Editing Ethel Waters (section)

===Film, theater and television===

In 1933, Waters appeared in a satirical all-black film, ''[[Rufus Jones for President]]'', which featured the child performer [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] as Rufus Jones.

She went on to star at the [[Cotton Club]], where, according to her autobiography, she "sang '[[Stormy Weather (song)|Stormy Weather]]' from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated." In 1933, she had a featured role in the successful [[Irving Berlin]] Broadway musical revue ''[[As Thousands Cheer]]'' with [[Clifton Webb]], [[Marilyn Miller]], and [[Helen Broderick]].<ref name=":0" /> She became the first black woman to integrate Broadway's theater district more than a decade after actor [[Charles Sidney Gilpin|Charles Gilpin]]'s critically acclaimed performances in the plays of [[Eugene O'Neill]] beginning with ''[[The Emperor Jones]]'' in 1920.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/pivotal-moments-in-broadways-black-history-com-342101|title=Pivotal Moments in Broadway's Black History|last=Simpson|first=Janice|date=February 22, 2015|website=Playbill|access-date=March 7, 2018|archive-date=March 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306032403/http://www.playbill.com/article/pivotal-moments-in-broadways-black-history-com-342101|url-status=live}}</ref>

Waters held three jobs: in ''As Thousands Cheer'', as a singer for [[Jack Denny]] & His Orchestra on a national radio program,<ref name=":0" /> and in nightclubs. She became the highest-paid performer on Broadway.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/ethel-waters |title=Ethel Waters |website=Encyclopedia.com |via=Contemporary Black Biography, Thomson Gale, 2005 |access-date=March 7, 2018 |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024142038/https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/ethel-waters |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite this status, she had difficulty finding work. She moved to Los Angeles to appear in the 1942 film ''[[Cairo (1942 film)|Cairo]]''. During the same year, she reprised her starring stage role as Petunia in the all-black film musical ''[[Cabin in the Sky (film)|Cabin in the Sky]]'' directed by [[Vincente Minnelli]], and starring [[Lena Horne]] as the ''[[Ingénue (stock character)|ingénue]]''. Conflicts arose when Minnelli swapped songs from the original script between Waters and Horne:<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/17710|title=Cabin in the Sky|last=Looney|first=Deborah|website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=March 7, 2018|archive-date=February 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212044010/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/17710%7C0/Cabin-in-the-Sky.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Waters wanted to perform "Honey in the Honeycomb" as a ballad, but Horne wanted to dance to it. Horne broke her ankle and the songs were reversed. She got the ballad and Waters the dance. Waters sang the Academy Award-nominated "[[Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe|Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe]]".<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Ethel Waters Warnecke.jpg|alt=Ethel Waters in a hat smoking a pipe.|thumb|Photograph of Ethel Waters in costume by Harry Warnecke and Robert F. Cranston.]]
In 1939, Waters became the first African American to star in her own television show:<ref>{{Cite news |title=Ethel Waters |url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/ethel-waters |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=National Museum of African American History and Culture |language=en |archive-date=June 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628221712/https://nmaahc.si.edu/ethel-waters |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ethel Waters {{!}} The Stars {{!}} Broadway: The American Musical {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/ethel-waters/ |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=Broadway: The American Musical |language=en-US |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024142037/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/ethel-waters/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Ethel Waters Show]]'', a variety special, appeared on NBC's New York station on June 14, 1939. It included a dramatic performance of the Broadway play ''[[Mamba's Daughters]]'', based on the [[Gullah]] community of [[South Carolina]] and produced with her in mind.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://aaregistry.org/story/first-black-seen-on-television/|title=First Black Seen on Television|newspaper=African American Registry|access-date=February 15, 2018|archive-date=April 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402114443/https://aaregistry.org/story/first-black-seen-on-television/|url-status=live}}</ref> The play was based on the novel by [[DuBose Heyward]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/production/mambas-daughters-empire-theatre-vault-0000003962 |title=Mamba's Daughters Broadway |website=Playbill |access-date=March 1, 2017 |archive-date=March 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302193840/http://www.playbill.com/production/mambas-daughters-empire-theatre-vault-0000003962 |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Ethel Waters - William P. Gottlieb.jpg|thumb|Waters c. 1945]]

Waters was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for the film ''[[Pinky (film)|Pinky]]'' (1949) under the direction of [[Elia Kazan]] after the first director, [[John Ford]], quit over disagreements with Waters. According to producer [[Darryl F. Zanuck]], Ford "hated that old...woman (Waters)." Ford, Kazan stated, "didn't know how to reach Ethel Waters." Kazan later referred to Waters's "truly odd combination of old-time religiosity and free-flowing hatred."<ref name="Eyman">{{cite book |last1=Eyman |first1=Scott |title=Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford |date=1999 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University |page=361}}</ref>

In 1950, she won the [[New York Drama Critics Circle Award]] for her performance opposite [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]] in the play ''The Member of the Wedding''. Waters and Harris repeated their roles in [[The Member of the Wedding (film)|the 1952 film version]].

In 1950, Waters was the first African-American actress to star in a television series, ''[[Beulah (series)|Beulah]],'' which aired on ABC television from 1950 through 1952.<ref name="harry">{{cite web |title=Beulah: Harry Builds a Den |url=http://www.tv.com/shows/beulah/harry-builds-a-den-1098407/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009043047/http://www.tv.com/shows/beulah/harry-builds-a-den-1098407/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 9, 2013 |website=TV.com |access-date=May 14, 2020 |quote=Some sources indicate that the series ended in 1953. The last episode, "Harry Builds A Den", aired on Dec. 23, 1952. }}</ref> It was the first nationally broadcast weekly television series starring an African American in the leading role. She starred as Beulah for the first year of the TV series before quitting in 1951,<ref name="Lance">{{cite book |last1=Lance |first1=Steven |title=Written Out of Television: A TV Lover's Guide to Cast Changes, 1945–1994 |date=1996 |publisher=Madison Books |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=1-56833-070-7}}</ref> complaining that the portrayal of blacks was "degrading." She was replaced by [[Louise Beavers]] in the second and third season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/beulah |title=Beulah |website=Archive of American Television |access-date=March 1, 2017 |archive-date=February 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180418/http://emmytvlegends.org/interviews/shows/beulah |url-status=live }}</ref> She guest-starred in 1957 and 1959 on NBC's ''[[The Ford Show|The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford]]''. In a 1957 segment, she sang "Cabin in the Sky".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ethelwatersstorm0000bour|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/ethelwatersstorm0000bour/page/96 96]|author=Bourne, Stephen|title=Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press|date= 2007|isbn =978-0-8108-5902-9 |access-date=November 25, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Ethel Waters 1957.jpg|thumb|right|Waters in 1957]]