Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her notable recordings include "

Dinah In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengea ...

", " Stormy Weather", "

Taking a Chance on Love "Taking a Chance on Love" is a popular song from the 1940 Broadway musical '' Cabin in the Sky''. It was introduced by Ethel Waters playing the role of Petunia Jackson both on Broadway and later in the 1943 MGM musical Cabin in the Sky (film). ...

", "

Heat Wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

", " Supper Time", "

Am I Blue? "Am I Blue?" is a 1929 song copyrighted by Harry Akst (music) and Grant Clarke (lyrics), then featured in four films that year, most notably with Ethel Waters in the movie '' On with the Show''. It has appeared in 42 movies, most recently ''Funny ...

", " Cabin in the Sky", " I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of " His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to be nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

Early life

Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896 (some sources incorrectly state her birth year as 1900) as a result of the rape of her teenaged African-American mother, Louise Anderson (1881–1962), by 17 year old John Wesley (or Wesley John) Waters (1878–1901), a pianist and family acquaintance from a middle-class African-American background. Waters' family was very fair skinned, his mother in particular. Many sources, including Ethel herself, reported for years that her mother was 12 or 13 years old at the time of the rape, 13 when Ethel was born. Stephen Bourne opens his 2007 biography, ''Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather'', with the statement that genealogical research has shown that Louise Anderson may have been 15 or 16 years old. Waters played no role in raising his daughter. Soon after she was born, her mother married Norman Howard, a railroad worker, with whom she had a daughter, Juanita Howard, Ethel's half-sister. Ethel used the surname Howard as a child and then reverted to using the surname Waters. She was raised in poverty by Sally Anderson, her grandmother, who worked as a housemaid, and with two of her aunts and an uncle. Waters never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. Of her difficult childhood, she said "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family." Waters grew tall, standing in her teens. According to jazz historian and archivist Rosetta Reitz, Waters's birth in the North and her peripatetic (or nomadic) life exposed her to many cultures. Waters first married in 1910 at the age of 13, but her husband was abusive, and she soon left the marriage and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel, working for $4.75 per week. On her 17th birthday, she attended a costume party at a nightclub on Juniper Street. She was persuaded to sing two songs and impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She recalled that she earned the rich sum of $10 per week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage.

Career

Singing

After her start in Baltimore, Waters toured on the black

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

circuit, in her words "from nine until unconscious." Despite her early success, she fell on hard times and joined a carnival traveling in freight cars headed for Chicago. She enjoyed her time with the carnival and recalled, "the roustabouts and the concessionaires were the kind of people I'd grown up with, rough, tough, full of larceny towards strangers, but sentimental and loyal to their friends and co-workers." But she did not last long with them and soon headed south to Atlanta, where she worked in the same club as

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock an ...

. Smith demanded that Waters not compete in singing blues opposite her. Waters conceded and sang

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s and popular songs. Around 1919, Waters moved to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and became a performer in the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

of the 1920s. Her first Harlem job was at Edmond's Cellar, a club with a black patronage that specialized in popular ballads. She acted in a

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

comedy, ''Hello 1919''. Jazz historian Rosetta Reitz pointed out that by the time Waters returned to Harlem in 1921, women blues singers were among the most powerful entertainers in the country. In 1921, Waters became the fifth black woman to make a record, for tiny Cardinal Records. She later joined

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon ...

, where

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black music ...

was her accompanist. Waters later commented that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she preferred, often lacking "the damn-it-to-hell bass." CountBasieEthelWatersStageDoorCanteen2

She recorded for Black Swan from 1921 through 1923. Her contract with Harry Pace made her the highest paid black recording artist at the time. In early 1924, Paramount bought Black Swan, and she stayed with Paramount through the year. Around that time, Waters was approached by Maury Greenwald for the London run of '' Plantation Days'', although she later joined the company on its return to Chicago in August 1923, as an "extra added attraction" to "save the fast-flopping revue". She started working with Pearl Wright, and they toured in the South. In 1924, Waters played at the Plantation Club on Broadway. She also toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. She first recorded for

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

in 1925, achieving a hit with "

". With Earl Dancer, she joined what was called the "white time"

Keith Vaudeville Circuit Benjamin Franklin Keith (January 26, 1846 – March 26, 1914) was an American vaudeville theater owner, highly influential in the evolution of variety theater into vaudeville. Biography Early years Keith was born in Hillsboro Bridge, New ...

