
Louise Beavers
Actor · 1902 – 1962 · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s until 1960, most often cast in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. She was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American sororities. Beavers was a breakthrough actress for black women and became known as a symbol of a "mammy" on the screen. A mammy archetype "is the portrayal within a narrative framework or other imagery of a black domestic servant, generally good-natured, often overweight, and loud". Louise Beavers started her career in the 1920s. At the time, black people in films were limited to acting in only very few roles, usually as slaves or domestic help. She played the "mammy" in many of the movies she acted in. She started to gain more attention in the acting world after she played the role of Julia in Coquette, which starred Mary Pickford. In this film she played the black maid and mother figure to a young white woman. She once received a review which stated: "Personally, Miss Beavers is just splendid, just as fine as she appears on screen, but she also has a charm all her own, which needs no screen role for recognition. She has a very pleasing personality, one that draws people to her instantly and makes them feel that they are meeting a friend instead of a Hollywood Star." Beavers had an attractive personality, and often played roles in which she helps a white protagonist mature in the course of the movie. In 1934, Beavers played Delilah in Imitation of Life in a dramatic role. Her character again plays a black maid, but instead of the usual stereotypical comedic or purely functional role, Delilah's story line is a secondary parallel plot. The public reacted positively to Beavers' performance. It was not only a breakthrough for Beavers, but was also "the first time in American cinema history that a black woman's problems were given major emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture". Some in the media recognized the unfairness of Hollywood's double standard regarding race. For example, California Graphic Magazine wrote, "the Academy could not recognize Miss Beavers. She is black!" As Beavers' career grew, some criticized her for the roles she accepted, alleging that such roles institutionalized the view that blacks were subservient to whites. Beavers dismissed the criticism. She acknowledged the limited opportunities available, but said: "I am only playing the parts. I don't live them." As she became more famous, Beavers began to speak against Hollywood's portrayal and treatment of black Americans, both during production and after promoting the films. Beavers became active in public life, seeking to help support African Americans. In later life, Beavers was plagued by health issues, including diabetes. She died on October 26, 1962, at the age of 60, following a heart attack. Beavers was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976.
Movies24
Movie6.9ComedyDramaBroadway director Julian Marsh needs just one more hit show so he can retire and recover his health. It looks like he just may pull it off until temperamental star Dorthy Brock breaks her ankle on the eve of the show's premiere and has to be replaced by her understudy Peggy.
42nd Street
1933 · 224 votes
Movie7.0ComedyAn advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the country, only to find the transition fraught with problems.
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948 · 206 votes
Movie6.4AdventureActionThe Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.
Reap the Wild Wind
1942 · 65 votes
Movie7.0ComedyRomanceAn unsophisticated young woman from the Mississippi swamps falls in love with an unconventional southern gentleman.
Tammy and the Bachelor
1957 · 26 votes
Movie7.5DramaRomanceAn elderly couple are forced to separate themselves from each other after their children refuse to take both into one house.
Make Way for Tomorrow
1937 · 224 votes
Movie6.1ComedyDramaA couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.
Made for Each Other
1939 · 57 votes
Movie5.8RomanceDramaMeek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and uses him.
The Big Street
1942 · 21 votes
Movie7.1ComedyDramaLovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants her for his new dance partner after fickle Lila Dixon gives him the brush. Jim's supper club, Holiday Inn, is the setting for the chase by Hanover and his manager.
Holiday Inn
1942 · 229 votes
Movie6.3ComedyDramaSam Clayton has a good heart and likes to help out people in need. In fact, he likes to help them out so much that he often finds himself broke and unable to help his own family buy the things they need--like a house.
Good Sam
1948 · 23 votes
Movie6.0HorrorThrillerA wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.
Doctor X
1932 · 85 votes
Movie5.9WesternAfter her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain Sam Starr Belle Shirley vows to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his small guerrilla group for a series of raids on banks and railroads, carpetbaggers and enemy troops. Belle's bravado during the attacks earns her a reputation among the locals as well as the love of Starr himself. The pair get married, but their relationship starts to break down when Sam Starr lets a couple of psychotic rebels into the gang, leaving Belle to wonder if he really cares about the Southern cause.
