Ethel Waters
photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1938
Background information
Born	October 31, 1900(1900-10-31) Chester, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	September 1, 1977 (aged 76) Chatsworth, California, USA
Genre(s)	Jazz, popular
Occupation(s)	Actress, vocalist
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1925-1977
Associated acts	Josephine Baker Alberta Hunter Bessie Smith Fletcher Henderson

Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American blues and jazz vocalist and actor. Carl Van Vechten ( June 17, 1880 &ndash December 21, 1964) was an American Writer and Photographer who was a Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Chester is a city in Delaware County Pennsylvania, with a population of 36854 at the 2000 Census. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Chatsworth is a district of the City of Los Angeles California in the San Fernando Valley region The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with Speech. Josephine Baker (or Joséphine Baker in Francophone countries ( June 3, 1906 &ndash April 12, 1975) was an American-born Alberta Hunter ( April 1 1895 - October 17 1984) was an American Blues Singer, Songwriter, and Bessie Smith (July 9 1892 or April 15 1894&ndash September 26 1937 was an American Blues singer Fletcher Hamilton Henderson Jr ( December 18, 1897 &ndash December 28, 1952) was an American pianist bandleader Arranger Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works She frequently performed jazz, big band, rock and roll and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues. A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located Her best-known recording was her version of the spiritual, "His Eye is on the Sparrow", and she was the second African American ever nominated for an Academy Award. Spirituals (or Negro spirituals) are songs which were created by African slaves in America. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is a Gospel Hymn. Although today it is a staple of African-American worship services the song was originally written "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Private life 2 Awards and honors 2.1 Grammy Hall of Fame 2.2 National Recording Registry 2.3 Legacy 3 Filmography 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

Biography

Early life

Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896 [she revealed her true birthdate in one of her autobiographies], to a thirteen-year-old mother who had been raped. Chester is a city in Delaware County Pennsylvania, with a population of 36854 at the 2000 Census. She was raised in a violent, impoverished home. She never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. She said of her difficult childhood, "I never was a child. I never was coddled, or liked, or understood by my family. " Despite this unpromising start, Waters demonstrated early the love of language that so distinguishes her work. Moreover, according to her biographer Rosetta Reitz, Waters' birth in the North and her peripatetic life exposed her to many cultures. For the rest of her life, this lent to her interpretation of southern blues a unique sensibility that pulled in eclectic influences from across American music.

Waters married at the age of 13, but soon left her abusive husband and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel working for US$4. 75 per week. ^[1] On Halloween night in 1913, she attended a party in costume at a nightclub on Juniper Street. She was persuaded to sing two songs, and impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland and She later recalled that she earned the rich sum of ten dollars a week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage.

Career

Waters was very talented and had many achievements. After her start in Baltimore, she toured on the black vaudeville circut. As she described it later, "I used to work from nine until unconscious. "^[1] Despite her early success, Waters fell on hard times and joined a carnival which traveled in freight cars to Chicago, Illinois. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. She enjoyed her time with the carnival, and recalled, "The roustabouts and the concessionaires were the kind of people I'd grown up with, rough, tough, full of larceny towards strangers, but sentimental, and loyal to their friends and co-workers. " She did not last long with them, though, and soon headed south to Atlanta, Georgia. There, she worked in the same club with Bessie Smith. Bessie Smith (July 9 1892 or April 15 1894&ndash September 26 1937 was an American Blues singer Smith demanded that she not compete in singing the blues opposite her, and Waters conceded to the older woman and instead sang ballads and popular songs and danced. In Jazz and Popular music, the term ballad denotes a short Song in a slow Tempo, usually with a romantic or sentimental text though the term Though perhaps best known for her blues singing today, Waters was to go on to star in musicals, plays and TV and return to the blues only periodically.

