#emmett babe wallace

Nina Mae McKinney and Emmett “Babe” Wallace in a scene from the short 1936 film, “The Black Network.” McKinney (1912-1967) was the first Black performer to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio (A five year contract with MGM in 1929). Emmett “Babe” Wallace (1909-2006) was an actor, singer and composer who had a lot of juicy (and sometimes uncredited) parts in vintage Black movies, most notably as “Chick Bailey” in “Stormy Weather” in 1943. Ms. McKinney is featured in the women’s edition of “Vintage Black Glamour” and Mr. Wallace is in the men’s edition, “Vintage Black Glamour: Gentlemen’s Quarters (May 2016).