LibGuides: African American Studies in Credo: Television and Film

Academy Award Winners

Halle Berry (1968- )
From The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography
African-American actress, beauty queen and model. She became the first African-American woman to win an Oscar for her role in Monster’s Ball.
Jamie Foxx (1967- ): Topic
US comedian, actor, and singer.
Whoopi Goldberg (1949- )
From African American Almanac
Goldberg has had roles in numerous films and television shows. Goldberg's career is one of a trailblazer. She was the first African American woman to host the Academy Awards four times. She is one of only a few actors who have the major awards of an Oscar (Ghost), a Tony (Thoroughly Modern Millie), an Emmy (Beyond Tara: the Extraordinary Life of Hattie Mc-Daniel), and a Grammy (Whoopi: Direct from Broadway). In 2001 she was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame and awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Hattie McDaniel (c. 1895-1952)
From African American Almanac
Hattie McDaniel was born on June 10, 1898, in Wichita, Kansas, and moved to Denver, Colorado, as a child. After a period of singing for Denver radio as an amateur, she entered vaudeville professionally and by 1924 was a headliner on the Pantages Circuit.
Sidney Poitier (1927- )
In African American Almanac
Sidney Poitier was born on February 20, 1927, in Miami, Florida, but moved to the Bahamas with his family at a very early age.
Denzel Washington (1954- ): Topic
Actor, born in Mount Vernon, New York, USA. He won a scholarship to the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and afterwards worked with the Shakespeare in the Park ensemble.

Performers

Josephine Baker (1906-1975): Topic
Remembered for her risqué flamboyance, dancer Josephine Baker epitomized the Jazz Age and its climate of experimentation and freedom.
Bill Cosby (1937- ): Topic
Comedian, writer, and television producer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Dorothy Dandridge (1923-1965)
From Encyclopedia of African American Society
Actress and singer who became one of the first African American women to be regarded as a Hollywood “sex symbol” and who was the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Ossie Davis (1917-2005): Topic
Among Davis’s numerous awards are the Hall of Fame Award for outstanding artistic achievement (1989) and the Image Award for best performance by a supporting actor for the film Do the Right Thing (1989) from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Medal for the Arts (1995), and the Presidential Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.
Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-1990): Topic
Singer, actor, and dancer, born in New York City, USA.
Stepin Fetchit (1902-1985)
From African American Almanac
Born Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andréw Perry, Stepin Fetchit pursued an early career in the Royal American Shows’ plantation revues.
Pam Grier (1949- )
From Chambers Film Factfinder
The queen of cult blaxploitation B-movies in the 1970s, she built a career playing bad girls and tough women.
Lena Horne (1917-2010)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American singer and actress, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Elegantly beautiful, Horne entered show business at 16 in the chorus line at Harlem's Cotton Club; she later sang there and was a vocalist with numerous bands
Ice-T (1958- )
From Encyclopedia of African-American Writing
While rhyme was still paying, Ice-T began his acting career, appearing in dozens of films, starting in 1984. In 1995, he had a recurring role as a drug dealer on New York Undercover, cocreated by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf.
Spike Lee (1957- ): Topic
African-American writer, filmmaker, and actor. Lee is noted for his bold and sometimes controversial political films.
Paul Robeson (1898-1976)
From Encyclopedia of American Studies
The American political activist and performer Paul Robeson was born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey, the son of a former slave and a mother who died when he was six.
Diana Ross (1944- ): Topic
She portrayed singer Billie Holliday in the film Lady Sings the Blues (1972) and by the late 1970s achieved superstar status with live and televised concerts.
Cicely Tyson (1933- )
From Encyclopedia of African American Society
Movie and television actress who has specialized in portraying strong, courageous African American women.
Bert Williams (1874-1922): Topic
Stage actor, singer, and songwriter, born in Nassau, Bahamas (formerly in British West Indies). Part African in descent, he was raised in Los Angeles and went on the road with the Mastadon Minstrels in 1891; he was so light-skinned that he had to use blackface to maintain his role as an African.
Oprah Winfrey (1954- ): Topic
American talk-show host, producer, and actress. Producer and host of The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986-present), Winfrey has also acted in films such as The Color Purple (1985) and Beloved (1998).