Vivienne Baber Explained

Vivienne Baber
Birth Date: 1911
Birth Place:Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation:Actress
Years Active:1929–1933, 1946

Vivienne Baber (born 1911, sometimes credited as Vivian or Vivianne) was an actress in the United States. She had a starring role in the 1932 film The Black King.

Early life

Baber was born in 1911 in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Henry and Ethel. For the 1925 New York state census, her family's race is listed as Creole. Her father was a bank clerk and she had a younger sister named Muriel. By 1930 she had changed the spelling of her name to "Vivian". She began acting on stage productions in 1929, at age 18; her first role was the main character in the play, Harlem. Before that, she had sung in a cabaret chorus. In a 1932 interview, Baber said she had "Indian and English blood in [her] veins", and described herself as "three-quarters white and one-quarter colored". She also said she had danced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and still lived in the borough.[1]

Career

Baber played the starring role in a 1929 production of Make Me Know It at Wallack's Theatre in New York City, following a three-day preview in New Rochelle.[2] [3] She played a part in You Know Me that same year at Wallack's Theatre.[4] A reviewer praised Baber's performance as "surpass[ing] the rest of the cast" in 1930's Sweet Chariot,[5] and another said she was good at her part and the play entertaining, though it was short of being "important".[6] She was among the supporting cast of Confidence with Frank H. Wilson later that year.[7] Baber was a principal actor in a 1932–33 production of the musical comedy Shuffle Along by Flournoy Miller.[8]

After disliking the roles she was typecast in, she quit acting for seven years. During this time, she worked for the Afro-American Newspapers and organized a children's theater organization in Washington, D.C. She returned to acting around 1946 to play the character Wini Bennett in the play, On Whitman Avenue in New York City.[9]

She was the only woman cast in one show.[10]

Theater

Filmography

Personal life

Baber married Peter Douglas Johnson (1906–1958) in Brooklyn on February 28, 1937.[22] They divorced before May 1946.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 'I Haven't Got a Cigarette, So I Can't Talk,' Says Vivian . January 10, 1932 . . New York . 61 . Nina . Musset . December 7, 2021 . Newspapers.com . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204061001/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90005605/i-havent-got-a-cigarette-so-i-cant/ . live .
  2. News: New Colored Play "Coincidental" . November 15, 2021 . Daily News . November 3, 1929 . 77 . Newspapers.com . November 15, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211115213044/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88996917/new-colored-play-coincidental/ . live .
  3. News: New Play Will Be Given at New Rochelle Theatre . October 5, 1929 . The Daily Times . . 6 . Newspapers.com . February 27, 2022 . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204060932/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90006015/new-play-will-be-given-at-new-rochelle/ . live .
  4. News: Monday Night On Broadway . November 15, 2021 . The Standard Union . November 2, 1929 . 5 . November 15, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211115214452/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88997840/monday-night-on-broadway/ . live .
  5. News: Colored Swindler Turns Messiah in 'Sweet Chariot' . October 7, 1930 . . Camden, New Jersey . Isidor . Feinstein . 18 . December 7, 2021 . Newspapers.com . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204061146/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90005857/colored-swindler-turns-messiah-in/ . live .
  6. News: 'Sweet Chariot' Misses Being an Important Play . November 1, 1930 . . William E. . Clark . 6 . December 7, 2021 . Newspapers.com . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204061152/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90005807/sweet-chariot-misses-being-an/ . live .
  7. News: At the Alhambra Theatre . December 6, 1930 . The New York Age . 6 . December 7, 2021 . Newspapers.com . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204061004/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90005752/at-the-alhambra-theatre/ . live .
  8. News: Hot Feet, Hot Horns In New 'Shuffle Along' . November 15, 2021 . . December 27, 1932 . 35 . John . Chapman . Newspapers.com . November 15, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211115214452/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88998291/hot-feet-hot-horns-in-new-shuffle/ . live .
  9. News: Vivienne Baber of Brooklyn Glad She's Not Playing Hussy . November 15, 2021 . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle . May 27, 1946 . 13 . Milt . Smith . November 14, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211114214250/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88937353/vivienne-baber-of-brooklyn-glad-shes/ . live .
  10. The Negro on Broadway, 1946–1947. Jefferson, Miles M.. 1947. Phylon. 8. 2. 146–159. JSTOR. 10.2307/271722. 271722. 2021-11-14. 2021-11-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20211114135534/https://www.jstor.org/stable/271722. live.
  11. News: 'Harlem' Cast Is Varied . April 14, 1929 . . 68 . December 4, 2021 . Newspapers.com . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204060858/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90005920/harlem-cast-is-varied/ . live .
  12. Web site: Vivienne Baber. Playbill. December 3, 2021. November 14, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211114132833/https://www.playbill.com/person/vivienne-baber-vault-0000052632. live.
  13. News: 'Ginger Snaps,' All-Colored Revue, at Belmont . January 2, 1930 . . Donald . Mulhern . 29 . December 4, 2021 . Newspapers.com . December 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211204060850/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90005894/ginger-snaps-all-colored-revue-at/ . live .
  14. Web site: Sweet Chariot . Internet Broadway Database . December 3, 2021 . December 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203151712/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/sweet-chariot-11245 . live .
  15. Web site: Vivian Baber . Playbill . December 3, 2021 . December 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203151711/https://www.playbill.com/person/vivian-baber-vault-0000052631 . live .
  16. News: Mantan is Comedian . December 10, 1932 . 6 . . New York . December 3, 2021 . Newspapers.com . November 14, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211114214238/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88937419/mantan-is-comedian/ . live .
  17. News: The Stars: Where They Are . January 7, 1932 . The Northwest Enterprise . Seattle . 3 . December 3, 2021 . . December 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203145523/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87093377/1932-01-07/ed-1/seq-3/ . live .
  18. Web site: Savage Rhythm: Opening Night Cast . Internet Broadway Database . December 3, 2021 . December 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203170350/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/savage-rhythm-11477#OpeningNightCast . live .
  19. Book: Peterson, Bernard L.. A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans. November 14, 1993. Greenwood Publishing Group. 9780313266577. Google Books.
  20. Book: Dietz, Dan. The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals. March 29, 2018. Rowman & Littlefield. 9781538102770. Google Books. February 27, 2022. February 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220227021201/https://books.google.com/books?id=L0hNDwAAQBAJ&dq=Vivienne+Baber&pg=PA247. live.
  21. Book: McGrath, Patrick J.. John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and on Stage. August 23, 2006. McFarland. 9780786428489. Google Books. February 27, 2022. February 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220227021201/https://books.google.com/books?id=YfRpu4IB89AC&dq=Vivienne+Baber&pg=PA237. live.
  22. Deaths . Dartmouth Alumni Magazine . April 1960 . December 3, 2021 . December 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211203091750/https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1960/4/1/deaths . live .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Vivienne Baber".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.