At my Flickr page there's a set of photos I have collected of actresses from Hollywood and World Cinema. There's no guideline for inclusion except that I like them. If they're in the set it means they themselves or something they've done appeals to me. With Flickr's viewing tools I can track which ones get viewed the most. And with search word tracking on my blog I can see what key words people were searching on that eventually led them here. One picture outdoes them all. By a landslide. Second place is well over three thousand views behind. So which is it? That stylish pic of Kate Hepburn, looking sharp and unamused? One of the many Hedy Lamarr pictures looking sexy and pouty? Marlene looking sultry with her hand running through her hair? No, no and no. The top viewed picture, and the number two used keyword(s) are both the same: Fredi Washington.
Who?
Fredi Washington, that's who. The gap between her photo viewings and keyword searches and 
everything else is getting so large I figured it was about time I did something on her. Many people come here looking for information on Fredi Washington and I'm tired of them having to leave with nothing but a picture. Such is the plight of the actress who had no place in Hollywood and little lasting fame beyond the thirties. But she was something to behold. And she possessed a confidence and sense of self that was admirable, if not awe-inspiring.
Fredi Washington is best known for her portrayal of Peola in John Stahl's Imitation of Life (1934). Unlike the Douglas Sirk remake, the original employed a light-skinned black actress in the role of Peola, instead of a dark haired white woman (Susan Kohner). Using a white actress for a black role always bothered me but what bothered me more was that Kohner was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Washington was not. Washington was better. Period.
Before Imitation of Life Washington appeared with Paul Robeson in Emperor Jones (1933) and made her debut four years earlier in a short, Black and Tan Fantasy (1929), with Duke Ellington. Before making Emperor Jones she was encouraged by people in charge to "pass" for white and then, maybe, she might even have a chance at stardom. She refused. She 
was black she said, and had no desire to be white. Not even to get ahead.
After her outstanding performance in Imitation of Life it would seem she had finally made it. But she hadn't. She was too "white" to play the kind of demeaning roles Hollywood gave to black actors in the thirties and too "black" for anything else. Even movies made for black audiences presented problems. In 1933's Emperor Jones she had to darken her skin to play against Paul Robeson. The producers were terrified that audiences might think Robeson was kissing a white woman. She made one last film in 1937 and called it quits, knowing her complexion made a successful career in either type of film impossible. But she didn't give up.
She co-founded the Negro Actors Guild and wrote theatre reviews for the now-defunct The People's Voice. She also performed in the theatre consistently for decades. Later she would be a casting consultant on Carmen Jones (1953), the film that brought Dorothy Dandridge into the limelight. And she became active in politics and the civil rights movement, working with her Brother-in-Law Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the first African-American elected to Congress from New York in 1945. After that she entered into a quiet retirement and on June 28, 1994 she died of a stroke at her home in Stamford, Connecticut. She was 90 years old.
There's not a lot more information out there on Fredi but here are a few treats. The first is a trailer for Imitation of Life (1934) that was played for black audiences. There's no mention 
of Claudette Colbert, just Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington. The second I was unsuccessful in embedding into the post but please follow the link and watch it. It's about eight minutes long but I promise you it is well worth it. It's a clip from TCM of film historian Donald Bogle, whose writings I've quoted before on these pages, discussing both Imitation of Life in general and Fredi Washington in particular. It also gives one the opportunity to see her incredible scene of rejecting her mother in public, which she plays with a mix of horror and feigned indifference that is a wonder to behold. Enjoy.
Donald Bogle Commentary Clip.
*****UPDATE*****
As of December, 2008 I have updated this post to reflect the number of views for Fredi's photo. It is now thousands ahead of any other.
