Louise Beavers

Acting · 0.7 popularity

Age

124

Movies

148

Born: March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s until 1960, most often cast in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. She was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American sororities. Beavers was a breakthrough actress for black women and became known as a symbol of a "mammy" on the screen. A mammy archetype "is the portrayal within a narrative framework or other imagery of a black domestic servant, generally good-natured, often overweight, and loud". Louise Beavers started her career in the 1920s. At the time, black people in films were limited to acting in only very few roles, usually as slaves or domestic help. She played the "mammy" in many of the movies she acted in. She started to gain more attention in the acting world after she played the role of Julia in Coquette, which starred Mary Pickford. In this film she played the black maid and mother figure to a young white woman. She once received a review which stated: "Personally, Miss Beavers is just splendid, just as fine as she appears on screen, but she also has a charm all her own, which needs no screen role for recognition. She has a very pleasing personality, one that draws people to her instantly and makes them feel that they are meeting a friend instead of a Hollywood Star." Beavers had an attractive personality, and often played roles in which she helps a white protagonist mature in the course of the movie. In 1934, Beavers played Delilah in Imitation of Life in a dramatic role. Her character again plays a black maid, but instead of the usual stereotypical comedic or purely functional role, Delilah's story line is a secondary parallel plot. The public reacted positively to Beavers' performance. It was not only a breakthrough for Beavers, but was also "the first time in American cinema history that a black woman's problems were given major emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture". Some in the media recognized the unfairness of Hollywood's double standard regarding race. For example, California Graphic Magazine wrote, "the Academy could not recognize Miss Beavers. She is black!" As Beavers' career grew, some criticized her for the roles she accepted, alleging that such roles institutionalized the view that blacks were subservient to whites. Beavers dismissed the criticism. She acknowledged the limited opportunities available, but said: "I am only playing the parts. I don't live them." As she became more famous, Beavers began to speak against Hollywood's portrayal and treatment of black Americans, both during production and after promoting the films. Beavers became active in public life, seeking to help support African Americans. In later life, Beavers was plagued by health issues, including diabetes. She died on October 26, 1962, at the age of 60, following a heart attack. Beavers was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976.

Works

148 films

Holiday Inn

19427.0

Tammy and the Bachelor

19577.0

Doctor X

19326.0

Good Sam

19486.3

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

19487.0

You Can't Run Away from It

19565.1

Make Way for Tomorrow

19377.5

42nd Street

19336.9

Belle Starr

19415.9

Pick-up

19335.1

Teenage Rebel

19567.0

Reap the Wild Wind

19426.4

Party Husband

19316.5

Shadow of the Thin Man

19417.0

Second Choice

19308.0

Du Barry Was a Lady

19436.5

The Last Gangster

19376.4

Imitation of Life

19347.0

All the Fine Young Cannibals

19605.9

Bullets or Ballots

19366.6

Thunderbolt

19295.7

Her Bodyguard

19336.7

Wild Girl

19326.2

The Story of Temple Drake

19336.5

Follow the Boys

19445.7

Only Yesterday

19337.1

Made for Each Other

19396.1

The Goddess

19586.0

My Blue Heaven

19507.5

She Done Him Wrong

19335.9

Tell It to the Judge

19496.6

Central Airport

19336.0

Reform School

19398.0

The Midnight Patrol

19336.6

Manslaughter

19307.0

Gambling Lady

19346.2

A Southern Yankee

19485.7

The Big Street

19425.8

The Jackie Robinson Story

19506.3

A Modern Hero

19347.0

Our Blushing Brides

19305.6

Good-bye, My Lady

19567.8

Primrose Path

19406.7

The Facts of Life

19605.3

The Vanishing Virginian

19427.3

Girls About Town

19316.6

Bombshell

19336.5

Never Wave at a WAC

19535.0

I Want a Divorce

194010.0

In the Money

19335.7

Midnight Mary

19336.8

Young Widow

19464.8

Seven Sweethearts

19426.3

Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus

19385.4

For the Love of Mary

19486.2

Women Without Names

19404.7

No Time for Comedy

19405.3

All by Myself

19438.0

Sign of the Wolf

19417.0

Hold Your Man

19336.3

The Merry Frinks

19344.8

Coquette

19295.9

Cheaters

193410.0

Millie

19315.3

I Dream of Jeanie

19524.0

What Price Innocence?

19336.5

It's Tough to Be Famous

19326.4

The Greeks Had a Word for Them

19325.6

Wings Over Honolulu

19376.4

What Price Hollywood?

19326.8

Colorado Sundown

19525.0

Glad Rag Doll

19299.0

Barbary Coast Gent

19445.5

Paid

19306.7

Kisses for Breakfast

19416.3

Six Cylinder Love

19319.0

Ladies of the Big House

19316.0

Good Morning, Judge

194310.0

A Shriek in the Night

19335.2

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

19326.1

Her Splendid Folly

19337.0

Wall Street

19297.0

Virginia

19419.0

The Woman Condemned

19344.6

Wide Open

19305.6

The Dark Horse

19327.4

Parole Fixer

19405.0

West of the Pecos

19347.0

Young America

19429.0

Delightfully Dangerous

19455.3

South of Dixie

194410.0

Scandal Street

19388.0

I've Got Your Number

19346.8

The Headleys at Home

193810.0

Safety in Numbers

19305.5

Night World

19326.8

Dr. Monica

19345.0

Young America

19325.5

There's Something About a Soldier

19435.4

Bright Lights

19305.2

Hell's Highway

19326.1

Divorce In The Family

19326.8

Glamour

19344.3

I Believed in You

19347.0

Lover Come Back

19467.1

The Hostess with the Mostes'

1957

Honey

19305.7

Too Busy to Work

19326.5

Street of Women

19325.0

General Spanky

19365.7

You're Telling Me

19325.3

Girl Missing

19335.2

Recaptured Love

19306.0

Good Sport

19315.5

Back Pay

19304.9

Rainbow on the River

19368.7

Palooka

19343.6

Dixie Jamboree

19445.4

Top Man

19439.0

Reckless Living

19314.3

The Expert

19327.3

I Give My Love

19347.5

Knights Before Christmas

19308.0

Don't Bet on Women

19314.9

Unashamed

19327.3

Brother Rat

19386.0

Registered Nurse

19344.8

Annapolis Farewell

19358.0

She Couldn't Say No

193010.0

The Big Cage

19338.0

The Lady's from Kentucky

19398.0

Beggar's Holiday

19349.0

Bedside

19345.6

Sundown Trail

19317.8

Wives Never Know

19369.0

Love in a Bungalow

193710.0

Banjo

19477.7

Election Day

19297.0

Nix on Dames

192910.0

Life Goes On

19388.0

Barnum Was Right

19297.5

Merry Wives of Reno

19344.4

Notorious But Nice

19336.7

Outside the Law

19305.2

Strictly Fresh Yeggs

1934

The Phantom Broadcast

19335.1

True to the Navy

19307.5

Hunting Trouble

193310.0