Cora Green
A young African-American woman with her hair in a top bun; her dress is light-colored with a low square neck.
Cora Green, from a 1916 publicity photograph
Born
Cora Chambers

December 10, 1895
Baltimore, Maryland
DiedAfter 1949
Notable workSwing (1938), Moon Over Harlem (1939)

Cora Green (December 10, 1895 – died after 1949) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, billed as "The Famous Creole Singer".

Early life

Cora Chambers was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1895, the daughter of Alexander Chambers and Elizabeth Sorrell Chambers.[1]

Swing poster

Career

Chambers began singing professionally by her early teens.[1] Alberta Hunter described her voice as being "between sweet and jazz".[2] In 1931 she was considered "the highest paid colored woman in vaudeville."[3]

She sang in Harlem with blueswoman Mattie Hite in 1914.[2] She was part of the Panama Trio with Florence Mills and Ada "Bricktop" Smith at the Panama Club in Chicago, until the club was closed in early 1917.[4] She had vaudeville acts with Hamtree Harrington[5] and Earl Dancer,[6] and appeared in two revues on Broadway, Strut, Miss Lizzie (1922)[7] and Dixie to Broadway (1924–1925).[8][9]

Her other stage shows included Broadway Rastus (1917),[5] Put and Take (1921),[10] Ebony Showboat (1929),[11] Great Day (1929),[12] Harlem after Dark (1930),[13] Red Light Mazie (1931),[14] Ballyhoola (1932),[15] and Ace in the Hole (1932).[16] She was billed as "Harlem torch singer Cora Green" in a 1933 show in Washington, D.C.[17]

Green sang on a national radio program titled Negro Achievement Hour in 1929.[18][19] She starred in two musical films, Oscar Micheaux's Swing (1938), and Edgar G. Ulmer's Moon Over Harlem (1939). She also appeared in a musical short, Cora Green: The Famous Creole Singer (1929).[20] During World War II, she toured with the USO in the Persian Gulf, entertaining African-American troops.[21][22]

Personal life

She married her vaudeville partner Earl Dancer.[23] She attempted suicide in 1918,[24] and divorced Dancer in 1919, but they were working together in 1929,[25] and were said to be planning a reunion in 1949.[23] She was in a relationship with musician Horace Henderson in 1932.[16][26]

Nothing else is known of Green following news of her planned remarriage to Earl Dancer in 1949 or when she died. Dancer's death occurred in September 1963 in Lake Elsinore, California.[27] It is unknown if the two were married by this point or if Green died before or afterwards.

References

  1. 1 2 Salzman, Jack; Smith, David L.; West, Cornel (1996). Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Macmillan Library Reference. p. 1144. ISBN 978-0-02-897364-7.
  2. 1 2 Egan, Bill (2004). Florence Mills: Harlem Jazz Queen. Scarecrow Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8108-5007-1.
  3. ↑ "A 'Harlem Tintype'". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1931-10-03. p. 18. Retrieved 2020-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Sharpley-Whiting, T. Denean (2015). Bricktop's Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars. SUNY Press. pp. 21–24. ISBN 978-1-4384-5502-0.
  5. 1 2 Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. Psychology Press. p. 488. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2.
  6. ↑ "Double Bill at William Penn". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1921-03-15. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "'Strut, Miss Lizzie' at the Auditorium". The Music News. 14: 14. September 8, 1922.
  8. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (2005). Swingin' on the Ether Waves: A Chronological History of African Americans in Radio and Television Programming, 1925-1955. Scarecrow Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8108-4087-4.
  9. ↑ Hadden, Briton; Luce, Henry Robinson (November 10, 1924). "New Plays". Time. Vol. 4. p. 14.
  10. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (2013). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. pp. 803, 1039. ISBN 978-0-8108-8351-2.
  11. ↑ "Cora Green's New Show at Lafayette Next Week". The New York Age. 1929-01-19. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Stellar Performers Featured in Classic New Play, 'Great Day'". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1929-06-29. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Harlem after Dark (advertisement)". The New York Age. 1930-07-26. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Alhambra Theatre (advertisement)". The New York Age. 1931-10-10. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Connie's Ballyhoola". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1932-04-09. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 Dancer, Maurice (1932-07-23). "Harlem by Night". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Forsythe, Wm Jr. (1933-09-23). "Four 'Dots' Show Dash in Dee Cee". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 16. Retrieved 2020-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Cora Green on Air". The Chicago Defender. March 23, 1929. p. 6.
  19. ↑ Ellett, Ryan (2012). Encyclopedia of Black Radio in the United States, 1921–1955. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc. pp. 108, 176. ISBN 978-1476693392. OCLC 1369512406.
  20. ↑ "Cora Green – The Famous Creole Singer". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  21. ↑ "USO Troupe Thrills Doughboys in Persia". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1945-01-13. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Mullenbach, Cheryl (2013). Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61374-535-9.
  23. 1 2 "Billy Rowe's Notebook". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1949-12-10. p. 18. Retrieved 2020-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Cabaret Singer Tries Suicide by Gas Route". The Chicago Defender. July 13, 1918. p. 7.
  25. ↑ Dismond, Geraldyn (March 30, 1929). "Cora Green Classed as Star without a Temperament". Indianapolis Recorder. p. 2. Retrieved June 5, 2020 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  26. ↑ Dancer, Maurice (1932-08-13). "Harlem by Night". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ "Earl Dancer". Lordheath.com.
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