Fredi Washington

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Fredi Washington

Born	December 23, 1903(1903-12-23) Savannah, Georgia United States
Died	June 28, 1994 (aged 90) Stamford, Connecticut United States
Spouse(s)	married Lawrence Brown, the longtime trombonist in Duke Ellington's orchestra.

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Fredi Washington (Fredericka Carolyn Washington) (December 23, 1903 - June 28, 1994) was an African American film actress of the 1930s. She is most notable for portraying Peola, the daughter who passes for white in the 1934 Academy Award-nominated film Imitation of Life. She had also appeared with Paul Robeson in The Emperor Jones in 1933.

[edit] Acting career

Her first movie role was in Black and Tan Fantasy (1929), followed by a small part in The Emperor Jones (1933) with Paul Robeson.

Washington, a civil rights activist and founder of the Negro Actors Guild, turned down a number of opportunities to pass for white and become a movie star. Possessing an extremely light complexion and green eyes, Washington found it hard to win roles and audiences, as she was too elegant to play stereotypical "maid" roles, yet because she was African-American, Hollywood didn't dare offer her romantic roles with the leading white actors of the day. When she played roles in films for black audiences, she often wore heavy makeup to darken her skin.

After Imitation of Life, Washington had one more decent role (4th billing) in Fox's One Mile from Heaven (1937) [1]. Realising that there was no future in Hollywood for an African-American actress with ivory toned skin, Washington quit appearing in movies altogether. She did however continue to have roles in the theater and was a theater writer for The People's Voice. In 1953, she was a casting consultant for Carmen Jones, which starred another pioneering African-American, Dorothy Dandridge.

[edit] Personal life

Washington's sister, Isabelle Washington, was also an actress and was married to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the first African-American elected to Congress in New York state. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Fredi Washington died of a stroke on June 28, 1994 in Stamford, Connecticut at the age of 90.