Artie Francis Young (February 24, 1915 – July 30, 1989)[1] was an African-American dancer, and actress of theater and film in the 1930s and 1940s.[2] Her film work includes soundies.[3] Young was considered one of the prettiest girls from Harlem in the 1940s.[4] She went by many name variations, including Artie Brandon, Artie Brandon Young Reed,[5] and Artie Young Davis.[6][7]
Artie Young | |
---|---|
Born | Artie Francis Young February 24, 1915 Pasadena, California, U.S. |
Died | July 30, 1989 |
Other names | Artie Brandon, Artie Brandon Reed, Artie Brandon Young Reed, Artie Young Davis, Artie Davis |
Spouse(s) | Eddie Brandon (divorced), Leonard Reed (divorced) |
Biography
editArtie Francis Young was born in c. 1916 in Pasadena, California.[8][9]
The beginning of 1939 saw Young performing as the primary female interest in two films alongside the lead Herb Jeffries, Harlem Rides the Range and The Bronze Buckaroo.[10][11][12] While performing with the Swing Mikado company in August of 1939, Young and her fellow performers were denied service at a cocktail lounge in Los Angeles due to being African American. Her group filed a lawsuit against the cocktail lounge location and the suit was settled in October of 1940.[13] She was a cast member and dancer in Duke Ellington's revue Jump For Joy (1941),[14] a socially significant show for its outspokenness on racial matters of the time.
By 1945, Young had temporarily stopped performing in theatre and was working as a checkroom attendant at the nightclub Shepp's Playhouse in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Los Angeles (now Little Tokyo).[15] In May 1946, she was in "Don't Go Home Yet" and was dance partners with Foster Johnson, they performed at the Finale Club in San Francisco.[16] By July 1946, Young was back in New York City performing in "Zanzibar".[17]
Theater
edit- The Mikado - In Swing (1939)[18]
- Jump for Joy (1941)[19]
- Zanzibar (1946)[17]
Filmography
edit- Life Goes On (1938)[2] as Alice[20]
- Harlem Rides the Range (1939)[10][21][22]
- The Bronze Buckaroo (1939)[10][23]
- The Walls Keep Talking (1942), a soundie[3][24]
- Cabin in the Sky (1943)[20]
- Stormy Weather (1943)[25]
Personal life
editYoung was married to fellow actor Eddie Brandon,[26] though she filed for divorce against her husband in September of 1938 for "cruelty and incompatibility".[27] She remarried in August of 1943 to producer Leonard Reed,[28] though she filed for divorce against Reed in August of 1945 citing "mental cruelty".[29]
References
edit- ^ "The Bronze Buckaroo". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
- ^ a b Richards, Larry (1998). African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography. McFarland & Company. p. 83, 181. ISBN 9780786403073.
- ^ a b Stratemann, Klaus (1992). Duke Ellington, Day by Day and Film by Film. JazzMedia. p. 186. ISBN 9788788043341.
- ^ Jemail, Jimmy (October 21, 1946). "The Inquiring Fotograher". New York Daily News. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Billy Rowe's Notebook". Pittsburgh Courier. October 26, 1949. p. 18.
- ^ Smallwood, Bill (August 12, 1954). "On The Delightful Side". California Eagle. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Eagle Social News". California Eagle. October 6, 1955. p. 7 – via Newspaper.com.
- ^ "Murray's Ranch". Daily Press. October 21, 1938. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ^ "Artie Francis Young Marriage, California, County Marriages, 1850-1952, database with images, Los Angeles County". FamilySearch.org. September 6, 1936.
- ^ a b c Earl J. Morris, "'Plight of Colored Film Actress Pathetic,' Gladys Snyder Admits", The Pittsburgh Courier (June 15, 1940), p. 20.
- ^ Burr, Ty (October 22, 1993). "Video Reviews: 'Posse'; 'The Bronze Buckaroo'; 'Buck and The Preacher'; and 'Adios Amigo'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ^ Robert W. Butler, "So bad it's good", The Kansas City Star (November 20, 1996), p. F-10.
- ^ "Lounge Pays for Jim Crow". California Eagle. October 3, 1940. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-313-26657-7.
- ^ Chandler, Bill (March 31, 1945). "Hollywood Dots And Dashes". The New York Age. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Foster Johnson At Finale Club". California Eagle. May 2, 1946. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mrs. J.T. Gibson's Candid Comments". California Eagle. July 18, 1946. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Mikado - in Swing". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. October 12, 1939. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 203. ISBN 9780313266577.
- ^ a b American Film Institute (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. p. 590, 1212. ISBN 9780520209640.
- ^ "Harlem Rides the Range". Library Journal. 113 (1–11): 41. 1988. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ^ Julia, Leyda (2002). "Black-Audience Westerns and the Politics of Cultural Identification in the 1930s". Cinema Journal. 42 (1): 63. JSTOR 1225542 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Morris, Earl J. (November 12, 1938). "Column Gossip". The Pittsburgh Courier. Retrieved July 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kelley, Andrea J. (2019). "Bedsheet Cinema: The Materiality of the Segregating Screen". Film History. 31 (3): 14–15. doi:10.2979/filmhistory.31.3.01. S2CID 208689487 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "7 Boys, 7 Girls, Dancers, Still In 'Stormy Weather'". California Eagle. March 24, 1943. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Harris, Joe (January 1, 1938). "Out of Billy Rowe's Harlem Note Book". The Pittsburgh Courier. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ ""Most Beautiful" Actress Sues Husband for Divorce". The Pittsburgh Courier. October 1, 1938. p. 13. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- ^ "Beautiful Artie Brandon Weds Leonard Reed, Ace Producer". The Pittsburgh Courier. August 14, 1943. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Len Reed's Wife In Divorce Suit". California Eagle. August 9, 1945. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
edit- Artie Young at IMDb