Double Post! - by HepClassic

This week, I'd like for you all to check out two posts by our current and main guest blogger, HepClassic.


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In honor of Lou Gossett, Jr.'s 79th birthday (on May 27th), HepClassic shared a tribute post on his Tumblr:

"It is an amazing that the next actor I have chosen to pay tribute to parlays a lot into this upcoming holiday weekend, not to mention he was in my original plans for a tribute from February, that I am still catching up on and finally seeing realized. The past three blogs I had originally planned for February, but due to technical difficulties, I was unable to post them, to add personal business in the fold too making it nearly impossible. But, I digress.

February is African American History month on the calendar, but it is everyday for me, and it is a time to study, learn, and appreciate the contributions of African Americans into the fold of American culture. In film, there is little appreciation let alone knowledge of the contributions of African Americans in film pre- Sidney Poitier.  Hattie McDaniel has garnered a little more respect nowadays, but only just that little. But, it is more than just them. One thing about African American classic Hollywood is that the history remains living, because many classic African American movie stars are still living and still working, like the actor I am about to pay tribute to. This will not be a traditional blog that you are used to seeing from me, and that is not because there is a happy ending involved.The actor I am paying tribute to today is Louis Gossett, Jr." - "Louis Gossett Jr.: Authoritative Advocate" (click the link to read the post in its entirety).

Lou Gossett, Jr. pictured with Ruby Dee & Sidney Poitier in the stage production of A Raisin in the Sun.

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This past June 10th marked 120 years since Hattie McDaniel's birthday in Wichita, Kansas. HepClassic shared a lovely post in honor of her birthday:

"No African American actor or actress in Hollywood would have a career today if Hattie didn’t start designing the architecture of a path with her contributions and achievements. In 2002, when Sidney Poitier received an Honorary Oscar for a life’s work, he stated this: “I dedicate this to the African American actors and actresses who went through those difficult years, whose shoulders I had the privilege to stand on.” Of course, a person who is most responsible for that shoulder and path for Poitier and other beneficiaries to follow was Hattie McDaniel’s." - "Hattie McDaniel: A First" (click the link to read the post in its entirety).

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Happy Birthday, Nina Mae McKinney! (Appreciation Post)

Today marks 103 (or 102, depending on your source) years since the birth of Hollywood's first black leading lady, Nina Mae McKinney.

Nina Mae McKinney was born Nannie Mayme McKinney on June 13, 1912 in Lancaster, South Carolina. Below are links to "everything Nina Mae McKinney" available online:

*Also, some sources list McKinney's birthday as June 12th*

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Cinema

1. Nina Mae McKinney made her screen debut in King Vidor's 1929 film, Hallelujah!. The role of "Chick" was the first leading role for a black woman in a Hollywood film. You can click here to watch Hallelujah! in its entirety on YouTube. 

2. McKinney received rave reviews for her performance in Hallelujah! but subsequent roles were limited and few. Her next role as a "Singer/Dancer" in the MGM short, Manhattan Serenade (1929). Then, in 1930, McKinney played the uncredited role of a singer in They Learned About Women.

*Manhattan Serenade was long thought to be a "lost film", but was found in 2014 and screened at the Film Forum in New York City on November 9, 2014. If you live in or near New York, you can catch a screening of it at the MoMA.*


3. McKinney's next (and more significant) role came with the 1931 Pre-Code gem, Safe in Hell. I've inserted two YouTube clips of our Star of the Month as "Leonie - the Hotel Manager":

[Clip 1 - Nina Mae McKinney introduces the song "Sleepy Time Down South"]

[Clip 2 - Gilda books a room in Leonie's hotel]

4. Nina Mae McKinney appeared in a couple of shorts in 1932--Passing the Buck and Pie, Pie Blackbird. You can watch Pie, Pie Blackbird below:

5. Like a lot of entertainers of color, Nina Mae McKinney would leave Hollywood to try a hand at success in Europe--and she was successful in her attempt! It was there that she was dubbed "the Black Garbo". Click here to watch a clip of her performing in a London nightclub.

6. McKinney's next major film appearance was alongside Paul Robeson in the London Film Production, Sanders of the River (1935). Watch the full movie on YouTube by clicking here.

7. Get a glimpse of Nina Mae McKinney in the 1935 film, Reckless (starring William Powell and Jean Harlow). The trailer for the film is below:

8. In 1936, McKinney made an uncredited appearance in The Lonely Trail and also appeared in the musical short, The Black Network:

You can find more of Nina Mae McKinney's film credits on IMDb. Below are two additional movie links (both leading to YouTube):


Nina Mae McKinney starred as "Isabelle Walton" in the Sack Amusement Enterprises pictures, The Devil's Daughter (1939).

Nina Mae McKinney played the role of "Rozelia" in Pinky (1949), a 20th Century Fox film.