, a vaudeville circuit performing for white audiences and combined with screenings of silent movies. They received rave reviews in Chicago and earned the unheard-of salary of US$1,250 in 1928. In September 1926, Waters recorded " I'm Coming Virginia", composed by Donald Heywood with lyrics by

Will Marion Cook William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an American composer, violinist, and choral director.Riis, Thomas (2007–2011)Cook, Will Marion ''Grove Music Online.'' Oxford Music Online. Retrieved ...

. She is often wrongly attributed as the author. The following year, Waters sang it in a production of ''Africana'' at Broadway's Daly's Sixty-Third Street Theatre. In 1929, Waters and Wright arranged the unreleased Harry Akst song "

", which was used in the movie '' On with the Show'' and became a hit and her signature song.

Film, theater and television

In 1933, Waters appeared in a satirical all-black film, ''

Rufus Jones for President ''Rufus Jones for President'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code satirical musical-comedy, clocking in at 21 minutes. The film was directed by Roy Mack, and starred Ethel Waters and Sammy Davis Jr., in his first onscreen appearance, as the title characte ...

'', which featured the child performer Sammy Davis Jr. as Rufus Jones. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where, according to her autobiography, she "sang ' Stormy Weather' from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated." In 1933, she had a featured role in the successful Irving Berlin Broadway musical revue '' As Thousands Cheer'' with

Clifton Webb Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, i ...

, Marilyn Miller, and Helen Broderick. She became the first black woman to integrate Broadway's theater district more than a decade after actor Charles Gilpin's critically acclaimed performances in the plays of

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

beginning with ''

The Emperor Jones ''The Emperor Jones'' is a 1920 tragic play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill that tells the tale of Brutus Jones, a resourceful, self-assured African American and a former Pullman porter, who kills another black man in a dice game, is jailed, ...

'' in 1920. Waters held three jobs: in ''As Thousands Cheer'', as a singer for Jack Denny & His Orchestra on a national radio program, and in nightclubs. She became the highest-paid performer on Broadway. Despite this status, she had difficulty finding work. She moved to Los Angeles to appear in the 1942 film ''

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

''. During the same year, she reprised her starring stage role as Petunia in the all-black film musical '' Cabin in the Sky'' directed by

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), ' ...

, and starring

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

as the ingenue. Conflicts arose when Minnelli swapped songs from the original script between Waters and Horne: Waters wanted to perform "Honey in the Honeycomb" as a ballad, but Horne wanted to dance to it. Horne broke her ankle and the songs were reversed. She got the ballad and Waters the dance. Waters sang the Academy Award nominated " Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe". Ethel Waters Warnecke

In 1939, Waters became the first African American to star in her own television show, before the debut of Nat King Cole's in 1956. ''

The Ethel Waters Show ''The Ethel Waters Show'' was a one-hour American television variety special that ran in the earliest days of NBC, on June 14, 1939, and was hosted by actress and singer Ethel Waters. Waters was the first black performer, male or female, to have he ...

'', a variety special, appeared on NBC on June 14, 1939. It included a dramatic performance of the Broadway play '' Mamba's Daughters'', based on the Gullah community of South Carolina and produced with her in mind. The play was based on the novel by DuBose Heyward. Ethel Waters - William P

Waters was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film '' Pinky'' (1949) under the direction of

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

after the first director,

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

, quit over disagreements with Waters. According to producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Ford "hated that old...woman (Waters)." Ford, Kazan stated, "didn't know how to reach Ethel Waters." Kazan later referred to Waters's "truly odd combination of old-time religiosity and free-flowing hatred." In 1950, she won the

New York Drama Critics Circle Award The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...

for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play ''The Member of the Wedding''. Waters and Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version. In 1950, Waters was the first African-American actress to star in a television series, '' Beulah,'' which aired on ABC television from 1950 through 1952. It was the first nationally broadcast weekly television series starring an African American in the leading role. She starred as Beulah for the first year of the TV series before quitting in 1951, complaining that the portrayal of blacks was "degrading." She was replaced by

Louise Beavers Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. From the 1920s until 1960, she appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows. She was most often cast in the roles of a maid, servant ...

in the second and third season. She guest-starred in 1957 and 1959 on NBC's ''

The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford ''The Ford Show'' (also known as ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford'' and ''The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show'') is an American variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired on NBC on Thursday eveni ...

