Ethel Waters

 Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977)

Her childhood was anything but stable often being bounced from relative to relative and living in impoverished conditions. Her break came in 1919 when she made her debut at one of the famous New York City Harlem night clubs. Her soulful jazz style created a large fan base and in 1921 she released her first recording on Cardinal Records. Waters notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was 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. In 1949 she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the film “Pinky.” The next year she won the “New York Drama Critics Award” for best actress. She was a fan of gospel music and from 1957 until her death, she sang regularly for the Billy Graham Crusades. In 1984 she was posthumously inducted into the “Gospel Music Hall of Fame." Waters married three times and had no children. She was the great-aunt of the singer-songwriter Crystal Waters. Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer, kidney failure, and other ailments, in Chatsworth, California. She is buried at Forest Lawn-Glendale.