Fredi Washington
Fredi Washington | |
---|---|
Born | Fredericka Carolyn Washington December 23, 1903 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
Died | June 28, 1994 Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 90)
Occupation(s) | Actress, activist |
Years active | 1922–1950 |
Spouses |
Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African American descent. She was one of the first Black Americans to gain recognition for film and stage work in the 1920s and 1930s.
Washington was active in the
Early life
Fredi Washington was born in 1903 in
While still in school in Philadelphia, Washington's family moved north to
Career
Early entertainment career
Washington's entertainment career began in 1921 as a chorus girl in the Broadway musical Shuffle Along. She was hired by dancer Josephine Baker as a member of the "Happy Honeysuckles," a cabaret group.[1] Baker became a friend and mentor to her.[5] Washington's collaboration with Baker led to her being discovered by producer Lee Shubert. In 1926, she was recommended for a co-starring role on the Broadway stage with Paul Robeson in the play Black Boy.[3] She quickly became a popular, featured dancer, and toured internationally with her dancing partner, Al Moiret.[4]
Washington turned to acting in the late 1920s. Her first movie role was in Black and Tan (1929), in which she played a Cotton Club dancer who was dying. She acted in a small role in The Emperor Jones (1933) starring Robeson. Washington played Cab Calloway's love interest in the musical short Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (1934).[6]
Imitation of Life
Her best-known role was in the 1934 movie
Activism
Washington's experiences in the film industry and theater led her to become a
Later work
Washington played opposite Bill Robinson in Fox's One Mile from Heaven (1937), in which she played a light-skinned woman claiming to be the mother of a "white" baby. Claire Trevor plays a reporter who discovers the story and helps both Washington and the white biological mother who had given up the baby, played by Sally Blane.[12][13] According to the Museum of Modern Art in 2013: "The last of the six Claire Trevor 'snappy' vehicles [Allan] Dwan made for Fox in the 1930s tests the limits of free expression on race in Hollywood while sometimes straining credulity."[14]
Washington appeared in the 1939 Broadway production of Mamba's Daughters, along with Ethel Waters and Georgette Harvey. She later became a casting consultant for the stage productions of Carmen Jones (1943) and George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.[6][15]
Leaving Hollywood for radio
Despite receiving critical acclaim, she was unable to find much work in the Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s; Black actresses were expected to have dark skin, and were usually typecast as maids.
Washington had a dramatic role in a 1943 radio tribute to Black women, Heroines in Bronze, produced by the National Urban League,[19] but there were few regular dramatic radio programs in that era with Black protagonists. She wrote an opinion piece for the Black press in which she discussed how limited the opportunities in broadcasting were for Black actors, actresses, and vocalists, writing that "...radio seems to keep its doors sealed [against] colored artists."[20]
In 1945 she said:
"You see I'm a mighty proud gal, and I can't for the life of me find any valid reason why anyone should lie about their origin, or anything else for that matter. Frankly, I do not ascribe to the stupid theory of white supremacy and to try to hide the fact that I am a Negro for economic or any other reasons. If I do, I would be agreeing to be a Negro makes me inferior and that I have swallowed whole hog all of the propaganda dished out by our fascist-minded white citizens."[21]
Writer
Washington was a theater writer, and the entertainment editor for The People's Voice (1942–1948), a newspaper for African Americans founded by Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a Baptist minister and politician in New York City who was married to her sister Isabel Washington Powell.[1][22] She was outspoken about racism faced by African Americans and worked closely with Walter White, then president of the NAACP, to address pressing issues facing Black people in America.[citation needed]
Personal life
In 1933, Washington married Lawrence Brown, the trombonist in Duke Ellington's jazz orchestra.[23] That marriage ended in divorce.[1] In 1952, Washington married a Stamford dentist, Hugh Anthony Bell, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.[24]
She was a devout Catholic.[25]
Death
Fredi Washington Bell died, aged 90, on June 28, 1994.[26] She died from pneumonia following a series of strokes at St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, Connecticut.[27][1]
Legacy and honors
- In 1975, Washington was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.[4]
- In 1979, Washington received the CIRCA Award for lifetime achievement in the performing arts.[6]
- In 1981, Washington received an award from the Audience Development Company (AUDELCO), a New York-based nonprofit group devoted to preserving and promoting African-American theater.[15]
Filmography
- Square Joe (1922), her film debut[28]
- Black and Tan (1929)
- The Emperor Jones (1933)
- Imitation of Life (1934)
- Ouanga (1936)
- One Mile from Heaven (1937)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Rule, Sheila (June 30, 1994). "Fredi Washington, 90, Actress; Broke Ground for Black Artists". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
- ^ a b Nzinga Cotton. "Fredi Washington: Active Promoter of Rights for Black Entertainers", New Nation (London, UK), June 16, 2008, p. 21.
