Evelyn Preer(1896-1932)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, pioneering black actress Evelyn Preer
was educated in Chicago, where she and her mother moved after the death
of her father. She entered show business vis vaudeville and the
"chitlin' circuit" of minstrel shows that served the country's strictly
segregated black communities at the turn of the century. She also
appeared on Broadway, and in 1919 made her film debut in
The Homesteader (1919), which was
also the first film for pioneering black filmmaker
Oscar Micheaux. She made nine more films
with Micheaux, and in 1920 she joined another pioneering black actress,
Anita Bush, in Bush's Lafayette Players
theatrical troupe. One of the actors in the troupe was
Edward Thompson, and he and
Preer married four years later. In addition to the Lafayette Players,
Preer played the lead in a Broadway production of "Salome" and starred
in productions by famed Broadway impresario
David Belasco, among others. She
was an accomplished singer and made records on which she was backed by
such musical icons as Duke Ellington. She
appeared in a few comedy shorts for producer
Al Christie and made her feature sound debut
in a low-budget independent musical,
Georgia Rose (1930).
Her career was tragically cut short in 1932 when she died of double pneumonia due to post-partum complications after the birth of her daughter, Edeve.
Her career was tragically cut short in 1932 when she died of double pneumonia due to post-partum complications after the birth of her daughter, Edeve.