She fell in love with a drug addict in this early period, but their stormy relationship ended with World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All She moved to Harlem and became part of the Harlem Renaissance around 1919. Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African American cultural and business center The Harlem Renaissance was named after the anthology The New Negro, edited by Alain Locke in 1925

Waters obtained her first job at Edmond's Cellar, a club that had a black patronage. She specialized in popular ballads, and became an actress in a blackface comedy called Hello 1919. Blackface in the narrow sense is a style of theatrical Makeup that originated in the United Her biographer, Rosetta Reitz, points out that by the time Waters returned to Harlem in 1921, women blues singers were among the most powerful entertainers in the country. In 1921 Waters became the fifth black woman to make a record. She later joined Black Swan Records, where Fletcher Henderson was her accompanist. Black Swan Records was a United States Record label in the 1920s it was the first to be owned and operated by and marketed to African Americans Fletcher Hamilton Henderson Jr ( December 18, 1897 &ndash December 28, 1952) was an American pianist bandleader Arranger Waters later commented that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she would prefer, often lacking "the damn-it-to-hell bass". According to Waters, she influenced Henderson to practice in a "real jazz" style. She first recorded for Columbia Records in 1925; this recording was given a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative Soon after, Waters started working with Pearl Wright, and together they toured in the South. In 1924 Waters played at the Plantation Club on Broadway. Broadway, as the name implies is a wide avenue in New York City. She also toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. With Earl Dancer, she joined what was called the "white time" Keith Circuit. Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26 1846 &ndash March 26 1914 was an American Vaudeville theatre owner generally credited for the evolution of variety theater into They received rave reviews in Chicago, and earned the unheard-of salary of US$1,250 in 1928. In 1929, Harry Akst helped Wright and Waters compose a version of "Am I Blue?", her signature tune. Harry Akst ( August 15, 1894 – March 31, 1963) was an American Songwriter who started out his career as a Pianist

During the 1920s, Waters performed and/or was recorded with the ensembles of Will Marion Cook and Lovie Austin. Will Marion Cook (1869&ndash1944 was a composer and violinist from the United States. Lovie Austin ( September 19, 1887 – July 10, 1972) was an American popular Chicago Bandleader, session As her career continued, she evolved toward being a blues and Broadway singer, performing with artists such as Duke Ellington. The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29 1899 &ndash May 24 1974 was an American Composer, Pianist, and Bandleader.

In 1933, Waters made a satirical all-black film entitled Rufus Jones for President. Rufus Jones for President is a 1933 musical-comedy short subject directed by Roy Mack, starring Ethel Waters and Sammy Davis Jr. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where, according to her autobiography, she "sang 'Stormy Weather' from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated. " She took a role in the Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer in 1933, where she was the first black woman in an otherwise white show. As Thousands Cheer is a Revue with a book by Moss Hart and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. She had three gigs at this point; in addition to the show, she starred in a national radio program and continued to work in nightclubs. She was the highest paid performer on Broadway, but she was starting to age. MGM hired Lena Horne as the ingenue in the all-Black musical Cabin in the Sky, and Waters starred as Petunia in 1942, reprising her stage role of 1940. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (born June 30, 1917) is an iconic American singer and Actress. Cabin in the Sky is an American Broadway musical which opened in 1940 The film, directed by Vincente Minnelli, was a success, but Waters, offended by the adulation accorded Horne and feeling her age, went into something of a decline. Vincente Minnelli ( February 28, 1903 &ndash July 25, 1986) was a famous Academy Award -winning Hollywood director

She began to work with Fletcher Henderson again in the late 1940s. William "Count" Basie ( August 21, 1904 &ndash April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, Organist Stage Door Canteen ( 1943) is a Musical film produced by Sol Lesser Productions and distributed by United Artists. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1949 for the film Pinky. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Pinky ( 1949) is a film directed by Elia Kazan. The movie was adapted by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols from the novel by In 1950, she won the New York Drama Critics Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play The Member of the Wedding. This article is about the American actress For the Academy Award-winning costume designer see Julie Harris Julie Harris (born December The Member of the Wedding is a 1946 Novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. Waters and Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version of Member of the Wedding. The Member of the Wedding is a 1946 Novel by Southern writer Carson McCullers. In 1950, Waters starred in the television series Beulah but quit after complaining that the scripts' portrayal of African-Americans was "degrading. A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U For other uses see Beulah. The Beulah Show is an American situation-comedy series that ran in radio on CBS "

Despite these successes, her brilliant career was fading. She lost tens of thousands in jewelry and cash in a robbery, and the IRS hounded her. The Her health suffered, and worked only sporadically in following years. In 1950-51 she wrote her autobiography, His Eye is on the Sparrow, with Charles Samuels. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" In it, she talks candidly about her life. She also explains why her age has often been misstated, saying that her mother had to sign a paper saying she was four years older than she was. She states she was born in 1900. In her second autobiography, To Me, It's Wonderful, Waters states that she was born in 1896. ^[2]

