Wikipedia

Fredi Washington

Fredericka Carolyn[citation needed]"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 the1920sand1930s.

Fredi Washington
Washington inImitation of Life,1934
Born
Fredericka Carolyn Washington

(1903-12-23)December 23, 1903
Savannah, Georgia,U.S.
DiedJune 28, 1994(1994-06-28)(aged 90)
Stamford, Connecticut,U.S.
EducationJulia Richman High School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • activist
  • writer
Years active1922–1950
Known for
Spouses
​
​
(m.1933;div.1951)​
Hugh Bell
​
​
(m.1952; died 1970)​

Washington was active in theHarlem Renaissance(1920s–1930s). Her best-known film role was as Peola inImitation of Life(1934). She plays a young light-skinned Black woman who decides to pass as white. Her last film role was inOne Mile from Heaven(1937). After that she left Hollywood and returned to New York to work in theatre andcivil rightsactivism.

Early life

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Fredi Washington was born in 1903 inSavannah, Georgia,to Robert T. Washington, a postal worker, and Harriet "Hattie" Walker Ward, a dancer. Both were of African American and European ancestry.[1]Washington was the second of their five children. Her mother died when Fredi was 11 years old.[2]As the oldest girl in her family, she helped raise her younger siblings, Isabel, Rosebud, and Robert, with the help of their grandmother.[citation needed]

After their mother's death, Washington and her sister Isabel were sent to theSt. Elizabeth's ConventSchool for Colored Girls inCornwells Heights,nearPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.[3]

While Washington was still in school in Philadelphia, her family moved north from Georgia toHarlem, New York.Washington graduated fromJulia Richman High Schoolin New York City.[4]

Career

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Early entertainment career

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Washington's entertainment career began in 1921 as a chorus girl in the Broadway musicalShuffle Along.She was hired by dancerJosephine Bakeras 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 producerLee Shubert.In 1926, she was recommended for a co-starring role on the Broadway stage withPaul Robesonin the playBlack 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 inBlack and Tan(1929), in which she played aCotton Clubdancer who was dying. She acted in a small role inThe Emperor Jones(1933) starring Robeson. Washington playedCab Calloway's love interest in the musical shortCab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho(1934).[6]

Imitation of Life

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Louise Beaversand Fredi Washington inImitation of Life(1934)
Washington (left) at the opening of theFederal Theatre Projectproduction ofMacbethat the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem (April 14, 1936)

Her best-known role was in the 1934 movieImitation of Life.Washington played a young light-skinnedBlack[1]woman who chose topassas white to seek more opportunities in a society restricted by legal and social racial segregation. As Washington had visible European ancestry, the role was considered perfect for her, but it led to her being typecast by filmmakers.[3]Moviegoers sometimes assumed from Washington's appearance—her blue-gray eyes, pale complexion, and light brown hair—that she might have passed in her own life. In 1934, she said the role did not reflect her off-screen life, but "If I made Peola seem real enough to merit such statements, I consider such statements compliments and makes me feel I've done my job fairly well."[7][1]

She told reporters in 1949 that she identified as Black "...because I'm honest, firstly, and secondly, you don't have to be white to be good. I've spent most of my life trying to prove to those who think otherwise... I am a Negro and I am proud of it."[7]Imitation of Lifewas nominated for anAcademy Awardfor Best Picture, but it did not win. Years later, in 2007,Timemagazine ranked it as among "The 25 Most Important Films on Race."[8]

Activism

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Washington's experiences in the film industry and theater led her to become acivil rightsactivist. In an effort to help other Black actors and actresses find more opportunities, in 1937 Washington co-founded theNegro Actors Guild of America(NAG), withNoble Sissle,W. C. Handy,Paul Robeson,andEthel Waters.[6]The organization's mission included speaking out against stereotyping and advocating for a wider range of roles.[2]Washington served as the organization's first executive secretary.[9][6]

She was also deeply involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, known as theNAACP.[10]While working with the NAACP, Washington fought for more representation and better treatment of Black actors in Hollywood; because of her own success, she was one of the few Black actors in Hollywood who had some influence with white studio executives.

In addition to working for the rights and opportunities of Black actors, Washington also advocated for the federal protection of Black Americans. She was a lobbyist for theDyer Anti-Lynching Bill,which the NAACP supported.[11]It was passed by the House but lost in the Senate, which was dominated by theSolid South.[citation needed]

Later work

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Washington played oppositeBill Robinsonin Fox'sOne Mile from Heaven(1937), in which she played a light-skinned Black woman claiming to be the mother of a "white" baby.Claire Trevorplays a reporter who discovers the story and helps both Washington and the white biological mother (Sally Bane) who had given up the baby.[12][13]According to theMuseum of Modern Artin 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 1939Broadwayproduction ofMamba's Daughters,along with Ethel Waters andGeorgette Harvey.She later became a casting consultant for the stage productions ofCarmen Jones(1943) andGeorge Gershwin'sPorgy and Bess.[6][15]

