This Black Actress Said “No” To Passing D
[Music] fredero Washington had Beauty talent and intelligence everything it takes to be a star but in the end something she couldn’t even control held her back from the success that she truly deserved Freddy Washington was one of the most talented black actresses of her time if her name isn’t well known today maybe that’s because of her devastating story Freddy Washington didn’t start with much born in the American South in 1903 her her father worked as a postman and her mother worked as a dancer she grew up with several siblings and as the oldest girl she helped take care of her brothers and sisters unfortunately an unexpected tragedy soon shattered the Cozy family Dynamic Washington’s mother passed unexpectedly when she was only 11 years old with the family shaken the best option was to send her and her younger sister away to school they attended a Catholic School
in Pennsylvania while they received a reasonably good education at the convent things at home continued to get even Messier while Washington and her sister studied her father struggled to pull himself together back home he remarried twice and ended up adding another four siblings to the family Washington though had much bigger hopes for her future and surprisingly enough unbearable challenges ultimately pushed her in the right direction [Music] Washington’s family became part of the great migration of the 1900s during this time black people from all over the South fled the Prejudice and tension there to seek a better life in the north this landed her in Harlem at just the right time when all forms of art started bursting at the seams though that didn’t make her path easy just a teen when she got to Harlem Washington already had an affinity for
entertainment unfortunately finding work proved a challenge she helped provide for herself and her family with menial positions to include work at a dress shop and at a records company when she couldn’t take it anymore she decided to pursue a life of stardom in 1919 Washington began her first job in entertainment at the club Alabam in Harlem she worked as a chorus girl which placed her in the background of shows dancing and singing alongside several other girls many girls in that position could easily go unnoticed but with her talent and Beauty she soon caught the attention of a huge star Josephine Baker found herself enthralled with Washington when she saw her perform in the early 1920s already a household name in entertainment Baker plucked up the young dancer and placed her in a cabaret group called The Happy
honeysuckles it marked the beginning of her career when won with as much tragedy as there was Triumph Lee Schubert a well-known theater producer was the next to fall in love with Washington’s talent in 1926 he selected her for a major role in the Broadway production black boy a dazzler On Stage Washington quickly became well known for her skill and Beauty but backstage the young Starlet found herself distracted by a certain male co-star On Stage Washington played the lover of Paul Robison an emerging musician and actor behind the scenes though the two allegedly began a sort of on again off again relationship that would go on for several years however both the tendency to fall for a co-star as well as the type of role she played in this piece later came back to haunt
her in blackboy Washington’s looks proved essential to her character born to both mixed race parents Washington had a very light skin and green eyes her character pretended to be white only to be discovered as black later on this role was practically made for her in real life though her growing Fame began to start quite a controversy about her appearance shortly after her debut in black boy her name started to float around the media and seemingly never without a mention of her supposedly beautiful European features with one newspaper even making this comment about her appearance Washington seemingly ignored this attention on her looks for the time being anyway with her star on the rise Washington took advantage of every opportunity to perform and entertain she played a role in the critically acclaimed 1926 Broadway show shuffle
[Music] along Then followed that up by traveling through Europe with her dance part partner al- Moray or al- Moore as he was also known even worlds away from the US though her supposed racial ambiguity would follow her while in Europe Washington caught the attention of an extremely wealthy man otoc con a champion of the Arts he felt impressed by her talent and wanted to pay for further education in the arts for her under the condition that she presented herself as French [Music] she would eventually turn him down but an even better opportunity soon came Her Way Washington landed her first movie gig in 1929 she played a dancer in the short film black and tan while it didn’t hit it big in a traditional sense it served as her first onscreen appearance alongside a huge music star at the time Duke
Ellington even more than all that though it set the stage for another chaotic era in her Lov life while playing his dying wife and lover on screen Washington fell hard for Ellington in real life and as it turns out Ellington allegedly fell hard for her too reports of their steamy romance became well known among their communities especially as her next career move put her in just the right place to keep kindling their flame after the film Washington began touring with Ellington’s band as as a dancer as such she continued spending copious amounts of time with the band’s leading man even in the midst of this love affair though the inequality in the country forced Washington into unique situations some helpful and some downright disgusting as she traveled with the band throughout the country they often faced
