African American Actresses: The Struggle for Visibility, 1900--1960

Index

391 Index Abbott, Robert, 104 Abramson, Dan, 193, 213–214 Academy Award: for Berry, 331; black actresses overlooked for, 10, 15–16, 98; for Goldberg, 330; for McDaniel, 8, 10, 12, 134, 140–143, 161 Academy Award nomination: for Dandridge , 286, 295; for Waters, 247, 280 Affectionately Yours (1941), 134 African American actors. See specific actors (e.g., Belafonte, Harry; Robeson, Paul) African American actresses: invisibility of, 8–9, 19, 34–39, 265–267, 327, 330; visibility of, 19–39, 265–267, 327. See also specific actresses (e.g., Dandridge, Dorothy; Waters, Ethel); Other, racial; roles, for African American actresses; shadow, to white actresses African American audiences, 50, 101, 131 African American press: on Beavers, 15– 16, 99–100; on Broadway Rhythm, 194–195; on Dandridge, 291–292, 310–312; on Gone With the Wind, 149–150; on Horne, 178, 181, 186, 188–189, 196–197, 199, 208; on I Dood It, 224; on Imitation of Life, 98–101; on Island in the Sun, 299; on McDaniel, 139–148, 161–172; on McKinney, 54–57, 60, 63, 66, 69– 70; on The Member of the Wedding, 264–265; on Scott, 219, 224–235, 237; on Sul-Te-Wan, 33, 36–38; on Till the Clouds Roll By, 201–202; on Washington, 114, 122–123; on Waters, 253–254, 268, 280. See also mainstream press Africana (Broadway show), 246 Akst, Harry, 267 Alice Adams (1935), 134–135 Allbrite, Harding, 301 Allen, Gracie, 235 Allyson, June, 193, 196, 200, 202 Anderson, Eddie “Rochester,” 86, 182, 184, 190, 195, 274, figure 8, figure 9 Anderson, Louisa Tar, 245 Anderson, Marian, 235, 238 Anderson, Mary, 20 Anderson, Sally, 245 Another Face (1935), 134 Arthur Russell (character), 135 As Thousands Cheer (stage musical), 246 As You Like It (Shakespeare), 145 Astaire, Fred, 197 Astor, Mary, 193 At Home Abroad (1935), 246 Atlantic City (1944), 285 audiences, African American. See African American audiences 392 · index “Baad Bitches” and Sassy Supermamas (Dunn), 17 Babylon Girls: Black Women Performers and the Shaping of the Modern (Brown), 16 Bacall, Lauren, 6 Bahama Passage (1941), 285 Bailey, Pearl, 317 Bainter, Fay, 27 Baker, Houston, 91 Baker, Josephine, 16, 202 Ball, Lucille, 193, 197 Band of Angels (1957), 23 Barnet, Charlie, 176, 179 Basie, Count, 175, 177 Bassett, Angela, 330 Battle of Broadway (1938), 134 Bearden, Bessye, 55 Beasley, Delilah, 24 Beavers, Ernestine, 72 Beavers, Louise, 72–107; in Bombshell, 87–88; in Coquette, 78–79, figure 1; as Delilah (character), 88–101, 115–121; early life of, 72–88; in Forty-Second Street, 83–87; Hollywood’s treatment of, 105–106; in Imitation of Life, 74, 88–98, figure 5; in lead roles, 3, 7, 10; and Mae West, 74; in maid/ subservient roles, 12, 74–75, 79–80, 84–85, 102–103; in “mammy” roles, 74–76, 91–92, 100–104; overlooked for Academy Award, 98, 140–141; as Pearl (character), 80–83; physical appearance of, 72, 75–76, 80–81, 90; political activism of, 75, 101–102, 104–105; press on, 15–16, 98–101; prominence of, 4, 7; as racial Other, 76–77, 88–89; as shadow to white actresses , 85–86; and Sul-Te-Wan, 24 Beavers, William, 72 Bedin, Enzio, 217 Belafonte, Harry, 292–299, figure 13 Bell, Hugh Anthony, 110 Bennett, Constance, 85–86 Bennett, Joan, 6 Bennett, Tony, 177 Berenice (character), Waters role as, 248– 267. See also Waters, Ethel Bergman, Ingrid, 6 Berkeley, Busby, 84 Berlin, Irving, 42 Berry, Halle, 330 Berry Brothers, 187 Bethune, Mary McLeod, 236 The Beulah Show, 74, 105, 134, 171–172, 247 Bhabha, Homi K., 75, 77, 319 Biddle, Katherine, 108 The Birth of a Nation (1915): African American audiences reception of, 25–26; “black” roles in, 11; criticism of, 35; Gone with the Wind compared to, 144; plot of, 25–26; social politics of, 25–26; Sul-Te-Wan in, 8, 20–22, 24–26, 33 Black and Tan Fantasy (1929), 109, 113 Black Boy (theatrical production), 108– 109, 111–113 black exploitation films, 17 Black Four Hundred, 21 “black jazz artist,” 218, 225–226 Black Moon (1934), 23, 31, 36 The Black Network (1936), 64 Black Women as Cultural Readers (Bobo), 17 Black Women Film and Video Artists (Bobo), 17 Blackbirds (stage show), 41, 43, 176, 246 blackface, 19, 115, 135 Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films (Sampson), 18 Blake, Eubie, 59–60, 108–109 The Blonde Venus (1932), 133 Blue Holiday (stage revue), 247 The Bluest Eye (Morrison), 329...