Rising Black starlets: beauty, talent and patience are essential for that first "big break."

Ebony, June, 1990 by Aldore Collier

RISING BLACK STARLETS

THE lure of Hollywood is an unbelievably powerful force. The prospect of worldwide fame and fortune is so strong that it offsets the reality of years of hard work and frustration.

The latest group of up-and-coming Black actresses has been able to successfully temper their dreams of greatness with reality. Some have moved slowly up the ladder, taking many small roles in music videos and making brief guests shots in sitcoms while waiting for that big break to come.

Others, and their numbers are few, have had the tremendous fortune of becoming almost overnight success sensations with highly visible roles in major productions in their first outings.

The common links among the latest wave of rising starlets are beauty, patience and realism. They have chosen diverse avenues to reach their goals of stardom. Some are dedicated to carving out their niches in television while others keep their eyes focused on the silver screen.

Lynn Whitfield has been finding success in both arenas. She was a part of the highly acclaimed Women of Brewster Place on ABC-TV and co-starred in The George McKenna Story. On film, she was in Silverado and The Slugger's Wife. Whitfiled recently go the plum role of Josephine Baker in an upcoming Home box Office movie about the legendary singer and dancer.

For some of the rising stars, show business has been a lifelong dream, a natural progression from church and school plays to college drama courses. Other chose modeling jobs and found offers to act in major movies.

The increasing and successful pressence of such Black filmmakers as Spike Lee, Eddie Murphy and Reginald and Warrington Hudlin has had a dramatic impact on the careers of a number of Black actresses.

A.J. Johnson, who has received rave reviews for her role in the hit movie House Party (a film produced by the Hudlin brothers), got her first film break in Spike Lee's School Daze. She was a homecoming queen at Spelman College when Lee spotted her and cast her in his film.

Lela Rochon, whom many remember as one of Spuds McKenzie's TV commercial friends, scorched the big screen in her debut as the sensous "Sunshine" in Eddie Murphy's hit Harlem Nights.

Modeling was the entree into the world of entertainment for Monique Mannen, who performed in School Daze and Coming to America, and Traci Wolfe, the young woman who was cast as Danny Glover's beautigul daughter in Lethal Weapon I & II.

Renee Jones, who plays Blair Underwood's beautiful and brilliant girlfriend on the hit NBC series L.A. Law, also chose modeling to get her foot in the door. She had performed a wide variety of odd jobs before heading for Manhattan to make her mark. She had been an admitting clerk, a secretary and a grocery store clerk.

Also among the rising starlets in Hollywood are Cree Summer, who has been getting rave reviews for her work on A Different World; Vivica Fox, the young beauty who protrays "Maya Davis" on Generations; and Cynda Williams, who is "mo' better' in her acting debut in Spike Lee's film, Variations of The Mo' Better Blues.

Not content to sit and wait for Hollywood to openly embrace them, the latest stars relize the importance of keeping their options open at all times. They can still model and perform in music videos during a slow period.

They are heartened by the increasing success of Black directors, producers and writers. Realizing that things change slowly in Hollywood for Black actresses, they remain full of optimism as they aggressively pursue their dreams.