Madame Sul-Te-Wan
Madame Sul -Te -Wan ( born March 7, 1873 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, † February 1, 1959 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California; actually Nellie Crawford ) was an American film and theater actress. Her career lasted over 70 years. With Madame Sul -Te -Wan for the first time was a member of the African-American population of the United States a studio contract. 1986 Madame Sul -Te -Wan was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
Life
Madame Sul -Te -Wan was the daughter of former slaves and began as a child for acting interested. At 15, she joined the theater group Three Black Cloaks. Later she founded her own troupe and toured for years in vaudeville. With her move to Hollywood, she took on the stage name Madame Sul -Te - Wan. At least since 1913, she worked as a film actress. Madame Sul -Te -Wan played, among others, in The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance for DW Griffith. She had personally to the director, who also came from Kentucky, turned and asked for work. The two remained friends afterwards and Madame Sul -Te -Wan watched as the only person to last .. on his deathbed
During her long career, the film appearances of Madame Sul -Te -Wan were mostly limited to the representation of domestic workers, cooks or maids because of their African-American origin. In many cases, they also received no mention in the credits. One of the few exceptions made their appearance in Maid of Salem, who described the 1937 Salem witch trials. Madame Sul -Te -Wan played an important supporting role and was highly praised by critics for her performance.
In honor of their 80th birthday, a banquet was given in the 1953 Hollywood Playground Auditorium, in which her career and her contributions were recognized. Among the 200 guests were Louise Beavers, Rex Ingram, Mae Marsh, Eugene Pallette and stage actress Maude Eburne. 1954, Madame Sul -Te -Wan as the grandmother of Dorothy Dandridge in Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones alongside Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll and Pearl Bailey to see.
The origin of its unusual artist's name remained unexplained.
"We never found out the origin of its name. No one was brave enough to ask them. "