African American Studies

Remembered for her risqué flamboyance, dancer Josephine Baker epitomized the Jazz Age and its climate of experimentation and freedom. MORE

Comedian, writer, and television producer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. MORE

From Encyclopedia of African American Society
Actress and singer who became one of the first African American women to be regarded as a Hollywood “sex symbol” and who was the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. MORE

Among Davis’s numerous awards are the Hall of Fame Award for outstanding artistic achievement (1989) and the Image Award for best performance by a supporting actor for the film Do the Right Thing (1989) from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Medal for the Arts (1995), and the Presidential Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. MORE

Singer, actor, and dancer, born in New York City, USA. MORE

From Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
Stepin Fetchit, a vaudeville entertainer and pioneering black film actor, emerged near the end of the Harlem Renaissance as Hollywood’s first African American movie star. MORE

From Chambers Film Factfinder
The queen of cult blaxploitation B-movies in the 1970s, she built a career playing bad girls and tough women. MORE

From The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia
Singer and actress, born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. MORE

From Encyclopedia of African-American Writing
While rhyme was still paying, Ice-T began his acting career, appearing in dozens of films, starting in 1984. In 1995, he had a recurring role as a drug dealer on New York Undercover, cocreated by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf. MORE

African-American writer, filmmaker, and actor. Lee is noted for his bold and sometimes controversial political films. MORE

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
The American political activist and performer Paul Robeson was born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey, the son of a former slave and a mother who died when he was six. MORE

She portrayed singer Billie Holliday in the film Lady Sings the Blues (1972) and by the late 1970s achieved superstar status with live and televised concerts. MORE

From Encyclopedia of African American Society
Movie and television actress who has specialized in portraying strong, courageous African American women. MORE

Stage actor, singer, and songwriter, born in Nassau, Bahamas (formerly in British West Indies). Part African in descent, he was raised in Los Angeles and went on the road with the Mastadon Minstrels in 1891; he was so light-skinned that he had to use blackface to maintain his role as an African. MORE

American talk-show host, producer, and actress. Producer and host of The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986-present), Winfrey has also acted in films such as The Color Purple (1985) and Beloved (1998). MORE