''. In a 1957 segment, she sang "Cabin in the Sky". Ethel Waters 1957

Personal life

Her first autobiography, ''His Eye Is on the Sparrow'', (1951), written with

Charles Samuels Charles Samuels (September 15, 1902 in Brooklyn, New York – April 27, 1982 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico) was an American journalist, and writer best known for his biographies of celebrities, He penned as-told-to autobiographies for Bust ...

, was adapted for the stage by Larry Parr and premiered on October 7, 2005. In 1953, she appeared in a Broadway show, ''At Home With Ethel Waters'' that opened on September 22, 1953 and closed October 10 after 23 performances. Waters married three times and had no children. When she was 13, she married Merritt "Buddy" Purnsley in 1909; they divorced in 1913. During the 1920s, Waters was involved in a romantic relationship with dancer Ethel Williams. The two were dubbed "The Two Ethels" and lived together in Harlem. She married Clyde Edwards Matthews in 1929, and they divorced in 1933. She married Edward Mallory in 1938; they divorced in 1945. Waters was the great-aunt of the singer-songwriter

Crystal Waters Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits " Gypsy Woman", " 100% Pure Love", and 2007's "Destination Calabria" with Alex Gaudino. All three of her st ...

. In 1938, Waters met artist

Luigi Lucioni Luigi Lucioni (born Giuseppe Luigi Carlo Benevenuto Lucioni; November 4, 1900 – July 22, 1988) was an Italian American painter known for his still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. Early life Early years and immigration to the United States Lui ...

through their mutual friend, Carl Van Vechten. Lucioni asked Waters if he could paint her portrait, and a sitting was arranged at his studio at 64 Washington Square South. Waters bought the finished portrait from Lucioni in 1939 for $500. She was at the height of her career and the first African American to have a starring role on Broadway. In her portrait, she wore a tailored red dress with a mink coat draped over the back of her chair. Lucioni positioned Waters with her arms tightly wrapped around her waist, a gesture that conveyed vulnerability, as if she were trying to protect herself. The painting was considered lost because it had not been seen in public since 1942. Huntsville (Alabama) Museum of Art Executive Director Christopher J. Madkour and historian Stuart Embury traced it to a private residence. The owner considered Waters to be "an adopted grandmother" but she allowed the Huntsville Museum of Art to display ''Portrait of Ethel Waters'' in the 2016 exhibition ''American Romantic: The Art of Luigi Lucioni'' where it was viewed by the public for the first time in more than 70 years. The museum acquired ''Portrait of Ethel Waters'' in 2017, and it was shown in an exhibition in February 2018. A turning point came in 1957 when she attended the

Billy Graham Crusade William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christian ...

in Madison Square Garden. Years later, she gave this testimony of that night: "In 1957, I, Ethel Waters, a 380-pound decrepit old lady, rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, and boy, because He lives, just look at me now. I tell you because He lives; and because my precious child, Billy, gave me the opportunity to stand there, I can thank God for the chance to tell you His eye is on all of us sparrows." In her later years, Waters often toured with the preacher Billy Graham on his crusades. She was a baptized

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and considered herself a member of that religion throughout her life. Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer,

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

, and other ailments, in Chatsworth, California. She is buried at

Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original and current flagship location of Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, a chain of six cemeteries and four additional mortuaries in Southern Cal ...

. ''Ethel'' was written and performed by Terry Burrell as a one-woman tribute to Waters. It ran as a limited engagement in February and March 2012.

Awards and honors

* Her recording of " Stormy Weather" (1933) was listed in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservat ...

by the National Recording Preservation Board of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

in 2003. * Gospel Music Hall of Fame, 1983 * Christian Music Hall of Fame, 2007 * Waters was approved for a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

in 2004; however, the star was never funded or installed. * In 2015, a historical marker memorializing Waters was unveiled along Route 291 in Chester, Pennsylvania to recognize her life and talents in the city of her birth. * Commemorative stamp, U.S. Post Office, 1994 * Nomination, Best Supporting Actress, Academy Awards, '' Pinky'' 1949 * Nomination, Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series,

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, for '' Route 66'' "Goodnight Sweet Blues", 1962 * Three recordings by Waters were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy Award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and have "qualitative or historical significance."

