Evelyn Ellis

Evelyn Ellis was an African American character actress of stage and film. Devoting herself to the theatre, her film roles were few but she appeared in films including The Joe Louis Story and The Lady from Shanghai. Towards the end of her career Miss Ellis, as she was called, also directed a few theater plays. The Baltimore Afro American Newspaper on their issue in October 26, 1929 described her as a quiet and unassuming young lady with a very charming personality An attractive woman who could have been a leading lady, she chose character roles.

Miss. Ellis was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 2, 1894. Not much is known about her earlier life and introduction to acting, but she became a pretty prominent actor within the black community starting in 1919 until 1955. Ellis made her theatrical debut at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, New York in a production of Othello in 1919. She then move up to Broadway making her debut in the production of Roseanne by Nan Bagby Stephen. Her next big Broadway Show was Porgy in 1927 where she is known for creating the character of Bess and Appeared with Rose McClendon and Frank H. Wilson. That same year she played a lead role in Ernest Howard Culberstons production of Goat Alley which dealt with black life in the slums of Washington D.C. Here she played the character of Lucy Bell Dorsey and was praised by the New York Times Theatre Review for her telling portrayal. There was a few years of inactivity due to the stock market crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression, but she came r

Source: Wikipedia