Ethel Waters rose from stardom from a most-obscure beginning, a whore's alley in Philadelphia where she lived in poverty with her mother and grandmother. She faced unspeakable racism during her rise to fame. Ethel Waters was born on October 31, 1896, as a result of her mother's rape at age 13, Ethel Waters was raised in a violent, impoverished home. She never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. Waters: "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family." Despite this unpromising start, Waters demonstrated early the love of language that so distinguishes her work. Waters' birth in the North and her vagabond life exposed her to many culture, & gave to her interpretation of southern blues a unique sensibility that pulled in eclectic influences from across all American music. Ethel Waters: singer, dancer, actress, & evangelist, never be confined to a single identity. As a singer, she played with styles, doing what was called- “race music” & doing white standards.
Waters married at the age of 13, but soon left her abusive husband & became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel working for less than $5 a week. On her birthday- Halloween night 1913, she attended a party in costume at a nightclub in Philadelphia. She was persuaded to sing 2 songs, & impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She later recalled that she earned $10 a week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage.
She was a street kid whose highest aspiration was to be a lady's maid. Instead, she found herself in vaudeville. As an actress, in films like The Member of the Wedding, Waters gave the “mammy” roles real edge & depth. Her life was as varied as her singing. She was a Catholic who could swear like a sailor. She was a lesbian whose loud fights with her lovers made more proper lesbians like Alberta Hunter label her a disgrace to their tribe. She joined Billy Graham & toured the country. Her signature song had been Stormy Weather, but once she joined the Graham crusade, she never sang it again. Waters: “My life ain't stormy no more”, which was good for her & bad for her fans. Her best known recording was her version of the spiritual- His Eye is on the Sparrow.
In 1933, Waters made a satirical all-black film entitled Rufus Jones for President. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where she sang Stormy Weather. Waters: “I sang it from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed & suffocated." She took a role in the Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer in 1933, where she was the first black woman to appear in an otherwise all white show. In addition to the show, she starred in a national radio program & continued to work in nightclubs. She was the highest paid performer on Broadway, but she was starting to age. MGM hired Lena Horne as the ingénue in the all-Black musical- Cabin in the Sky, & Waters reprised Petunia, her stage role. The film, directed by Vincente Minnelli, was a success, but Waters was offended by the attention given to Horne, & she was feeling her age.
She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1949 for Pinky. In 1950, she won the NY Drama Critics Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play- The Member of the Wedding. Waters & Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version. In 1950, Waters starred in the TV series- Beulah but quit after complaining that the scripts' portrayal of African-Americans was degrading.
Waters was the second African American ever nominated for an Academy Award. She was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Waters' recording of Stormy Weather was honored by the Library of Congress. It was listed in the National Recording Registry in 2004. Waters was approved for a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. However, the actual Star has not been funded, & as of her birthday in 2010, public fundraising efforts continue.
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