GLAMOROUS WOMEN OF OLD BLACK HOLLYWOOD
JOSEPHINE BAKER Josephine Baker was born on June 03, 1906 in St. Louis Mo. She was a singer, dancer, actress, civil rights activist and French Resistance Agent. Her career in entertainment began as a renowned dancer in Paris. She was married and divorced multiple times and adopted a total of 12 children. Two girls and ten boys. On April 12 1975, she passed away suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Glamorous Women of Old Black Hollywood
LENA MARY CALHOUN HORNE Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30th, 1913 in BedfordStuyvesant New York. At the age of 16 she joined the chorus of the Cotton Club and became a night club performer. In 1934, she had her first featured role in the Cotton Club Parade. She made her first screen appearance as a dancer in a musical short Cab Calloway’s Jitters Bug Party in 1935. She appeared in Stormy Weather and Cabin In the Sky. Unfortunately, she was never featured in the leading role because of her race. She continued to have success with her singing career and performed on television shows. She was married 2X. She had 2 children with her second husband Lennie Hayton who passed away in 1971. Lena Horne died of congestive heart failure on May 9th 2010.
Glamorous Women of Old Black Hollywood
DOROTHY DANDRIDGE Dorothy Dandridge was born on November 9th, 1922 in Cleveland Ohio. Her singing career began at an early age in the Dandridge Sisters group and she appeared in films. In 1942 she married Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers. She gave birth to her only child Harold’s Suzanne Nicholas on September 2nd, 1943. Her daughter had brain damage caused by the forceps used to deliver her. Dorothy divorced Harold in 1952 and continued on with her successful acting career. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in Carmen Jones. She became the first African American nominated for a leading role in 1955. In 1965 she passed away of a fat embolism resulting from a right foot fracture according to the Los Angeles Coroner office. Glamorous Women of Old Black Hollywood
EARTHA KITT Eartha Kitt (Eartha Mae Keith) was born on January 17th, 1927 in North, SC. She began her career in 1942 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway Production of Musical Carib Song. In the early 1950s, she had six US top 30 hits. In 1968 her career in the US deteriorated after she made anti-Vietnam war statement at a White House luncheon. In 1978 she had a successful return to Broadway in the musical Timbuktu and received her first of two Tony Award nominations. She was married to John Williams McDonald and a year later gave birth to her only child a girl Kitt McDonald. She divorced John in 1965. Eartha passed away on Christmas Day in 2008 of colon cancer. Her daughter Kitt was with her when she passed away.
Glamorous Women of Old Black Hollywood
JOYCE BRYANT Joyce Bryant was born on October 14th 1927. Her career in entertainment started during the late 1940s. She had scheduled “gigs” at La Martinique night club in New York and was getting paid $400 a week. She colored her hair silver to have a unique look and wore a long tight silver dress with a mink coat. She was viewed as a sex symbol and named the black Marilyn Monroe. She went on to release a series of records and was outspoken on issues of racial inequality. She became the first black entertainer to perform at a Miami Beach hotel defying threats by the Ku Klux Klan. She is 93 years old and a documentary titled the Lost of a Diva is in the works.
Glamorous Women of Old Black Hollywood
MARPESSA DAWN Marpessa Dawn was born on January 03, 1934 in Pittsburg PA in a farm. Before getting into acting, she worked as a Laboratory Technician in New York. She migrated to Europe as a teenager and began her acting in England with small TV roles. Her first big role was in Black Orpheus. She continued acting in French films and television. She was married 2X and had 5 children and 4 grandchildren. She succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 74 years old on 08-25-2008.
Glamorous Women of Old Black Hollywood