places where black people weren’t allowed to be patrons during this tour she reportedly passed as white to enter white only ice cream places and get sweet treats for her bandmates and yet the sweet treat would often quickly turn [Music] sour people thought of Washington as being a white woman spending time with black people reportedly on one of these ice cream trips white customers yelled ugly slurs at her as they discovered her handing out the ice cream to her bandmates this never deterred her though in fact she didn’t seem deterred in many spaces including her questionable love life Washington’s romance with Ellington became well-known gossip in the world of black music Ellington however already carried a certain reputation with women according to several reports he was somewhat of a womanizer and dated women wherever he went some reports even claim
he kept multiple women in the same Hotel on occasion that wasn’t even the worst of it though at this point Ellington’s Behavior doesn’t seem too different from any Young musician and eligible bachelor of our current time but one major fact stood in the way of what otherwise might be considered the recklessness of Youth Ellington did all his dating as a married man leaving his wife home to deal with the Fallout it seems Ellington’s relationship with Washington appeared more serious than his usual flings though and eventually pushed his wife to the edge reports claim she got so upset that she even attacked him when she heard the news about his favorite mistress the whole thing forced Washington to make a challenging decision about their future Washington ultimately decided to end the relationship according to her she realized they had no real future as she didn’t believe Ellington would ever
actually choose to marry her she decided to move on with both her career and love life despite the breakup Washington didn’t take any time off from building her future she soon landed another starring Broadway role in the emperor Jones and Her illustrious co-star this time was none other than her ex Paul Robison though that wasn’t the most scandalous part of the show production required Washington to cover her skin for this role using makeup to give herself a darker complexion they did to ensure no one would mistake her for a white woman playing the main love interest of a black man mixed race relationships wouldn’t have flown with the majority white audiences of the time but it didn’t just come down to public opinion it came down to literal law during this time anti- misation laws
remained the rule of the land across the United States these laws didn’t permit interracial marriage making it both unlawful and taboo to display those couples on stage prejudices aside Washington played her role with her usual professionalism and the claim but perhaps it wasn’t enough to help her forget judging by what she did next not too long after officially ending things with Ellington Washington took up with another member of his band Laurence Brown they dated for a short time and got married in 1933 3 which seems like rather suspicious timing all things considered but perhaps the stability of marriage is just what she needed the very next year her stardom would hit its peak in 1934 Washington’s face finally graced major screens across the country as one of the stars of the
movie Imitation of Life in the film she reprised a familiar role playing a young black woman who decides to pass as white in order to have a more luxurious life while the movie remains a classic at the time it definitely rocked the boat while a black woman on screen ruffled the feathers of the prejudiced audiences black audiences weren’t totally in love with it either some of these audiences didn’t distinguish fiction from reality and felt that Washington must have behaved like her character in real life they assumed that she actually passed as White in real life too Washington responded with some absolute fire Washington staunchly refuted these claims according to her she could never lower herself to doing such a thing saying this uplifting statement in response to her
[Music] detractors while this came as a comfort to many in the black community it eventually became a huge obstacle on her path to stardom and suc success after her success in Imitation of Life Washington found herself primed for another leading role unfortunately the landscape of Hollywood didn’t offer much to an actress of her talent and appearance granted black actresses did have a quote unquote typical place in Hollywood but it didn’t look anything like Washington wanted or thought she deserved most darker skinned female actresses in ollywood played the same type of role they were depicted as subservient women often as Maids or Nannies these roles didn’t fit her look and they also held no appeal for her as she’d already played way more complex roles that piqu the interest of a variety of
audiences the flip side of things didn’t work in her favor either seeing her potential many Hollywood Executives encouraged her to just pass as white in order to further her career and and get the type of roles that she wanted while risky this option definitely held its own appeal and held the power to Grant her everything she dreamed of now this was not an uncommon occurrence several other mixed race actresses of the time passed as white to preserve their careers in entertainment famous actresses like Merl Oberon and Rita Hayworth concealed their true ethnicities to keep their roles with white male leads [Music] while Washington’s background definitely included some European ancestry many of her ancestors were undoubtedly Black by the Jim Crow laws of the time that meant that regardless of how she appeared Washington was legally
