Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters was born on October 31, 1896 in Chester, Pennsylvania to Louise Anderson and John Wesley Waters. She attended Catholic school through the sixth grade. Ms. Waters pioneering career opened theatrical doors hitherto closed to black performers of her day. She fought hard and long to achieve solo star status in the white world of vaudeville, night clubs, Broadway theater, radio, films and television. On July 11, 1927, she made her New York stage debut in Africana at Daly's Theatre. Her career continued to escalate in such black shows as The Blackbirds of 1928 (and 1930) and Rhapsody in Black. In 1939 she was acclaimed in Mamba's Daughters, which role gave Ms. Waters the distinction of being the first black actress to star on Broadway in a dramatic play. Her Broadway career continued its spectacular ascent with such hit shows as At Home Abroad and Cabin in the Sky. In 1950, Ms. Waters once again made theatrical history as she took on the lead role of the Broadway smash-hit The Member of the Wedding. In 1929, she made her film debut in the new talking films, singing "Am I Blue?" and "Birmingham Bertha" in On with the Show, remade a few years later as Forty-Second Street. In 1933, her sensational rendition of "Stormy Weather" at the Cotton Club made her the talk of the town. Ms. Water's last years were spent touring with the evangelist Billy Graham, still performing occasionally, until her death on September 2, 1977, in Chatsworth, California.