- ^ Philadelphia Tribune, August 12, 1994, p. 4D.
- ^ a b c Bourne, Stephen. "Obituary: Fredi Washington", The Independent (London, UK), July 4, 1994.
- ^ Veronica Chambers. "Lives Well Lived: Fredi Washington, The Tragic Mulatto", The New York Times, January 1, 1995, p. A27.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-8543-1.
- ^ a b Hobbs, Allyson (2014). A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life. Harvard University Press. pp. 170–2.
- ^ "The 25 Most Important Films on Race: 'Imitation of Life'", Time, February 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
- ^ "Fredi Washington, Edna Thomas Honored by Guild", Norfolk (VA), New Journal and Guide, July 5, 1941, p. 15.
- ^ "Remembering Fredi Washington: Actress, Activist, and Journalist". connecticuthistory.org. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ Favara, Jeremiah; Stabile, carol; Strait, Laura. "WASHINGTON, FREDI: DANCER, ACTRESS, JOURNALIST". broadcast41.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ Overview: "One Mile from Heaven (1937)", The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ^ Poster for One Mile from Heaven Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, A Cinema Apart website
- ^ One Mile from Heaven, screening June 13, 2013, part of exhibit: Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios, MOMA. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-01488-6.
- ^ "Colored Actresses Reap Fortunes In Maid Roles". Jet: 60–61. October 16, 1952.
- ^ Courtney, Susanm "Picturizing Race: Hollywood's Censorship of Miscegenation and Production of Racial Visibility through Imitation of Life". Archived May 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Genders, Vol. 27, 1998. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
- ^ Ronald Bergen. "Between Black and White", The Guardian (Manchester, UK), July 9, 1994.
- ^ Barbara Dianne Savage, Broadcasting Freedom, University of North Carolina Press, 1999, p. 172.
- ^ Fredi Washington. "Future for Negro Performers This Season Looks Very Dark," Atlanta Daily World, September 23, 1940, p. 2.
- ^ Earl Conrad; "Pass or Not To Pass?" (June 16, 1945), The Chicago Defender.
- ^ People's Voice, Historical Society of Philadelphia, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-520-96414-3.
- ^ "New York Beat". Jet: 63. November 6, 1952.
- ^ Davis, Kimberly N. (May 2006). "Fredi Washington: Black entertainers and the "Double V" campaign". Texas State University.
- ^ Finlay, Nancy (February 22, 2017). "Remembering Fredi Washington: Actress, Activist, and Journalist". Connecticut History.
- ^ "Veteran Actress Fredi Washington Dies At 90". Jet: 53. July 18, 1994.
- ISBN 9781476644738– via Google Books.
External links
- Fredi Washington at IMDb
- Fredi Washington at the Internet Broadway Database
- The People's Voice Research and Editorial Files (1865-1963) are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
- Erin Blakemore, "The Fair-Skinned Black Actress Who Refused to 'Pass' in 1930s Hollywood", History, January 26, 2021.