Hit records

Filmography

Features

* '' On with the Show'' (1929) as Ethel * '' Gift of Gab'' (1934) as Ethel Waters * ''

Tales of Manhattan ''Tales of Manhattan'' is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart, worked on the six stories in this film. Ba ...

'' (1942) as Esther * ''

'' (1942) as Cleona Jones * '' Cabin in the Sky'' (1943) as Petunia Jackson * '' Stage Door Canteen'' (1943) as Ethel Waters * '' Pinky'' (1949) as Dicey Johnson * '' The Member of the Wedding'' (1952) as Berenice Sadie Brown * '' Carib Gold'' (1957) as Mom * '' The Heart Is a Rebel'' (1958) as Gladys * ''

The Sound and the Fury ''The Sound and the Fury'' is a novel by the American author William Faulkner. It employs several narrative styles, including stream of consciousness. Published in 1929, ''The Sound and the Fury'' was Faulkner's fourth novel, and was not immedi ...

'' (1959) as Dilsey

Short subjects

* ''

'' (1933) as Mother of Rufus Jones * '' Bubbling Over'' (1934) as Ethel Peabody * ''Let My People Live'' (1939)

Television

* First African American, male or female, to star in own TV show, ''

'', which was broadcast on NBC on June 14, 1939. * Starred in title role of '' Beulah'' on ABC-TV from 1950 to 1951. * TV guest appearances from 1950 to 1952 on ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'', ''

Texaco Star Theater ''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave M ...

'', '' This Is Show Business'', '' What's My Line?'', and ''

The Chesterfield Supper Club ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' is an NBC Radio musical variety program (1944–1950), which was also telecast by NBC Television (1948–1950). Radio ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' began on December 11, 1944, as a 15-minute radio program, ...

'' * '' Person to Person'' (1954) * '' Whirlybirds'', episode "The Big Lie" (1959) * '' Route 66'', episode "Good Night, Sweet Blues" (1961) * '' The Hollywood Palace'', hosted by Diana Ross and the Supremes (1969) * ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

'', episode "Mamma Cooper" (1970)

Stage appearances

* ''Hello 1919!'' (1919) * ''Jump Steady'' (1922) * '' Plantation Days'' (1923 re-run of 1922 production) * ''Plantation Revue'' (1925) * ''Black Bottom'' (1926) * ''Miss Calico'' (1926–27) * ''Paris Bound'' (1927) * ''Africana'' (1927) * ''The Ethel Waters Broadway Revue'' (1928) * Lew Leslie's ''Blackbirds'' (1930) * ''Rhapsody in Black'' (1931) * ''Broadway to Harlem'' (1932) * '' As Thousands Cheer'' (1933–34) * ''At Home Abroad'' (1935–36) * '' Mamba's Daughters'' (1939; 1940) * ''Cabin in the Sky'' (1940–41) * ''Laugh Time'' (1943) * ''Blue Holiday'' (1945) * ''The Member of the Wedding'' (1950–51) * ''At Home with Ethel Waters'' (1953) * ''The Voice of Strangers'' (1956)

References

External links

Ethel Waters
at the African American Registry *
Ethel Waters 1896-1977
at Red Hot Jazz Archive
Ethel Waters recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Ethel 1896 births 1977 deaths Musicians from Philadelphia People from Chester, Pennsylvania Singers from Pennsylvania Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers African-American actresses 20th-century African-American women singers American women jazz singers American film actresses American gospel singers American jazz singers American stage actresses Bisexual musicians Bisexual women Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Classic female blues singers Deaths from kidney failure Deaths from uterine cancer Jubilee Records artists LGBT African Americans LGBT actresses LGBT people from Pennsylvania LGBT singers from the United States Torch singers Vaudeville performers Biograph Records artists Mercury Records artists Paramount Records artists RCA Victor artists Vocalion Records artists African-American Catholics 20th-century LGBT people