10 black actors who pioneered Hollywood’s golden age

During its heyday, Hollywood adapted many of the racist and discriminatory practices that held back people of color in other parts of America. Still, that era spawned some of the most iconic and influential black actors, performers who paved the way for those who followed in their footsteps.

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While actors like Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte have become household names, they represent just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the pioneers of the Golden Age. All of these actors face racial stereotypes and institutional oppression to fight for the chance to perform on the big and small screen.

ten Oscar Micheaux

Oscar Micheaux is remembered as the first great black filmmaker in the history of American cinema. During his career, which has spanned both sound and silent cinema, Micheaux has participated in the production of over 40 feature films.

In addition to directing and staring in numerous films, Micheaux was also a prolific novelist who adapted many of his titles for the big screen. Micheaux’s films, from the late 1910s to the late 1940s, tackle race relations and discriminatory policies against blacks by offering intimate insights into the daily lives of black characters.

9 McQueen Butterfly

Butterfly McQueen, although he acted in 1939Blown away by the wind, was unable to attend the premiere of the film in a white-only theater. This dancer-turned-actress faced discrimination and made most of her career, often landing only in chambermaid roles.

After working on films like those of 1945Mildred Pierce, McQueen appeared on television in the 1950s. She acted sporadically until her death in 1995.

8 James edwards

James Edwards sought a variety of roles during his acting career, which was cut short by his untimely death in 1970 following a heart attack. Edwards’ first major role was Private Peter Moss in the 1949 filmThe house of the brave, a soldier who must endure racial discrimination while serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

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Edwards’ talents are also on display in Stanley Kubrick’sThe slaughterin 1956 and John Frankenheimer’s diseaseThe Manchurian candidatein 1962. While Edwards played a lot of soldiers in his early days, he became a prolific television actor in the 1960s.

seven Lincoln perry

Lincoln Perry, an actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, began his career as a performer in vaudeville under the stage name Stephin Fetchit. Perrybuilt Fetchit as an irreverent, slow-moving character whose antics often provided comedic relief.

As Fetchit, Perry was the first black actor to receive screen credit in the film, and he was also the first to earn $ 1 million. Increasingly, black Americans found the character of Fetchit an anachronistic and negative racial stereotype, and Perry’s career dwindled until its end in the early 1950s; Over the past several decades, however, Fechit has been re-evaluated as a nuanced, trickster character who has fought openly war. on white supremacy with its “lazy” hijinks.

6 Louise Beavers

Louise Beavers was a prolific film and television actress who suffered from being classified as a maid, slave, or maid during her decades-long career. Beavers, bred in Ohio and California, adopted a southern dialect in order to be considered for more roles.

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Beavers is one of three actors, along with Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters, playing the housekeeperBeulah in the popular sitcom from the early 1950s. As his career prospects improved, Beavers spoke more frequently about the lack of equality of opportunity for black actors in Hollywood.

5 Canada Lee

Although he had spent most of his career on stage, actor Canada Lee was well on his way to becoming a prolific film actor when he died of kidney disease in 1952 at the age of 45. years. forged new roles for black actors.

Lee played Macbeth in Orson Welles’ 1936 production of Shakespeare’s play, a major feat. He starred in films like Alfred Hitchcock in 1941Rescue boat, but his last film role turned out to be his most iconic: directing a predominantly black main cast like Stephen Kumalo in 1951.Cry, the beloved country.

4 Nina Mae McKinney

Nina Mae McKinney began singing, dancing and performing on stage before taking a break from Broadway in the 1920s. One of America’s first black movie stars, the magnificent McKinney left America for Europe after having had enough of the discriminatory policies of its country of origin.

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McKinney eventually returned to the United States, but struggled to find an escape role. She starred in “racing films” aimed at black audiences, landing small roles in larger productions like 1944Dark waters before giving up performing in the early 1950s.

3 Juanita moore

Juanita Moore was one of the first black actresses to win an Oscar nomination. The Mississippi native whose family moved to Los Angeles when she was young began her dancing career at the Cotton Club in New York City before moving on to the movies.

Moore’s tenure as an actor includes a major role in Douglas Kirk’s melodramatic critique of American racism, 1959Imitation of life In the film, Moore plays Annie, a single mother whose light-skinned daughter Sarah Jane tries to pass off as white.

2 Woody strode

Woody Strode was a pioneering athlete and professional football player long before he became an actor. Strode, a World War II veteran, starred in a series of sci-fi and adventure films, often portrayed as an African warrior, before being cast as Ethiopian gladiator Draba in Stanley Kubrick’s film from 1960Spartacus.

Strode’s next break came from director John Ford and his 1960 filmSergeant Rutledge, which is about a black soldier in the 19th century falsely accused of attacking and murdering a white woman. Strode worked in dozens of films from there, including quite a few European spaghetti westerns.

1 Fredi washington

Fredi Washington was an activist and Harlem Renaissance figure who pursued a career in film from the 1920s. Light-skinned Washington, whose parents were of African American and European descent, starred alongside Louise Beavers in the original 1934Imitation of lifedirected by John M. Stahl, as well asA mile from the sky in 1937.

Washington spoke candidly about laws and policies that kept her from landing more dynamic roles, and she quit acting in Hollywood afterA mile from the sky. Instead, she returned to New York City and co-founded the Negro Actors Guild of America while also performing in various Broadway productions.

NEXT: Dorothy Dandridge & 9 Other Great Black Actors From The Golden Age Of Hollywood

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