Fredi Washington Bell, Anthony Bell, and friends, Moodus, 1958
SubjectPortrait of
Fredi Washington
(American, 1903 - 1994)
SubjectPortrait of
Hugh Anthony Bell
(American, 1900 - 1970)
Original OwnerOriginally owned by
Fredi Washington
(American, 1903 - 1994)
PhotographerPhotographed by
Unknown
Date1958
MediumPhotography; gelatin silver print on paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 6 1/4 x 4 3/8in. (15.9 x 11.1cm) or smaller
Sheet (height x width): 7 x 5in. (17.8 x 12.7cm) or smaller
Sheet (height x width): 7 x 5in. (17.8 x 12.7cm) or smaller
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineThe Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund
DescriptionView of a dining table with group of friends, eating at a local restaurant. Fredi Washington Bell is visible in the foreground, and is wearing a white top with matching eyeglasses. Her husband Anthony Bell is seated closer to the "head" of the table, and wearing a white patterned shirt.
Object number2001.22.9
NotesSubject Note: Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1903 and died in Stamford, Connecticut in 1994. Fredi began her career as a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem during the 1920s. She appeared in Black and Tan, a short film featuring Duke Ellington and his orchestra, in 1929 and went on to career in motion pictures. She is most famous for her portrayal of Peola in Imitation of Life (1934). Fredi helped found the Negro Actors Guild of America in 1937 and served as Entertainment Editor of the People's Voice, established in 1942 by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who married Fredi's sister. Fredi was also active in the NAACP. She played opposite the great African-American actor Paul Robeson on several occasions, most notably in the film version of The Emperor Jones in 1933, but also in a 1926 production of Black Boy, at the Stamford Theater. Fredi's first husband was Lawrence Brown, a trombonist in Duke Ellington's orchestra. After they divorced in 1951, she married a Stamford dentist, Hugh Anthony Bell, and moved to suburban Greenwich. Bell died in 1970. In 1975, Fredi was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame; in 1979, she received a CIRCA Award for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. She was 90 years old when she died of pneumonia in 1994. (Finlay 12/29/10)
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