Ethel Waters was a singer and actor. She was the first African-American to star on her own television show and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
She had a difficult childhood, being raised by her grandmother, aunts, and uncles, and moving frequently. In her autobiography, she wrote, “I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family.”[1]
She married when she was 13, but she soon left her abusive husband and became a maid. When she was 17, she attended a party at a nightclub and sang two songs that impressed the audience so much that she was offered a job at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore.
In 1921, Waters made a record for Cardinal Records and later joined Black Swan from 1921 to 1923. She became the highest-paid black recording artist at the time. In 1925 she moved over to Columbia and had her first hit “Dinah."
In 1933, Waters appeared in a satirical all-Black film, Rufus Jones for President. That year she also had a featured role in the Irving Berlin Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer. She became the first black woman to integrate Broadway.[2]
She became the highest-paid performer on Broadway.[3]
In 1939, Waters became the first African-American to star in her own television show. The Ethel Waters Show was a 15-minute variety special that appeared on NBC.
In 1949, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Pinky.
In 1950, Waters was the first African-American woman to star in a television series, Beulah (1950-1952). She quit after the first season and was replaced by Louise Beavers.
She was also the first Black actor to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy for a dramatic appearance for her guest role in episode 33 of Route 66 (1960-1964), she was also the first Black woman nominated for any Primetime Emmy.
By 1955, Waters was deeply troubled with the IRS seizing royalties for back taxes. Her health was not good and she was working less. In 1957, her life changed when she attended the Billy Graham Crusade in New York’s Madison Square Gardens. In her later years, she would often tour with the preacher.
Ethel Waters died on September 1, 1977, from uterine cancer and kidney failure. She was 80 years old.
Ethel Waters was married three times, all of them ending in divorce. She also had an act with dancer Ethel Williams called “The Two Ethels." In addition to performing on stage together, the two were lovers who lived together behind the scenes. [4]