Her biographer, Rosetta Reitz, called Waters "a natural". Her "songs are enriching, nourishing. You will want to play them over and over again, idling in their warmth and swing. Though many of them are more than 50 years old, the music and the feeling are still there. "

Private life

Waters is the great-aunt of Dance music singer and songwriter Crystal Waters. This article is about music for dancing in general You may also be looking for Electronic dance music. A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both Crystal Waters (born October 10, 1964 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania) is a Dance music Singer and Songwriter, as well as In the period before her death in Los Angeles, California, she toured with The Reverend Billy Graham, despite the fact that she had once been a Catholic and he was a Protestant. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West The Reverend is a style used as a Prefix to the names of many Christian Clergy and ministers It is correctly called a style rather William Franklin Graham Jr KBE (born November 7 1918 better known as Billy Graham, is an evangelist and an Evangelical Christian Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Waters was bisexual,^[3] and states in her autobiography, "I wanted love and to get love back. I didn't want a man. Don't misunderstand me, I'm a normal woman. But I'd been so hurt. "^[2] She died in 1977 at the age of 80 from heart disease, at the Chatsworth, California home of a young couple who cared for her. Chatsworth is a district of the City of Los Angeles California in the San Fernando Valley region

Awards and honors

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings of Waters were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance. The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative "

Ethel Waters: Grammy Hall of Fame Award [4]
Year Recorded	Title	Genre	Label	Year Inducted
1929	"Am I Blue?"	Traditional Pop (Single)	Columbia	2007
1933	"Stormy Weather" (Keeps Rainin' All The Time)	Jazz (Single)	Brunswick	2003
1925	"Dinah"	Traditional Pop (Single)	Columbia	1998

National Recording Registry

Waters' recording of "Stormy Weather" (1933) was honored by the Library of Congress. The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative " Stormy Weather " is a 1933 song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. " Stormy Weather " is a 1933 song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress It was listed in the National Recording Registry in 2004. Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->The recordings preserved

Legacy

Year	Title	Organization	Result	Notes
2007	Christian Hall of Fame[5]		Inducted
1994	29 cents Commemorative stamp [6]	U.S. Postal Service	Honoree	Photo (Scott #2851)
1983	Gospel Music Hall of Fame		Inducted
1962	Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series	Emmy Awards	Nominee	Route 66 (TV Series) "Goodnight Sweet Blues"
1949	Best Supporting Actress [7]	Academy Award	Nominee	Pinky (film)

Filmography

• On with the Show! (1929)
• Rufus Jones for President (1933)
• Bubbling Over (1934)
• Gift of Gab (1934)
• Tales of Manhattan (1942)
• Cairo (1942)
• Cabin in the Sky (1943)
• Stage Door Canteen (1943)
• Pinky (1949)
• The Member of the Wedding (1952)
• Carib Gold (1957)
• The Heart Is a Rebel (1958)
• The Sound and the Fury (1959)

References

Further reading

• Bourne, Stephen (2007). Ethel Waters: Stormy weather. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810859025.  
• Southern, Eileen (1997). The Music of Black Americans: A History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393971414.  
• Waters, Ethel (1972). To Me It's Wonderful. New York: Harper & Row. OCLC 329566. The OCLC Online Computer Library Center is according to its website a "nonprofit membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purpose  
• Waters, Ethel; Samuels, Charles T. (1992). His Eye on the Sparrow: An Autobiography. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306804778.  

External links

• Ethel Waters at the African American Registry
• Ethel Waters at Allmusic
• Ethel Waters at the Internet Movie Database
• Ethel Waters discography

Persondata
NAME	Waters, Ethel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Actress, vocalist
DATE OF BIRTH	1896-10-31
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chester, Pennsylvania, USA
DATE OF DEATH	1977-9-1
PLACE OF DEATH	Chatsworth, California, USA

African American Registry ( The Registry) is a Non-profit educational resource for the learning community to supply teachers with the information method and allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works Chester is a city in Delaware County Pennsylvania, with a population of 36854 at the 2000 Census. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Chatsworth is a district of the City of Los Angeles California in the San Fernando Valley region The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

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