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Louise Beavers

 
Actor: Louise Beavers
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Mar 08, 1902 in Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Died: Oct 27, 1962 in Hollywood, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '30s-'50s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Jackie Robinson Story, Imitation of Life
  • First Major Screen Credit: It Happened in New Orleans (1930)

Biography

African American actress Louise Beavers was born in Cincinnati and raised in California, where she attended Pasadena High School. Louise's entree into Hollywood was as maid to silent film star Leatrice Joy. With Ms. Joy's encouragement, Louise began accepting small film parts in 1923, and three years later became a full-time performer when she joined the Ladies Minstrel Troupe. After co-starring in the 1927 Universal remake of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Ms. Beavers worked steadily in films, usually playing maids, housekeepers and "mammies." Her most famous role was as troubled pancake entrepreneur Aunt Delilah in the 1934 filmization of Fannie Hurst's Imitation of Life. Another breakaway from stereotype was as the title character's strong-willed mother in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), On television, Louise Beavers starred on the weekly sitcom Beulah from 1952 through 1953, and played Louise the maid on the 1953 pilot episode of Make Room for Daddy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Louise Beavers
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Louise Beavers

with Carole Lombard
in Made for Each Other (1939)
Born March 8, 1902(1902-03-08)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died October 26, 1962 (aged 60)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Other name(s) Louise Beaver
Occupation Film, television actress
Years active 1923–1960
Spouse(s) Leroy Moore (1952-1962) (her death)
with Claudette Colbert in Imitation of Life(1934)

Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an African American film actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films from the 1920s to the 1930s, most often in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio,[1] Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American sororities.

Contents

Career

Beavers' most famous and noted role was her portrayal of Delilah Johnson, the housekeeper/cook whose employer transforms her into an Aunt Jemima-like celebrity in the 1934 film Imitation of Life. One of the film's main conflicts was that between Delilah and her light-skinned daughter Peola (played by Fredi Washington), who wanted to pass for white. Imitation of Life was the first time in American cinema history that a black woman's problems were given major emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture.

The vast majority of Beavers' other film roles, however, were not as prestigious. Along with Hattie McDaniel, she became the on-screen personification of the "mammy" stereotype: a large, matronly black woman with a quick temper, a large laugh, and a subservient manner. Beavers' employers had her overeat so that she could maintain her "mammy"-like figure.[2] Although Beavers did not approve of how her characters were scripted, she nonetheless continued appearing in films, because, as her contemporary McDaniel once stated, "it's better to play a maid than be a maid."[3]

According to author Donald Bogle's book, Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams, Beavers worked as a housekeeper for silent screen star Leatrice Joy before entering films.

Beavers was one of four actresses (including Hattie McDaniel, Ethel Waters, and Amanda Randolph) to portray housekeeper Beulah on the Beulah television show. That show was the first television sitcom to star an African American, even though the role was a somewhat subservient one. She also played Louise the maid on the first two seasons of The Danny Thomas Show (1953-1955).

Death

Louise Beavers died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California on October 26, 1962, exactly ten years after the similarly typecast actress Hattie McDaniel, at the age of 60.

In 1976, she was inducted posthumously into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

Filmography

Features:

Short Subjects:

References

  1. ^ Gates, Henry Louis. Africana: arts and letters: an A-to-Z reference of writers, musicians, and artists (2005), page 71 - ISBN 0762420421
  2. ^ Wintz, Cary D. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, Routledge (2004), page 108, ISBN 157958389X
  3. ^ Bamboozled

External links

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