Biography for
Nina Mae McKinney More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

12 June 1912, Lancaster, South Carolina, USA

Date of Death

3 May 1967, New York City, New York, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Nannie Mayme McKinney

Nickname

The Black Garbo

Height

5' 3" (1.60 m)

Mini Biography

Nina Mae McKinney is known as the seductress "Chick" from Hallelujah! (1929), the first all-black, all-sound musical. Little is known about Nina Mae McKinney life, even though she was a great actress, singer, and dancer she is mostly forgotten. She certainly had the looks, the body and talent to succeed but as she learned and other women learned, there wasn't much work for a black woman except playing a maid, there wasn't much choice of roles. Hollywood was scared to take a chance on a black woman, scared to make her into a glamorous sex symbol like a white actress. No one would see a glamorous black sex symbol until Lena Horne's arrival in 1942, and Nina Mae McKinney learned like other black actresses that there wasn't much success after one success.

In 1913 the town of Lancaster was the birthplace of a black woman who became an international figure as an actress, singer and bandleader. Her given name was Nannie Mayme McKinney. Her parents, Hal and Georgia McKinney, moved form Lancaster to New York and left the child with her great-aunt, Carrie Sanders. "Aunt Carrie" lived in a small apartment in the backyard of Col. Leroy Springs, father of Elliott White Springs. Aunt Carrie worked as a cook and housekeeper for the Springs family. As soon as Nannie Mayme was old enough, she ran errands for Lena Jones Springs who gave her a bicycle to ride to the post office to pick up the mail. Thus, Nannie Mayme's first public performances were riding stunts, or "cutting capers", as amazed bystanders called it. She appeared in plays at the black Lancaster Industrial School (founded by Springs), where she quickly learned the lines of the entire cast. But at about age 13 she headed for New York to stay with her mother, Georgia Crawford McKinney. Choosing Nina Mae as her stage name, she managed to get a job as a member of the chorus in 'Blackbirds', a Broadway play. Her lively performance caught the attention of King Vidor, famed MGM producer, who starred her in 'Hallelujah', released in 1929. It was the first all-black sound musical feature. The movie houses billed the film as "a story of murder and redemption in the Deep South." The melodrama was not widely acclaimed at the time, but movie historians now see it as an interesting introduction to black theater. One critic described 'Hallelujah' as having "a crude power." Although signed by MGM to a five year contract, Nina Mae was only in two films, Safe in Hell (1931) and Reckless (1935) in which she didn't even appear on the screen. Her voice was dubbed for Jean Harlow's songs. Hollywood could accept black character actresses like 'Hattie McDaniels' and Butterfly McQueen appearing with white cast members but didn't know what to do with a beautiful black actress.

However, her first film gave Nina Mae McKinney the opportunity to appear in a number of all-Black cast members, including "Sanders of the River" "Dark Waters" and "Pinky". In "Sanders of the River" her costar was Paul Robeson but _Pinky (1949)- is considered her best movie. In spite of limited exposure to the general public, Nina Mae McKinney was always on stage, it didn't attract big crowds, or sell-outs but she was always a show-stopper. At the Apollo Theater, Harlem's only all-black theater, Nina Mae played Jeane Eagel's role in "Rain". Nina Mae McKinney could have become one of America's enduring performers. She had the talent and the beauty. Realizing that the doors to true stardom were barred in Hollywood, McKinney took her great talent abroad to Paris, London, Dublin and Budapest, where she became known as the "Black Garbo." She appeared in more films and plays; her career total, home and abroad, was 19. When war broke out in Europe Nina Mae returned to New York, where she married a jazz musician, Jimmy Monroe, put together a band and toured the country. In the 1950s and 1960s she lived in Athens, Greece where she was known as the "Queen of Night Life." In the late 1960s, she came back to New York, but did not perform. She died a few years later, no one paid attention to her death or funeral, by the 60s she was forgotten and didn't make a comeback such as Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, or like Billie Holiday did.

Her death and funeral went unknown, Jet, Ebony, and Variety didn't even print an obituary. One newspaper printed something about "Nina Mae McKinney "ENTERTAINER" died at New York Metropolitan Hospital of a heart attack, funeral services is going to be in the little white church around the corner". Many people didn't even know where she was buried, or when she died. A great gifted talent, a sad way to be forgotten, but has not been forgotten in Lancaster, her hometown. Nina Mae McKinney's portrait is painted on a Lancaster wall across from the Courthouse, known as the "Wall of Fame," along with other famous Lancastrians, Pres. Andrew Jackson, Dr. J. Marion Sims, Col. Elliott White Springs and Gen. Charles Duke.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Trivia

Was going to star in The Duke Is Tops (1938) as Ethel Andrews, but she became sick while in Australia performing, and the role was given to Lena Horne; that movie made Horne a star.