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Music

Nina Mae McKinney introduced Irving Berlin's "Swanee Shuffle" in Hallelujah!. Watch her lively performance of the tune below:

In the early 1930s (circa 1932), McKinney recorded a few songs with jazz pianist, Garland Wilson's accompaniment. Among the known recordings are "Rhapsody in Love" and "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day".

You can also hear Nina Mae sing "If You Want My Love, You Gotta Do More Than That". This song can also be heard The Big Broadcast, Volume 9.

Books

Nina Mae McKinney: The Black Garbo is the first--and currently, the only--biography written about Nina Mae McKinney. It was written by famed biographer Stephen Bourne and published in 2011. Mr. Bourne himself has admitted that The Black Garbo wasn't his best work, but again, the biography is still is the first and only attempt at telling Nina Mae McKinney's life story, so far.



Other Books That Mention Nina Mae McKinney:

African American Actresses: The Struggle for Visibility 

by Charlene B. Regester

(I had the pleasure of reading this book in college, it's a great read!)

Every Step a Struggle: Interviews with Seven Who Shaped the African-American Image in Movies

by Frank Manchel

Toms, coons, mulattoes, mammies, and bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films

by Donald Bogle

In the Media


Magazine Articles


"A Jungle Lorelei" (Photoplay - July 1929)
Yep. That's the title. Writer Herbert Howe wrote an article on the 17 year old Nina Mae McKinney for the July 1929 issue of Photoplay magazine (a month before Hallelujah!'s theatrical release). Click with caution--the actual article gets no better than its title.


"Ex-actress Nina Mae McKinney trying to peddle her life story to a book publisher..." (Jet magazine - February 13, 1958)


Nina Mae McKinney to break in a new act on a USO tour of Japan... (Jet magazine - February 4, 1954)



Newspaper Articles

"Nina Mae McKinney Libeled in Nasty Magazine Article"
(The Afro American - March 29, 1930)


"Miss Nina Mae McKinney" 
(A photo of Nina Mae McKinney applying the last touches to her makeup in the July 27, 1935 issue of The Afro American)


"Nina Mae Tires of Playing "Hell-Cat" Roles, Now She's a Lady in Revue"
(The Afro American - September 7, 1935)


"A Talk With Nina Mae McKinney"
(The Age - September 25, 1937)


"Nina Mae McKinney, star of early theatre, buried"
(An obituary in the May 20, 1967 issue of The Afro American)



Interesting Finds


Did you know that Nina Mae McKinney was the leader of an orchestra at one point in her career? Read more about it in Swing City: Newark Nightlife, 1925-1950 by Barbara J. Kukla.

(From I'll Keep You Posted)

From Family Search:

Passenger List from Le Havre, France to New York (March 11, 1931)



As a child, Nina lived with her "Aunt Carrie" while her parents moved to New York. I believe this may be a record of who "Nannie Mayme" lived with as a kid. The woman of the house is listed as "Galie McKinney"--perhaps Carrie's name was accidentally heard as "Galie"?


McKinney was briefly married to trombonist Jimmy Monroe in the 1930s. This may be a record of their marriage.


Based on previously shared news articles, Nina Mae McKinney lived with her parents (specifically noted, her mother) for a long time. When her mother passed away in 1962, she was living with her. Here is a 1940 Census record that may list Nina as the "daughter" of James Maynor and Georgia Crawford. Many online sources state that Nina Mae's father was Hal McKinney, leading me to believe that her mother may have remarried at some point. 




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I hope you find this appreciation post to be quite an educational one! Please, feel free to share!


Also, please check out Guest Blogger, HepClassic's, birthday tribute to Ms. Nina Mae McKinney: "Nina Mae McKinney: Vivacious Lady".

Paul Winfield: Eloquent Sketcher - a post by HepClassic

Last week, guest blogger, HepClassic shared a touching post in honor of the late, great, and criminally unsung actor, Paul Winfield (who would have turned 76 on May 22nd). Here is an excerpt:

"Paul Winfield gave life to dramatic arguments for equality throughout his entire career, and whose performances put a human face to the many stories we deny and continue to deny today. His, like so many others, is an American story. He is a classic movie star in the truest sense, but since we deny these stories as equally important as the stories of James Stewart and Anthony Perkins, as we deny the stories of experience and the validity of them in our real life, one has to wonder when we can address these irrattional fears, include an “other” person’s narrative as important as someone who is not. The disregard, the suppression of facts, and the constant dismissal and degradation of Americans of color have to stop if we dare move this country forward, because “restoring” America to its previous self of social inequality will not do us any good. Behind every misconstrued stereotype and falsehood, lies a human face. Maybe it’s time we accept Paul Winfield for the star that he is, and for the American he was."

Wow! 

Click here to read HepClassic's post in its entirety.  

Happy Belated Birthday to the legendary Paul Winfield! 

From NNDb