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12 Essential Facts About Queer Icon Ethel Waters

By:: Lily Landau

February 05, 2022

12 Essential Facts About Queer Icon Ethel Waters

The first Black woman to integrate Broadway AND to star in her own television show was the legendary singer, actress, and early queer icon, Ethel Waters.

12

She toured with her lover CRACKED.COM In 1928, Ethel Waters took her romantic partner, dancer Ethel Williams, on tour with her. Although Waters was married (and divorced) thrice in her life, her most significant relationship was with Williams. Throughout the 1910s and '20s, they were known as the two Ethels and lived together in Harlem amidst a bustling Black creative community. — Source

11

She was the top- earning Black artist BLACK SWAN RECORDS BLACK SWAN 2010-A MFD.BY PACE Oh Daddy Russeli-Herbert Ethel Waters - CRACKED.COM Cordy Williams' jazz Mastery ION. NEWYORK. In 1919, Ethel Waters moved to Harlem to pursue her singing and performing career. She recorded for Black Swan Records, the first black-owned and operated label marketed specifically to Black listeners, from 1921 until 1924. Her contract with Harry Pace, the owner of the label, made her the highest paid Black recording artist at the time. — Source

10

Her song is in the Library of Congress GRAGKED.COM In 2003, Ethel Waters' 1933 recording of Stormy Weather was listed in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. In her 1951 autobiography, Waters shared that to her, the song symbolized the wrongs and outrages done to by people had loved and trusted and that she sang it from the depths of a private hell in which was being crushed. — Source

9

She quit a big gig in protest CRACKED.COM In 1951 Ethel Waters starred in the show Beulah, a nationally broadcasted weekly series centered on a Black maid employed by a bumbling white family. After 32 episodes, in which she made history as the first Black actress to star in a sitcom, she quit in protest of the show's racist portrayal of African Americans. — Source

8

She fit into the queer nightclub scene fund by the 92 Chlut Succell United CRACKED COM Although they concealed their relationship from the press, together the two Ethels (Waters & Williams) ruled the Harlem nightclub scene along with other queer & cross-dressing singers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, & Gladys Bentley in the 1910s and '20s. The two Ethels performed a skit about being partners, a thinly veiled nod to their mostly queer audience. — Source

7

She made moves in the 1930s CRACKED.COM In the 1930s, Ethel Waters was the highest paid performer of any race on Broadway, starring in both integrated and all-Black performances. In 1936 she, Paul Robeson, Lee Whipper, and others became founding members of the Negro Actors Guild of America, and she later served as Vice President. — Source

6

She was the first Black actress Emmy nominee CRACKED.COM In 1962, Ethel Waters earned a historic Emmy nomination for her performance in an episode of Route 66 called Goodnight, Sweet Blues which resonated with viewers long after it aired. In it, Waters portrayed a singer at death's door whose last wish was to reunite with her old jazz band. After singing a hauntingly beautiful tune, accompanied by her old band at her deathbed, she peacefully passed away. — Source

5

She got an early start in showbiz GRACKED.COM On her 17th birthday, Ethel Waters was persuaded by friends to perform at a nightclub in Philadelphia. Stunning the crowd with her powerful voice, she was offered a job on the spot in Baltimore. There, she earned a solid salary of $10/week and should've made more, but her managers stole any & all tips thrown to her on stage. — Source

4

She made Broadway history CRACKED.COM Ethel Waters made her Broadway debut in 1927 in Africana, an all-black revue which she toured with after its initial run. In 1933, Waters became the first Black actress to integrate a Broadway revue with her performance in As Thousands Cheer. Originally in the revue, her renditions of Harlem on my Mind and Heat Wave Hits New York became huge hits long after the production closed. — Source

3

She was the first Black TV star N в с GRACKED.COM First aired on NBC on June 14, 1939, The Ethel Waters Show was a one-night-only, one-hour variety special hosted by Waters herself. It is possible that, with this first episode, Ethel Waters may have been the first Black actor to appear on American TV. The show featured Waters, Fredi Washington and Georgette Harvey performing a dramatic excerpt from a Broadway play. — Source

2

She sang the first anti-lynching song CRACKED.COM In 1933 Ethel Waters sang Supper Time, a powerful song written for her by Irving Berlin. Her performance conveyed the heart-wrenching anguish of a woman setting the table for dinner as she comes to terms with her husband's murder. From 1882-1968, approximately 4,743 individuals were lynched (or recorded as such) in the U.S. The actual number is certainly much higher. — Source

1

She was a vaudeville superstar CRACKED.COM In the late 1920s Ethel Waters joined what was called the white time Keith Vaudeville Circuit, a vaudeville troupe which performed for white audiences combined with screenings of silent movies. They received rave reviews in Chicago and earned a salary of $1,250-which was considered a LOT of money - in 1928. — Source

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