People, Locations, Episodes

Yaphet Kotto, Actor born

Yaphet Kott, an African American actor, was born on this date in 1937.

Yaphet Frederick Kotto was born in New York Cit. His father was an Igbo Jewish man from Cameroon and Kotto is a practicing Jew by faith. His father was royalty in Cameroon, making Yaphet the son of the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of the Doualla region of West Africa’s Cameroon.

Sherman Hemsley, Actor born

*Sherman Hemsley was born on February this date in 1938. He was an African American actor.

Michael DeMond Davis, Journalist born.

*Michael DeMond Davis was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black journalist and a pioneer in African American journalism, opening the doors for many African American writers. Michael Davis was born in Washington, D.C., the son of John P. Davis and Marguerite DeMond Davis, and grew up in a black middle class […]

Joseph Wilcots, Cinematographer born

*Joseph Wilcots was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black Cinematographer.   From Des Moines, Iowa, Joseph Morrow Wilcots was the son of Henry Nathaniel Wilcots, a janitor at the Des Moines Register newspaper. As a child, Joseph’s father resolved a worker strike at the newspaper and became their business manager. His mother, […]

Max Robinson, TV News Anchor born

Max Robinson was born on this date in 1939. He was an African American journalist and television news correspondent.

Cleavon Little, Actor born

*Cleavon Little was born on this date in 1939. He was a Black stage, film, and television actor. Cleavon Jake Little was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, the son of Malachi Little and DeEtta Jones Little. He was the brother of singer DeEtta Little West; he had another sister, Rosemarie Little Martin, and two brothers, Everett […]

The First Black Person Is Seen On An American Television Show

*On this date in 1939, “The Ethel Waters Show,” a variety special appeared on NBC. The new medium then in development was called television.

Evaristo Márquez, Actor born

*Evaristo Márquez was born on this date in 1939.  He was an Afro Colombian actor and herdsman.    He was born in San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, the first free African village in the Americas by decree from the King of Spain in 1731.  Before his involvement in films, he was a herdsman and illiterate.  He is best known for his role as José […]

Novella Nelson, Stage, and Film Actress born

*Novella Nelson was born on this date in 1939. She was a Black actress and singer. Novella Christine Nelson was born in Brooklyn, New York, to James and Evelyn (formerly Hines) Nelson. Her father was a pastor and a taxi driver, and her mother was an executive assistant at magazine publisher Women’s Wear Daily. In […]

Henry Hampton, Filmmaker born

*The birth of Henry Hampton in 1940 is marked on this date. He was an African American filmmaker.

Hampton was born in St. Louis and as a child suffered from polio. He obtained a B. A. degree from Washington University in his hometown. He was a renowned producer whose television documentary Eyes on the Prize set the pattern for nonfiction accounts of the civil rights movement. His films include The Great Depression and America’s War on Poverty, both of which were critically acclaimed. He made lasting contributions through his affiliations with institutions.

Bernard Shaw, Broadcast Journalist born

*Bernard Shaw was born this date in 1940. He was an African American television journalist.

Richard Pryor, Comedian, and Actor born

Richard Pryor, an African American actor, director, screenwriter, and stand-up comic, was born on this date in 1940.

Frankie Crocker, New York City Radio Voice born

*Frankie Crocker was born on this date in 1940. He was an African American radio personality, entertainer, administrator, and producer.

Paul Winfield, Actor born

Paul Winfield, an African American actor, was born on this date in 1941.

Ed Bradley, Broadcast Journalist born

Ed Bradley, an African American journalist, was born on this date in 1941.

Born in Philadelphia, Bradley grew up in a single-parent household and learned the value of hard work from his mother. Bradley once recalled that his parents worked 20-hour days at two jobs apiece. “I was told, ‘You can be anything you want, kid,'” he once told an interviewer. “When you hear that often enough, you believe it.”