Leaving Hollywood for radio

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Despite receiving critical acclaim, she was unable to find much work in the Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s. Studios preferred Black actresses with darker skin, who were usually typecast as maids, cooks or other servants.[16]Directors were also reluctant to cast a light-skinned Black actress in a romantic role with a white leading man; the filmproduction codeprohibited suggestions ofmiscegenation.Interracial marriage was illegal in the South and many other states.Hollywooddirectors did not offer her any romantic roles.[17]As one modern critic explained, Fredi Washington was "...too beautiful and not dark enough to play maids, but rather too light to act in all-Black movies..."[18]

Washington had a dramatic role in a 1943 radio tribute to Black women,Heroines in Bronze,produced by theNational 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, saying 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 ofwhite supremacyand 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

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Washington was a theater writer, and the entertainment editor forThe People's Voice(1942–1948), a newspaper for African Americans founded byAdam Clayton Powell Jr.,a Baptist minister and politician in New York City. He was married to her sisterIsabel Washington Powell.[1][22]

Personal life

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In 1933, Washington marriedLawrence Brown,the trombonist inDuke Ellington's jazz orchestra.[23]That marriage ended in divorce.[1]In 1952, Washington married a Stamford dentist, Hugh Anthony Bell, and moved toGreenwich, Connecticut.[24]

She was a devoutCatholic.[25]

Death

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Fredi Washington Bell died, aged 90, on June 28, 1994.[26]She died from pneumonia following a series ofstrokesat St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, Connecticut.[27][1]

Legacy and honors

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  • 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

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References

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  1. ^abcdefgRule, Sheila (June 30, 1994)."Fredi Washington, 90, Actress; Broke Ground for Black Artists".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 14,2008.
  2. ^abNzinga Cotton. "Fredi Washington: Active Promoter of Rights for Black Entertainers",New Nation(London, UK), June 16, 2008, p. 21.
  3. ^abcJohnson, Frank William. "Acclaimed Actress Fredi Washington, 90, Has Passed Away",Philadelphia Tribune,August 12, 1994, p. 4D.
  4. ^abcBourne, Stephen."Obituary: Fredi Washington",The Independent(London, UK), July 4, 1994.
  5. ^Veronica Chambers. "Lives Well Lived: Fredi Washington, The Tragic Mulatto",The New York Times,January 1, 1995, p. A27.
  6. ^abcdeBracks, Lean'tin L.; Smith, Jessie Carney (2014).Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 239.ISBN978-0-8108-8543-1.
  7. ^abHobbs, Allyson (2014).A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life.Harvard University Press. pp.170–2.
  8. ^"The 25 Most Important Films on Race: 'Imitation of Life'",Time,February 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  9. ^"Fredi Washington, Edna Thomas Honored by Guild", Norfolk (VA),New Journal and Guide,July 5, 1941, p. 15.
  10. ^"Remembering Fredi Washington: Actress, Activist, and Journalist".connecticuthistory.org.22 February 2021.Retrieved18 November2023.
  11. ^Favara, Jeremiah; Stabile, carol; Strait, Laura."WASHINGTON, FREDI: DANCER, ACTRESS, JOURNALIST".broadcast41.uoregon.edu.Retrieved18 November2023.
  12. ^Overview: "One Mile from Heaven (1937)",The New York Times.Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  13. ^Poster forOne Mile from HeavenArchivedMarch 11, 2007, at theWayback Machine,A Cinema Apart website
  14. ^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.
  15. ^abWare, Susan (2004).Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century.Harvard University Press. pp.666–667.ISBN978-0-674-01488-6.
  16. ^"Colored Actresses Reap Fortunes In Maid Roles".Jet:60–61. October 16, 1952.
  17. ^Courtney, Susanm"Picturizing Race: Hollywood's Censorship of Miscegenation and Production of Racial Visibility through Imitation of Life".ArchivedMay 30, 2013, at theWayback Machine,Genders,Vol. 27, 1998. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  18. ^Ronald Bergen. "Between Black and White",The Guardian(Manchester, UK), July 9, 1994.
  19. ^Barbara Dianne Savage,Broadcasting Freedom,University of North Carolina Press, 1999, p. 172.
  20. ^Fredi Washington. "Future for Negro Performers This Season Looks Very Dark,"Atlanta Daily World,September 23, 1940, p. 2.
  21. ^Earl Conrad; "Pass or Not To Pass?" (June 16, 1945),The Chicago Defender.
  22. ^People's Voice,Historical Society of Philadelphia, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  23. ^Petty, Miriam J. (2016).Stealing the Show: African American Performers and Audiences in 1930s Hollywood.Univ of California Press. p. 133.ISBN978-0-520-96414-3.
  24. ^"New York Beat".Jet:63. November 6, 1952.
  25. ^Davis, Kimberly N. (May 2006)."Fredi Washington: Black entertainers and the" Double V "campaign".Texas State University.
  26. ^Finlay, Nancy (February 22, 2017)."Remembering Fredi Washington: Actress, Activist, and Journalist".Connecticut History.
  27. ^"Veteran Actress Fredi Washington Dies At 90".Jet:53. July 18, 1994.
  28. ^Gilbert, Valerie C. (September 27, 2021).Women and Mixed Race Representation in Film: Eight Star Profiles.McFarland.ISBN9781476644738– via Google Books.
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