“ God gave us our relatives;

 thank God we can choose our friends. "

 

 

Waters, Ethel (1896?–1977), singer and actress. The warm, versatile African‐American performer was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, and spent years in both black and white vaudeville before making her Broadway debut in Africana (1927). After musical appearances in Blackbirds of 1930 and Rhapsody in Black (1931), among others, she received star billing in the celebrated revue As Thousands Cheer (1933), in which she sang “Heat Wave” and “Suppertime.” Waters also triumphed in At Home Abroad (1935), in which she introduced “The Hottentot Potentate” and “Thief in the Night.” She first demonstrated her dramatic skills as the vengeful, illiterate mother Hagar in Mamba's Daughters (1939). Returning to the musical stage she won applause for her singing of “Taking a Chance on Love” and the title song in Cabin in the Sky (1940), followed by the revue Blue Holiday (1945). For many her most memorable performance came as Berenice Sadie Brown, the surrogate mother to a young tomboy, in The Member of the Wedding (1950). Brooks Atkinson wrote, “Miss Waters gives one of those rich and eloquent performances that lay such a deep spell on any audience that sees her . . . it has exalted spirit and great warmth of sympathy.” Her last important appearance was in At Home with Ethel Waters (1953). Autobiography: His Eye Is on the Sparrow, 1951.

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