Edith Wilson (singer)

Edith Wilson, nee Goodall (September 2, 1896, Louisville, Kentucky - March 30, 1981, Chicago) was an American blues singer and vaudeville performer.

Her first professional experience came in 1919 in Louisville's Park Theater. Lena Wilson and her brother, Danny, performed in Louisville; Edith married Danny and joined their act as a trio. Together they performed on the East Coast in 1920-21, and when they were in New York City Wilson was picked up by Okeh Records, who recorded her in 1921 with Johnny Dunn's Jazz Hounds. She cut 17 tunes with Dunn and Okeh in 1921-22. In 1924 she worked with Fletcher Henderson in New York, where she was slated to sing with Coleman Hawkins, but Hawkins refused to perform because he wanted additional compensation for the performance.

Wilson recorded far less than other female blues stars of the 1920s like Bessie Smith; she remained a nightclub and theater singer, working for years on the New York entertainment scene. She sang with Florence Mills in the "Lew Leslie Plantation Review" in Harlem, and made several trips to England, where she was well received. She sang with The Hot Chocolates revue, performing alongside Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller, and made appearances with Bill Robinson, Duke Ellington, Alberta Hunter, Cab Calloway, and Noble Sissle.

Wilson also did extensive work as an actress, appearing on radio with "Amos and Andy" and on film in "To Have and Have Not". Shortly after World War II Wilson became the face of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. She retired from active performance in 1963, becoming executive secretary for the Negro Actors Guild, but made a comeback in 1973 to play with Eubie Blake, Little Brother Montgomery, and Terry Waldo. Her last live show was given at the 1980 Newport Jazz Festival.

References

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:j9foxql5ldte~T1 Edith Wilson] at Allmusic