#fredi washington

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Kim Novak (Vertigo, Bell, Book, and Candle)— She fought as much as she could to be able to preserve her own identity within the crushing hollywood system. She refused to change her czech last name and fought for a higher salary once she discovered her male counterparts were getting payed significantly more, which was an incredibly risky thing to do. She went through so much hollywood bs like she was forced to drop her affair with Sammy Davis jr. She played her iconic role in Vertigo thinking about her own oppressive and significant changes she had to undergo in order to fit in the tight hollywood mold which i think is partly why the movie is so beautiful and timeless. She is a gorgeous soul and a great artist.

Fredi Washington (Imitation of Life, The Emperor Jones)—She was a beautiful woman whose movie career was struck short because she refused to pass as white, but she did get to star with the greats like Cab Calloway, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Robeson, Duke Ellington, Louise Beavers, etc. Being a person of moral and conviction is hot. Also, she knew ballet and was a beautiful dancer in general.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Kim Novak:

Fredi Washington propaganda:

Short Hollywood career for being too light-skinned to play maid roles, but too brown to be cast opposite a white man in the time. Civil Rights activist. Worked with Paul Robeson to create the Negro Actors Guild. Heavy work in theatre and the NAACP.

[iridessence]

Black actress and activist Fredi Washington

[oldvintageglamour]

Paul Robeson & Fredi Washington in "The Emperor Jones", 1933 🖤🖤🖤🖤

[citizenscreen]

Paul Robeson and Fredi Washington in Dudley Murphy’s THE EMPEROR JONES (1933)

[mimi-0007]

Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African-American descent. She was one of the first black Americans to gain recognition for film and stage work in the 1920s and 1930s. Washington was active in the Harlem Renaissance (1920s–1930s), her best known role being Peola in the 1934 film version of Imitation of Life, where she plays a young light-skinned woman who decides to pass as white. Her last film role was in One Mile from Heaven (1937), after which she left Hollywood and returned to New York to work in theatre and civil rights activism.

[spiritsdancinginthenight]

“How many people do you think there are in this country who do not have mixed blood? There’s very few if any, what makes us who we are, our culture and experience. No matter how white I look, on the inside I feel Black. There are many whites who are mixed blood, but still go by white, why such a big deal if I go as Negro? Because people can’t believe that I am proud to be a Negro and not white. To prove I don’t buy white superiority, I chose to be a Negro.”

“Why should I have to pass for anything but an artist?” Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington, (December 23rd, 1903–June 28th, 1994).

[diioonysus]

beautiful women of the past (imo) vi

[profeminist]

"Powerful photograph of Fredi Washington wearing an Anti-Lynching Armband. She was a Civil Rights Activist and co-founded the Negro Actors Guild of America (NAG), with Noble Sissle, W. C. Handy, Paul Robeson, and Ethel Waters."

Source: Old Black Hollywood

[pacingmusings]

Seen in 2023:

One Mile from Heaven (Allan Dwan), 1937

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Marsha Hunt (The Human Comedy, College Holiday, These Glamour Girls)—To be honest, I haven't had the chance to see a lot of her films, but she was an amazing person. A beautiful, popular actress during the 30s and 40s, Marsha was unfairly blacklisted during the Red Scare for speaking out against McCarthyism. Instead of letting that stop her, she focused her efforts on humanitarian work for causes such as world hunger, poverty, and pollution. She was also a support of same-sex marriage. Side note to any fellow fashion history nerds, she wrote a book on 30s-40s fashion. She stayed true to her beliefs through the years, and passed away at the age of 104 in 2022.

Fredi Washington (Imitation of Life, The Emperor Jones)—She was a beautiful woman whose movie career was struck short because she refused to pass as white, but she did get to star with the greats like Cab Calloway, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Robeson, Duke Ellington, Louise Beavers, etc. Being a person of moral and conviction is hot. Also, she knew ballet and was a beautiful dancer in general.

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Marsha Hunt:

Marsha Hunt first signed with Paramount in 1935 at the age of seventeen, kicking off a prolific career as a beloved Hollywood star and fashion model. Her distinctive profile and facial structure earned her the nickname “Curly Lips”: “Besides a rounded forehead, almost no nose bridge, and a nose that curved upwards, even my lips curled up at the corners. Ronald Coleman and his wife Benita told me they used to describe me to each other as ‘Curly Lips.’ I decided that anything that helped two people I adored take notice of me would no longer keep me awake at nights.” (The Way We Wore, p.95) Marsha appeared in about seventy films over almost eighty years, including Hollywood Boulevard, College Holiday, Easy Living, These Glamour Girls, Irene, Pride and Prejudice, Blossoms in the Dust, Thousands Cheer, The Human Comedy, and many more. She was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for publicly defending Hollywood from the accusations of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, alongside Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Deanna Durbin, Henry Fonda, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and many other members of the Hollywood community.

Fredi Washington propaganda:

Short Hollywood career for being too light-skinned to play maid roles, but too brown to be cast opposite a white man in the time. Civil Rights activist. Worked with Paul Robeson to create the Negro Actors Guild. Heavy work in theatre and the NAACP.

[tinuvielsblog]

“If they want me, they will call me, and if they accept me, they will have to take me as I am.”

- Fredi Washington

Fredi Washington photographed by Carl Van Vechten c. 1930s

[citizenscreen]

Fredi Washington and Louise Beavers in John M. Stahl’s IMITATION OF LIFE (1934)

[mimi-0007]

Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African American descent. She was one of the first Black Americans to gain recognition for film and stage work in the 1920s and 1930s. ​

Washington was active in the Harlem Renaissance (1920s–1930s), her best known role being Peola in the 1934 film version of Imitation of Life, where she plays a young light-skinned Black woman who decides to pass as white. Her last film role was in One Mile from Heaven (1937), after which she left Hollywood and returned to New York to work in theatre and civil rights activism.

[letterboxd-loggd]

Ouanga (1935) George Terwilliger

February 11th 2024

[alexanderrudnev]