Etta Moten Barnett, pioneer actress-singer, dies at 102

Jet, Jan 26, 2004

Etta Moten Barnett, acclaimed pioneer actress-singer and philanthropist, who was the first to break Hollywood's stereotypical portrayal of Blacks, recently died in Chicago of pancreatic cancer. She was 102.

Ms. Barnett, a longtime resident of Chicago, died at Mercy Hospital.

Her daughter, Sue Ish, with whom she lived, says that her mother had a wonderful life. "She had a full 100 years. She did everything. She often said, 'Life does not owe me one thing.' She didn't miss out on anything. She lived such a full life."

And she, indeed, lived a full, celebrated life of grace, elegance and class.

She was the first Black woman to sing at the White House. George Gershwin wrote the character "Bess" in his Broadway classic musical Porgy and Bess with her in mind. And Lena Horne called her a role model.

She gave endlessly to various civic and charitable groups and stood up for civil rights for Black Americans.

Her signature role was as Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. When Gershwin was writing the musical, he told her that he had written the part of Bess for her. He wanted her to star in the original production of Porgy and Bess in 1935. At that time, she refused the role because it was written for a soprano and she was a contralto.

"He told me I was Bess, that I had the verve and the looks he wanted," she once recalled.

Several years later, in 1942, she finally accepted the role and starred in the Broadway production of Porgy and Bess and then went on tour with it until 1945, which was the play's longest run.

After Porgy and Bess she moved to the concert stage and performed in symphony concerts and music festivals throughout the world. She gave her last formal concert in Denmark in 1952. She later hosted the radio program, "I Remember When With Etta Moten" in Chicago which was heard in 38 states.

Also a trailblazing film actress, her first big break in the movies came when she appeared in Gold Diggers of 1933. She was cast as a widow who had lost her husband in the war. Her role as an ordinary housewife, instead of a domestic, made her an instant hit with Black Americans and the Black press hailed her as "The New Negro Woman."

Her next film was Flying Down to Rio which was the first pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. She sang The Carioca while they danced. She received her first on-screen credit for the role, and the song was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Song.

The trailblazing star became the first Black woman to sing at the White House in 1934, when she performed at President Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday party.

Born Nov. 5, 1901 in Weimar, TX, she was the only daughter of Ida Norman Moten and the Rev. Freeman F. Moten.

At an early age, she started singing in the choir with her mother and was teaching Sunday school at 10 years old. Her mother made a pink and white box for young Etta to stand on, so she could join the choir.

Ms. Barnett once recalled in a 1942 interview: "To this day, I can't remember anything quite so wonderful as standing on that box singing hymns out over the heads of people."

She married Lt. Curtis Brooks and had three daughters. After the marriage ended, she and her children moved back home with her parents and she went on to graduate from the University of Kansas with a major in voice and drama in 1931.

After college, she headed to New York City and landed the leading role in the Broadway production, Zombie. She later was off to Hollywood where she soon dubbed the singing voices for several stars, including Barbara Stanwyck in Ladies of the Big House.

Recalling how her mother opened the door for Blacks in show business, Sue Ish said, "She was given credit for changing it, but Mother said, 'I didn't change it. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time because we had young producers and directors in Hollywood who wanted to change it. She didn't even know she was making history."

She married Claude Barnett, founder and director of the Associated Negro Press in 1934, and the couple enjoyed a long and politically active marriage until his death in 1967 at age 77. Over the years, the Barnetts amassed one of the largest and oldest privately held collections of African artifacts in the world.

She was active in many civic organizations including the National Council of Negro Women, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Field Museum, DuSable Museum and the South Side Community Arts Center.

Barnett held honorary degrees from Spelman College, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania; Atlanta University, Northeastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also represented the U.S. on missions to 10 African nations.

She once told EBONY that she was optimistic about the triumphs of freedom and the Black cause. "I know I've seen so many changes. I know we're heading in the right direction...."

There are no plans for funeral services because Ms. Barnett told her family and friends that she considered her 100th birthday gala (JET, Dec. 3, 2001), which drew Harry Belafonte, Studs Terkel and 400 other friends, to be the most fitting and complete celebration of her life.