Willa Pearl Curtis (March 21, 1896 – December 19, 1970) was an American actress in film and television. She was active in the Negro Motion Picture Players Association in Los Angeles. Curtis started as a performer in theater and music in Texas."Pastor's Housekeeper is Mainstay of Rectory"
''Wilmington News-Journal'' (April 5, 1949): 17. via Newspapers.com When Curtis first arrived in Los Angeles, she worked as a maid to a stage actress. Like many black actresses of her generation, Curtis was often cast as a maid or cook, often uncredited bit parts, in films during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Her credited appearances included roles in '' The Wages of Sin'' (1938), '' Second Chorus'' (1940), ''

Unexpected Riches ''Unexpected Riches'' is a 1942 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Herbert Glazer. It was the 211th Our Gang short (211th episode, 122nd talking short, 123rd talking episode, and 42nd MGM produced episode). Plot Weighing themselves on a p ...

'' (1942), ''

Mom and Dad ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

'' (1945), '' The Lawton Story'' (1949), '' Native Son'' (1951), ''Oiltown USA'' (1953), and '' Queen Bee'' (1955). Among her many uncredited roles, she played the mother of Buckwheat in an ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

'' short, '' Tale of a Dog'', and clowned with Shemp Howard in " Pick a Peck of Plumbers" (1944). On television, Curtis appeared in episodes of '' Death Valley Days'' (1953), '' The Life of Riley'' (1953), '' The Amos 'n Andy Show'' (1951, 1953, 1955), '' Four Star Playhouse'' (1955), ''

Stories of the Century ''Stories of the Century'' is a 39-episode Western historical fiction television series starring Jim Davis that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between 1954 and 1955. Synopsis Jim Davis, who became famous decades later as the p ...

'' (1955), '' Cavalcade of America'' (1955), '' The Adventures of Jim Bowie'' (1957), '' Wide Country'' (1963), '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1963), and '' Ben Casey'' (1964). Curtis was active in the

Negro Motion Picture Players Association In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

in Los Angeles. She also worked as a singer with fellow ''Amos 'n Andy'' performer Jester Hairston, and headed the concert committee of the historic First A. M. E. Church in Los Angeles. Curtis died in Los Angeles in 1970, aged 74 years. Her gravesite is in Lincoln Memorial Park in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

.Garrett Therolf
"Finally, a gravestone for little Viola Vanclief"
''The Los Angeles Times'' (October 13, 2014).

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Willa Pearl 1896 births 1970 deaths American film actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Texas