#nina mae mckinney
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).
Actress and singer Nina Mae McKinney (1909-1967), the first Black actress to be signed to a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio (MGM in 1929) with jazz pianist Garland Wilson (1909-1954) at a Victor Stiebel fashion show in London on April 27, 1933. Ms. McKinney and Mr. Garland collaborated on several songs, including “Rhapsody In Love.” Photo by Sasha/Getty Images)
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ThisBlack History Month, revisit our Black Actress Canon, an extensive collection of legendary, trailblazing performances that shaped the art of screen acting and recent tours de force that point toward its future.
These sixty-plus performances range from the humorous to the dramatic and derive from Hollywood and beyond, delivered by the likes of Mary Alice, Angela Bassett, Ruby Dee, Whoopi Goldberg, Pam Grier, Nina Mae McKinney, Evelyn Preer, Diana Sands, Quvenzhané Wallis, Fredi Washington, and many more.
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