Fredi Washington

Infobox actor
name = Fredi Washington

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birthdate = birth date|1903|12|23
birthplace = Savannah, Georgia
United States
deathdate = death date and age|1994|6|28|1903|12|23
deathplace = Stamford, Connecticut
United States
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spouse = married Lawrence Brown, the longtime trombonist in Duke Ellington's orchestra.
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Fredi Washington (Fredericka Carolyn Washington) (December 23 1903 - June 28 1994) was an African-American film actress of the 1930s. She is most notable for portraying Peola, the daughter who passes for white in the 1934 Academy Award-nominated film "Imitation of Life". She had also appeared with Paul Robeson in "The Emperor Jones" in 1933.

Acting career

Washington's first movie role was in "Black and Tan Fantasy" (1929), followed by a small part in "The Emperor Jones" (1933) with Paul Robeson. The latter film was based on a play by Eugene O'Neill.

Washington, a civil rights activist and founder of the Negro Actors Guild, turned down a number of opportunities to pass for white and become a movie star. Possessing an extremely light complexion and green eyes, Washington found it hard to win roles and audiences, as she was too elegant to play stereotypical "maid" roles. Because she was African American, Hollywood directors did not offer her romantic roles with the leading white actors of the day. When she played roles in films for black audiences, she often wore heavy makeup to darken her skin.

After "Imitation of Life", Washington had one more decent role (4th billing) in Fox's "One Mile from Heaven" (1937) [http://acinemaapart.com/Portraits/OneMileFromHeaven.jpg] . Realizing that there was no future in Hollywood for an African-American actress with ivory-toned skin, Washington quit appearing in movies altogether. She did however continue to have roles in the theater and was a theater writer for "The People's Voice". In 1953, she was a casting consultant for "Carmen Jones", which starred another pioneering African American, Dorothy Dandridge.

Personal life

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Fredi Washington died of a stroke on June 28, 1994, in Stamford, Connecticut at the age of 90.

Washington's sister, Isabelle Washington, was also an actress and was married to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the first African American elected to Congress from New York state.

References

*cite book | title = Adam's Belle: A Memoir of Love Without Bounds| author = Isabel Washington Powell and Joyce Burnett| publisher = DBM Press, LC | year = 2008 | id = ISBN 978-0-9816102-1-4

External links

*imdb name|id=0913444|name=Fredi Washington

http://www.AdamsBelle.com