Georgia Burke

Georgia Burke (February 27, 1878 — November 28, 1985) was an American actress who had performed on television, radio, and Broadway theatre between the 1930s and the 1960s. In 1934 Burke made her debut in Broadway in They Shall Not Die,[1] and in 1944 she won a Donaldson Award as the third choice for Best Supporting Actress in Edward Chodorov's play, Decision.[2][3][4] Burke had performed in the 1952 U.S. State Department-sponsored international production of Porgy and Bess and had taken a role as a nurse in the radio program When a Girl Marries, which had been broadcast for 18 years. She had also performed in the 1944 Broadway production of Anna Lucasta[5][6] and its second film counterpart in 1958.

Georgia Burke
Born	Georgia Burke February 27, 1878 La Grange or Atlanta, Georgia
Died	November 28, 1985 (aged 107) Manhattan, New York City
Occupation	Actress
Years active	late 1920/early 1930s - 1960s

Burke has been credited as one of the early appearances of the "stereotyped humorous black maid" in entertainment since her appearance in the radio soap opera Betty and Bob.[7]

She died in 1985 at the age of 107, at the De Witt Nursing Home in Manhattan.[5][6]

Early life and career

Burke was born on February 27, 1878, in La Grange[5] or Atlanta, Georgia,[8] to a minister and a nurse. She attended Claflin University and New Orleans University[5][1][9] and worked as a public school teacher in Wilson, North Carolina.[6] Due to a slapping incident by superintendent Charles L. Coon towards another teacher, Burke, along with other colored teachers at the school, protested the incident by resigning from her teaching position[10] and continued teaching at another school. Burke later moved to New York City, where she attended Columbia University in 1929.[5][9]

During a visit to Lew Leslie's first rehearsal of Blackbirds of 1928, a friend of Burke's urged her to sing St. Louis Blues in front of the rehearsal cast, where Leslie had walked in and—among hearing her voice—persuaded her to join the pre-existing choir for Blackbirds of 1928.[8] She was given a year's leave from teaching but never returned to her former teaching career.[6]

Filmography

Television

• The Big Story [11]
• Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Little Foxes (1956) [12]
• ABC Theater - If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band

Film

• Anna Lucasta

Theatre[13]

• Blackbirds of 1928[6][8]
• Decision - 1944[3]
• The Grass Harp[9]
• Porgy and Bess
• Five Star Final
• Savage Rhythm
• Anna Lucasta
• In Abraham's Bosom
• Old Man Satan
• They Shall Not Die
• Mamba's Daughters
• Cabin in the Sky
• No Time for Comedy
• Interlock[1]
• The Sun Field
• Mandingo
• Tambourines to Glory[1]
• The Wisteria Trees[1]

Radio

• John Henry: Black River Giant[14]
• When a Girl Marries
• New World A-Comin'

References

1. Peterson, Bernard L. (2001). Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 39–40. ISBN 9780313295348.
2. Jefferson, Miles M. (1945). "The Negro on Broadway--1944". Phylon. 6 (1): 49. doi:10.2307/271804. ISSN 0885-6818. JSTOR 271804.
3. Campbell, Dick (1944-04-29). "GREAT ACTRESS IN GREAT PLAY Negroes Well Portrayed In "Decision"" (PDF). The Detroit Tribune. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
4. "Billboard, July 8, 1944". The Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1944-07-08. p. 5. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
5. "Georgia Burke, 107; Acted Character Roles". The New York Times. 1985-12-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
6. Bracks, Lean'tin L.; Smith, Jessie Carney (2014-10-16). Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 33–34. ISBN 9780810885431.
7. MacDonald, J. Fred. "DTTD!: African-Americans in Radio: Blacks As Blacks". jfredmacdonald.com. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
8. "Inside the Playbill: Anna Lucasta - Opening Night at the Mansfield Theatre". Playbill. 1944-09-17. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
9. "Playgoers Cheer Georgia Burke On Broadway". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 1952-04-10. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
10. "NORTH CAROLINA". The Crisis. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. June 1918. pp. 70–71. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
11. MacDonald, J. Fred. "Bias in Video Drama". jfredmacdonald.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
12. Hischak, Thomas S. (2017-03-06). 100 Greatest American Plays. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 174. ISBN 9781442256064.
13. Willis, John A. (1987). John Willis' Theatre World. Crown Publishers. pp. 227. ISBN 9780517565308.
14. "Radio Recall - MWOTRC". www.mwotrc.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.

Further reading

• Ellett, Ryan (2011). Encyclopedia of Black Radio in the United States, 1921–1955. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. pp. 30–32. ISBN 9780786463152.