Ethel waters bio

Ethel Waters October 31, — September 1, was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the s singing blues. Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award , the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on October 31, some sources incorrectly state her birth year as [ 5 ] [ 1 ] [ 6 ] as a result of the rape of her teenaged African-American mother, Louise Anderson — , [ 1 ] by year-old John Wesley or Wesley John Waters — , [ 1 ] a pianist and family acquaintance from a middle-class African-American background.

Waters' family was very fair-skinned, his mother in particular. Waters played no role in raising his daughter. Ethel used the surname Howard as a child and then reverted to using the surname Waters. Of her difficult childhood, she said "I never was a child.

Ethel waters education

I never was cuddled, liked, or understood by my family. Waters grew tall, standing 5 feet 9. According to jazz historian and archivist Rosetta Reitz , Waters's birth in the North and her peripatetic or nomadic life exposed her to many cultures.