Georgette Harvey
{{short description|American actress and singer (1882–1952)}}
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{{Use American English|date=May 2019}}
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{{Infobox person
| name = Georgette Harvey
| image = Porgy-Georgette-Harvey.jpg
| caption = Harvey as Maria in Porgy (1927)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|12|31|mf=y}}
| birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1952|02|17|1884|12|31|mf=y}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| resting_place =
| occupation = Actress, singer
| years_active = 1902–1939
}}
Georgette Harvey (December 31, 1884 – February 17, 1952) was an American singer and actress. She is perhaps most famous for creating the role of Maria in the original Broadway production of Porgy (1927) and the 1935 Broadway production of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess.
Biography
At age 18 Georgette Harvey left her native St. Louis, Missouri, for New York City. She formed a quartet, the Creole Belles, that performed briefly in the U.S. before going to Europe. After some years the group disbanded but Harvey stayed on, performing in nightclubs and cabarets. She lived and performed in Russia for 16 years, and left at the outset of the Russian Revolution. She briefly performed in Japan before returning to the United States. She became a character actress and singer on the Broadway stage.{{cite news |title=Miss G. Harvey, 69, Actress, Singer |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1952/02/18/93561073.html?pageNumber=19 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2016-03-31 }} Her credits include Porgy, Stevedore, Porgy and Bess, Mamba's Daughters and Anna Lucasta.{{cite web |url=http://www.ibdb.com/Person/View/67758 |title=Georgette Harvey |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2016-03-31}}
Although Harvey made a screen test for the role of Mammy in Gone With the Wind (1939),{{cite book |last1= Wilson|first1= Steve |title= The Making of Gone With the Wind |year= 2014 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn= 978-0-292-76126-1 |page= 83}} Hattie McDaniel won the role. Harvey's screen test survives today and a portion can be glimpsed in the documentary The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988).
Filmography
- Social Register (1934)
- Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934)
- Back Door to Heaven (1939)
- The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Georgette Harvey}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|0367530}}
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Category:American film actresses
Category:American musical theatre actresses
Category:20th-century African-American women singers
Category:20th-century African-American actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:Actresses from St. Louis
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