black therefore she refused to sell out her community regardless of what she had to give up with her decision about her race set in stone Washington soon found herself pigeon hold into roles very similar to the one she played in Imitation of Life what may be even worse though is that she became the poster child for a well-known stereotype one seemingly trickling down from the days of slavery shown on screen here this stereotype displays the same type of mixed race women in every story they are tormented by their divided identity and supposedly punished for being beautiful but not white as such in 1937 she played a woman pretending to be the mother of a white baby in one mile from heaven but perhaps she grew tired of this Washington continued to perform appearing in another notable Broadway
show moma’s daughters with other notable black performers and yet despite her flash of success and promise with Imitation of Life she just couldn’t make the stardom last with acting opportunities drying up she made a major shift in Direction although she never shed away from supporting the plight of her community Washington would now devote most of her time into activism as her entertainment opportunities waned her hope was that even though she could not achieve stardom today maybe other talented performers could do so in the future and with that she rallied the troops in 1937 Washington became one of the founding members of the nag along with other marginalized actors including her old flame Paul Robison she formed this organization to Aid actors who struggled with inequality as she
did Washington also heavily involved herself with the National Association for the advancement of colored people with this organization she branched out from working primarily in the Performing Art Space working to improve conditions for her people everywhere but even with all the work she did she just couldn’t forget her passion for the Arts Washington found herself doing behind the scenes work she used her years of experience and Performing prowess to work as a stage consultant she contributed her expertise to Major stage Productions like porgi and Bess and Carmen Jones but considering her next move it never quite hit the same in the 1940s Washington tried her hand at Radio she landed a role on the radio drama heroins in bronze this served her well for a short time but even radio drama felt the effects of the country’s
Prejudice with very few roles for black women available on radio she found herself forced to dig deeper and finally let go of her Starry dreams deprived of the acting roles that she truly deserved Washington focused way more attention on using her words to make a difference she spent several years working as an editor on the people’s voice a magazine made by and for the African-American Community unfortunately Washington’s marriage to Lawrence Brown ended in divorce in 1948 reports on the reason for the divorce remained sparse though it seems that it took something serious to end 15 years of marriage whatever the reason Washington didn’t take too long to get back on the horse [Music] just a few years after the divorce Washington married Hugh Anthony Bell in 1951 this time she took a very different approach to her life marrying a dentist her first well-known lover to have zero
connection to the entertainment industry she spent her later years with him quietly and as for what she thought about the injustices that stifled her career even though her refusal to pass as white likely held her back from a stared future Washington never reneg beged on her commitment to fully be herself in several interviews she continued to strengthen her stance and even said why should I have to pass for anything but an [Music] artist a remake of imitation of life would eventually hit theaters in 1959 instead of the role originally played by Washington being cast as a black woman as the part is written production cast a half Mexican actress instead regardless Washington eventually got her roses although she’ left her entertainment career decades prior the black filmmakers Hall of Fame thought it fit to induct Washington as one of its
official honores they did so in 1975 forever placing her in the company of other Black Entertainment greats like Sammy Davis Jr and Haddie McDaniel they weren’t the only ones to realize what the world missed out on while washhington went on to receive many other Awards in her later years she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the cultural Institute of radical Contemporary Arts in 1979 and another honor from the audience development company in 1981 she never got the fame that she likely deserved but her contributions to Art did not go unrewarded Washington lived to the age of 90 she passed away in 1994 from complications related to pneumonia and strokes we’ll never really know how big a star she would have become if she lived in a different time however her commitment to standing on her beliefs paved the way for those
who followed after her she should never be forgotten and should always be remembered and perhaps that in and of itself is its own [Music] reward if you enjoyed this video please consider giving us a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel for more great videos
