Louise Beavers

At 60 years old, Louise Beavers physical status not available right now. We will update Louise Beavers's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Beavers started her career in the 1920s. At the time, black people in films were limited to acting in only very few roles, usually as slaves or domestic help. She played the "mammy" in many of the movies in which she acted. She started to gain more attention in the acting world after she played the role of Julia in Coquette (1929), which starred Mary Pickford. In this film, she played the black maid and mother figure to a young white woman.

She once received a review which stated,

Beavers often played roles in which she helps a white protagonist mature in the course of the movie.

Beavers played Delilah in Imitation of Life (1934) in a dramatic role. Her character again plays a black housekeeper, but instead of the usual stereotypical comedic or purely functional role, Delilah's story line is a secondary parallel plot. The public reacted positively to Beavers's performance. It was not only a breakthrough for Beavers, but was also "the first time in American cinema history that a black woman's problems were given major emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture". Some in the media recognized the unfairness of Hollywood's double standard regarding race. A contributor to California Graphic Magazine wrote: "the Academy could not recognize Miss Beavers. She is black!"

She played the lead role in the film Reform School (1939), once thought to be lost, in which she portrayed a professional authority figure: a forward-thinking probation officer who becomes the superintendent of a reform school and implements major changes.

In the motion picture Holiday Inn (1942), in a celebration for Lincoln's Birthday, there was a big minstrel show number, "Abraham," which featured musical performances by Beavers as Mamie and Bing Crosby as Jim Hardy (who performs in traditional blackface makeup). This number, as well as the scene itself, are sometimes cut from the film's showings on television.

Beavers, who was raised in the North and in California, had to learn to speak the Southern Negro dialect. As Beavers's career grew, some criticized her for the roles she accepted, alleging that such roles institutionalized the view that blacks were subservient to whites. Beavers dismissed the criticism. She acknowledged the limited opportunities available, but said: "I am only playing the parts. I don't live them." As she became better known, Beavers began to speak against Hollywood's portrayal and treatment of African Americans, both during production and after promoting the films. Beavers became active in public life, seeking to help support African Americans. She endorsed Robert S. Abbott, the editor of The Chicago Defender, who fought for African Americans' civil rights. She supported Richard Nixon, whom she believed would help black Americans in the United States in the civil rights battle.

Beavers was one of three actresses (including Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters) to portray housekeeper Beulah on the Beulah television show. That show was the first television sitcom to star a black person. She also played a maid, Louise, for the first two seasons of The Danny Thomas Show (1953–1955).

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