Actors - Ethel Waters

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	Actors - Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an Oscar-nominated American blues vocalist, who frequently performed jazz, big band, gospel, and popular music, on Broadway and off.

Early life

Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a twelve-year-old mother who had been raped, and was raised in a violent, impoverished Philadelphia ward. Even though she was adopted by her grandmother, she never lived in the same place for more than 15 months.

Career

Waters obtained her first Harlem club job around 1919 at Edmond's Cellar, a typical club of the period and area patroned by a black audience. Along with Fletcher Henderson and sponsored under Black Swan Records, she toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. She stated that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she would prefer, often lacking "the damn-it-to-hell bass". According to Waters, she influenced him to practice in a "real jazz" style. She was later recorded by Columbia Records in 1925; this recording was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. During the 1920s, she performed and/or was recorded with the ensembles of Will Marion Cook, Lovie Austin, Fletcher Henderson As her career continued, she evolved toward being a pop and broadway singer performing with artists like Duke Ellington.

She had the starring role as Petunia in 1943's Cabin in the Sky, the first "all-Black" Hollywood musical, directed by Vincente Minnelli. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1949 for the film Pinky. In 1950, she won the New York Drama Critics Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play The Member of the Wedding
.

She was posthumously recognized in 1984 by the Gospel Music Association where her name was placed in its Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Private life

Waters was the aunt of Dance artist Crystal Waters

In the period before her death at age 80 in Los Angeles, California, she toured with The Reverend Billy Graham, despite the fact that she was a Catholic and he was a Protestant.

Awards and recognitions

Academy Award, Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1949
Gospel Music Hall of Fame, 1984
Grammy Hall of Fame Award, 1998

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ethel Waters ]

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Actors - Ethel Waters

Early life

Career

Private life

Awards and recognitions

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