host her own radio show. She made her debut in Broadway when she starred in “Sing Out the News” in 1938. Though she was extremely busy with all of these activities, Hazel graduated from high school with honors.
Soon Hazel found herself playing at Café Society, New York’s first fully integrated nightclub. Hazel loved to “jazz” up the classics and audiences loved it. Hazel broke the sales records for her recording of “Bach to Boogie”. She was also very talented as a singer.
I was able to find some recordings of her on YouTube. I apologize ahead of time for the stupid ADS, but the wait is worth it. I’m not sure any pianist in history has topped her!
A nice video of her jazzy style on the piano. Notice her charming smile.
“A Foggy Day”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTtX7QVaQWk
For a great example of how she played in a classical style and then switched to Jazz (Boogey-woogey style):
“Dark Eyes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C-lO0buezs&list=RDDTtX7QVaQWk&index=2
Singing and playing – “Black and “White” Again notice her captivating style – Has any other piano artist played two pianos at the same time?
Things went well for Hazel until she moved to Hollywood and signed with RKO. She came up against the racial bigotry there which typecast black people into servant roles. Hazel refused her first four offers because they featured singing maids. Eventually Hazel starred in movies that featured her as herself – a sophisticated woman with musical talents and she insisted on getting proper credit. She demanded equal pay with white actors for black actors. The studio cancelled her movies in 1945 because of her stand for racial justice.
Hazel became one of the first black artists to play for mixed audiences. She gave the credit for her courage for standing up for black artists to her mother, who had remained an independent woman. Hazel’s fame spread and by 1945 she was attracting large audiences and earning the equivalent of 1Million dollars a year in today’s dollars.
Hazel married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1945. Powell was the first African American elected to Congress from New York (1944). She gave birth to Adam Clayton Powell, III in 1946.
In 1950, Hazel made history as the first African American woman to host her own TV show. It aired for 15 minutes, 3 times a week. Unfortunately, it only lasted a few months. An anti-communist group claimed that she was a Communist sympathizer, naming her supposed association with various Communist groups. Hazel had not even heard of any but one of them and she did not know the political affiliation of that one. The network cancelled her show anyway.
Hazel and Adam separated in the 1950’s (finally divorcing in 1960). She moved to Paris for a while and returned to the US in 1967. She performed in small clubs and made a few recordings, but her celebrity days were over. She died from pancreatic cancer on October 2, 1981, just two months after her last performance.
Here is one final video for you to enjoy from the film “I DooD It” (1943). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yBAaEoTdWk&list=RDDTtX7QVaQWk&index=7
May God bless our land with more talented entertainers like Hazel Scott.
