African American actors, Los Angeles, 1940s (2nd photo)

Item Overview

Title

African American actors, Los Angeles, 1940s (2nd photo)

Photographer

Merriman, Ted

Date Created

[1940s?]

Date

1940/1949

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Walter L. Gordon, Jr./William C. Beverly, Jr. Collection

Notes

Summary

George Garner was a tenor vocalist (and first African American to sing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and conductor.
Eddie Green played the character Eddie the waiter on the radio program Duffy's Tavern.
Lillian Randolph (later Lillian Randolph Chase) was an African American radio, television and film actress, as well as a singer. She was the younger sister of Amanda Randolph (who went on to become an actress). In the 1940s, she and her husband, boxer Jack Chase, purchased a home in the "Sugar Hill" district (West Adams), but could not move in because of restrictive racial covenants. The US Supreme Court declared such covenants unconstitutional in 1948.
Norma Green was the wife of actor Eddie Green. Mrs. Green was a singer, and she played the piano and violin. The couple had a daughter, Elva Diane.
Ben Carter was an African American character actor on stage, screen, and radio. He often worked as a straight man with Mantan Moreland in vaudeville routines. He acted in many movies, often uncredited, including Maryland (1940) and Reap the Wild Wind (1942). He died in New York in either 1946 or 1947.
Jack Chase was married to actress Lillian Randolph Chase.
Lillian Cumber (Victoria Lillian Fisher) started as a secretary for Walter L. Gordon, was a newspaper columnist for 25 years, and in 1956 founded the Lil Cumber Attraction Agency for African American actors. She was the first African American woman to represent actors in the Motion Picture and Television industry.
Dr. Charles Wesley Hill moved to Los Angeles from Arkansas. Initially working as a dentist, he became a uccessful businessman and real estate broker. Hill was active in the NAACP, the International Film and Radio Guild (IFRG) where he was co-vice president along with Lena Horne, and other civil rights organizations. He was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Hill was also a fund raiser and party host at his Hollywood home. According to Walter L. Gordon, Jr., at some point Mr. Hill simply disappeared from the Los Angeles scene, and no one knew what had become of him. Census records indicate that he died in Evansville, Indiana in 1977.
Herman Spurlock, well known on Central Avenue, made a living putting together shows and entertainment for nightclubs and fundraisers.
Hattie McDaniel was the first African American actress to win an Academy Award, an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
Louise Beavers was a well known African American film and television actress. She was a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority and in 1976 was posthumously inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

Description

Mr. Gordon identified the woman on the far left as Mrs. Jennie Bruington, but the woman's identity is undetermined.
All information concerning the content and description of the image was provided by Walter Gordon.
Standing (L to R): unidentified woman, Ben Carter, Jack Chase, Lillian Randolph, Hattie McDaniel, C.W. Hill, George Garner, unidentified woman, Lil Cumber. Seated in the front (L to R): Herman Spurlock, Louise Beavers, Norma Green, Eddie Green.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph : b&w

Keywords

Genre

Black-and-white photographs

Names

Spurlock, Herman
McDaniel, Hattie, 1895-1952
Beavers, Louise, 1902-1962
Chase, Jack, 1917-1972
Green, Norma Ann Amato, 1923-2010
Green, Eddie, 1901-1950
Hill, C. W. (Charles Wesley), Dr., 1900-1977
Garner, George, 1892-1971
Carter, Ben, 1911-1947
Randolph, Lillian, 1898-1980
Cumber, Lil, 1920-2002

Location

California--Los Angeles

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Entertainment

Secretaries--California--Los Angeles
African American boxers--California--Los Angeles
African American businesspeople--California--Los Angeles
African American motion picture actors and actresses--California--Los Angeles
African American actors--California--Los Angeles