Belle Starr
1941 · 17 votes
Movie7.0DramaRomanceA struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
Imitation of Life
1934 · 88 votes
Movie7.0DramaNancy Fallon gets her teenage daughter back from her ex-husband when she remarries and must win her love.
Teenage Rebel
1956 · 5 votes
Movie7.0ComedyCrimeNick and Nora Charles are back at the racetrack—and murder is running a close second! While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., the sophisticated couple witnesses a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case. William Powell and Myrna Loy return in top form as Hollywood’s favorite married detectives, with Asta adding his usual comic charm. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, Shadow of the Thin Man is a stylish 1941 mystery-comedy packed with suspense, romance, sparkling dialogue, and the irresistible Nick-and-Nora chemistry that made the series a classic.
Shadow of the Thin Man
1941 · 125 votes
Movie6.2WesternSalomy Jane, a California mountain girl, is sought after by a number of men in the nearby small town of Redwood City. She is affected when two criminals are pursued by authorities: one for killing a hypocritical mayoral candidate, the other for robbing the stagecoach.
Wild Girl
1932 · 12 votes
Movie6.0DramaAviator Jim Blaine and his brother Neil are rivals not only as daredevil flyers, but also for the love of parachutist Jill Collins.
Central Airport
1933 · 13 votes
Movie4.0DramaMusicThe life and career of famed American composer Stephen Foster.
I Dream of Jeanie
1952 · 8 votes
Movie5.9RomanceDramaAn ambitious farm girl rushes into marriage with a rich man, almost destroying four lives in the process.
All the Fine Young Cannibals
1960 · 9 votes
Movie6.5ComedyParty Husband finds ex-Ziegfield Girl Dorothy playing the better half of a thoroughly “modern marriage” whose openness threatens to bring about its premature end. Fellow Ziegfield alum Mary Doran plays the coquette whose intended conquest of the free-thinking hubby (James Rennie) starts to throw the couple’s “understanding” awry.
Party Husband
1931 · 2 votes
Movie6.6CrimeDramaAfter Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.
Bullets or Ballots
1936 · 54 votes
Movie5.7CrimeDramaA criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.
Thunderbolt
1929 · 32 votes
Movie5.7MusicComedyDuring World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every star on the lot--often playing themselves--in musical numbers and comedy skits, and were meant as morale-boosters to both the troops overseas and the civilians at home. This was Universal Pictures' effort. It features everyone from Donald O'Connor to the Andrews Sisters to Orson Welles to W.C. Fields to George Raft to Marlene Dietrich, and dozens of other Universal players.
Follow the Boys
1944 · 11 votes
Movie6.5ComedyFantasyHat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943 · 18 votes
Movie5.3DramaComedyMiddle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages. Although each always found the other's manner grating, they fall in love when thrown together--without their spouses--on vacation. On returning home they try to break things off, only to grow closer. A holiday together will finally settle whether they should end their marriages.
The Facts of Life
1960 · 29 votes
Series5
TV6.2ComedyDanny Thomas, an entertainer, tries to balance his home life with the needs of his career, with hilarious results.
The Danny Thomas Show
1953 · 20 votes
TV6.0Drama"Bourbon Street Beat" is a private detective series produced by Warner Brothers Television which aired on the ABC network from October 5, 1959, to July 4, 1960. It featured Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which they worked. The show is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and revolves around the lives of Rex Randolph (Long) and Cal Calhoun (Duggan), who run a detective agency called Randolph and Calhoun — Special Services. The agency is based in the Absinthe House, a French Quarter nightclub on Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Street Beat
1959 · 2 votes
- TV7.3Comedy
The Beulah Show
1950 · 3 votes
- TV7.0Comedy
Make Room for Granddaddy is a sequel to the American TV series The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room for Daddy). The series aired for one season on ABC between September 1970 and March 1971.
Make Room for Granddaddy
1970 · 2 votes
TV6.7FamilyDramaThe story of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, an American patriot who fought the British Tories using unusual methods, becoming known as “The Swamp Fox.”
The Swamp Fox
1959 · 3 votes