Robert Townsend, a writer, producer, director, and actor, was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 6, 1957, the second of four children to Shirley and Robert Townsend. He was raised by his mother on the west side of Chicago. As a child, he entertained his … Read MoreRobert Townsend (1957- )
Actress Theresa Harris once shared with a reporter that her “greatest ambition was to be known someday as a great Negro actress.” Harris was born in 1911 in Houston, Texas to Anthony and Ina Harris. Her father was a construction worker and her mother was … Read MoreTheresa Harris (1911-1985)
Amanda Randolph, one of the first black performers to appear consistently on television, was born in 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky. She began performing as a young teenager in Cleveland’s musical comedies and nightclubs. In the 1930s, she toured Europe and performed in several hit musical … Read MoreAmanda Randolph (1896-1967)
Alvin Childress is best remembered for his role as the philosophical easy-going character Amos on the Amos n’ Andy show, a popular all-black cast sitcom of the early 1950s that depicted the antics of three friends in Harlem. Childress was born on September 15, 1907 … Read MoreAlvin Childress (1907-1986)
The Los Angeles Negro Victory Committee was organized in 1941 to protest racial discrimination in industries throughout the city that barred African American workers. Reverend Clayton Russell of the People’s Independent Church of Christ in South Central Los Angeles and Charlotta Bass, publisher of the … Read MoreNegro Victory Committee (1941-1945)
Lillian Randolph was a 20th Century actress who routinely, yet proudly, presented the role of the black domestic in film and radio and defended her right to maintain such characters in an intelligent fashion for much of her career. Randolph was born in Knoxville, Tennessee … Read MoreLillian Randolph (1915-1980)
John Daniel Singleton, an Academy Award-nominated film director, producer and screenwriter, was born on January 6, 1968 in Los Angles, California. Singleton was raised in South Central Los Angeles, a personal experience that can be seen in his films which often depict the impact of … Read MoreJohn Daniel Singleton (1968- )
Veteran actress Juanita Moore is fondly remembered for her tear-jerking role of Annie Johnson in Douglas Sirk’s 1959 remake of Imitation of Life. Moore was a groundbreaking actress best known for her role as Lana Turner’s character’s black friend in the film. In 1960 she … Read MoreJuanita Moore (1922-2014)
One of the first African American actors to receive critical acclaim, James Edwards was born in Muncie, Indiana in 1918. He majored in psychology at Knoxville College in Tennessee and continued his education at Northwestern University where he received a master’s degree in drama. While … Read MoreJames Edwards (1918-1970)
Actor-turned casting agent Ben Carter often portrayed an obliging domestic in Hollywood films, but later became one of the few African American agents in the movie capital dedicated to promoting and enhancing the careers of some of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors and actresses of color … Read MoreBen Carter (1907-1946)
