Genre
Genre
Musical
With advances in moviemaking technology, particularly the introduction of “talkies,” the landscape of filmmaking shifted, and Black-cast movies grew in popularity. As Hollywood started producing sound films, entertainers and musicians like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Lena Horne found work in big screen musicals. Some of their appearances were designed strictly as musical interludes that have little to do with the film’s narrative arc, making it easier to remove them if there were issues (primarily in the South) with censorship boards.
Drama
Black films have always taken the concerns of Black life as their subject. This tendency accelerated in the postwar period as studio monopolies began unraveling, opportunities for independent cinema productions increased, and more nuanced stories about racism and interracial relationships started to hit the screen. Black writers Lorraine Hansberry and James Baldwin were powerful voices during this period, using their pens to surface changing perspectives. Many Black actors such as Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, and Paul Robeson used their fame to promote civil rights causes on and off the screen.
Comedy
Black comedy’s many traditions–some incisive, some harmful–have been present since the beginning of Black film. Black vaudeville entertainers like Bert Williams offered brilliant satirical comedy onstage and played resourceful and independent characters in films. But other actors crafted long careers that relied on racist stereotypes that demeaned the very audiences for which they performed.
Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
1905 - 1977
Actor
Pearl Bailey
1918 - 1990
Actor, Singer
Bill Bailey
1912 - 1978
Dancer
Louise Beavers
1900 - 1962
Actor
Harry Belafonte
1927 - 2023
Actor, Singer
William "Sleep ‘n’ Eat" Best
1913 - 1962
Actor
Clarence Brooks
1896 - 1969
Actor, Producer
The Nicholas Brothers
Dancer, Actor
Cab Calloway
1907 - 1994
Musician, Singer, Dancer, Actor
Diahann Carroll
1935 - 2019
Actor, Singer
Dorothy Dandridge
1922 - 1965
Actor, Singer, Dancer
Ossie Davis
1917 - 2005
Actor, Director
Sammy Davis Jr.
1925 - 1990
Singer, Actor, Producer
Ruby Dee
1922 - 2014
Actor, Screenwriter
Dona Drake
1914 - 1989
Actor, Dancer, Singer
Katherine Dunham
1909 - 2006
Dancer
James Edwards
1918 - 1970
Actor
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington
1899 - 1974
Musician, Actor, Composer
Theresa Harris
1906 - 1985
Actor, Singer, Dancer
Daniel Haynes
1889 - 1954
Actor
Lena Horne
1917 - 2010
Actor, Singer, Dancer
Olga James
1929 - Present
Actor, Singer
Noble Johnson
1881 - 1978
Actor, Producer
Eartha Kitt
1927 - 2008
Actor, Singer, Dancer
Canada Lee
1907 - 1952
Actor
Abbey Lincoln
1930 - 2010
Singer, Actor, Director
Sam McDaniel
1886 - 1962
Actor
Etta McDaniel
1890 - 1946
Actor
Hattie McDaniel
1893 - 1952
Actor, Singer
Nina Mae McKinney
1912 - 1967
Actor, Singer, Dancer
Butterfly McQueen
1911 - 1995
Actor, Dancer
Juanita Moore
1914 - 2014
Actor
Mantan Moreland
1902 - 1973
Actor
Clarence Muse
1889 - 1979
Actor, Screenwriter, Director, Singer
Maidie Norman
1912 - 1998
Actor
Frederick O’Neal
1905 - 1992
Actor
Lincoln “Stepin Fetchit” Perry
1902 - 1985
Actor
Brock Peters
1927 - 2005
Actor, Singer
Sidney Poitier
1927 - 2022
Actor, Director
Oscar Polk
1899 - 1949
Actor
Lillian Randolph
1898 - 1980
Actor, Singer
Paul Robeson
1898 - 1976
Actor, Singer
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson
1878 - 1949
Dancer, Singer, Actor
Hazel Scott
1920 - 1981
Musician, Actor, Singer
Hilda Simms
1918 - 1994
Actor
Victoria Spivey
1906 - 1976
Singer, Actor
Madame Sul Te Wan
1873 - 1959
Actor
Fredi Washington
1903 - 1994
Actor, Dancer
Ethel Waters
1896 - 1977
Singer, Actor
Ernest Whitman
1893 - 1954
Actor
Arthur "Dooley" Wilson
1886 - 1953
Actor, Singer