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Ira Aldridge
Theater Actor / 1807 - 1867
Ira Aldridge was a 19th century African-American actor who became a renowned interpreter of Shakespearean tragedy on the European stage.
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(1807-1867)
Theater Actor
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Angela Bassett
Actress / 1958 -
Angela Bassett is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-nominated actress known for roles in What's Love Got to Do With It, Waiting to Exhale, Malcolm X and The Rosa Parks Story.
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(1958-)
Actress
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Halle Berry
Film Actress / 1966 -
Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model and former beauty queen. One of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, she is also a Revlon spokeswoman.
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(1966-)
Film Actress
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Bill Cosby
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Television Producer / 1937 -
Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor and producer, who has played a major role in the development of more positive portrayal of African-Americans on television.
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(1937-)
Film Actor, Television Actor, Comedian, Television Producer
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Whoopi Goldberg
Film Actress, Television Actress, Comedian, Talk Show Host / 1955 -
Whoopi Goldberg is a Grammy-Award winning comedienne, an actress, a human rights advocate, and TV host of the daytime talk show The View.
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(1955-)
Film Actress, Television Actress, Comedian, Talk Show Host
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Jennifer Hudson
Actress, Singer / 1981 -
Jennifer Hudson is an Oscar and Grammy-winning actress and singer known for roles in Dreamgirls and Sex and the City.
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(1981-)
Actress, Singer
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Robert L. Johnson
Entrepreneur / 1946 -
Robert L. Johnson is an American entrepreneur best known as the founder of the BET channel and as the country’s first African-American billionaire.
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(1946-)
Entrepreneur
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Hattie McDaniel
Film Actress / 1895 - 1952
Actress and radio performer Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar in 1940, for her supporting role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
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(1895-1952)
Film Actress
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Oscar Micheaux
Filmmaker, Journalist, Screenwriter / 1884 - 1951
Oscar Micheaux was an African-American filmmaker whose films were a challenge to segregation in both Hollywood and society in general. He wrote, produced and directed more than 45 films from 1919 to 1948.
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(1884-1951)
Filmmaker, Journalist, Screenwriter
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Gordon Parks
Photographer, Director, Songwriter, Pianist, Writer / 1912 - 2006
Gordon Parks was an African-American photographer, filmmaker and author, best known for his work published in LIFE magazine and for directing the hit movie Shaft.
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(1912-2006)
Photographer, Director, Songwriter, Pianist, Writer
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Tyler Perry
Film Actor, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Playwright, Screenwriter / 1969 -
Writer, actor, producer, and director Tyler Perry has built an entertainment empire that consists of successful films, plays, and a best-selling book.
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(1969-)
Film Actor, Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Playwright, Screenwriter
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Sidney Poitier
Film Actor, Filmmaker / 1927 -
Sidney Poitier became the first black Academy Award winner in 1964, receiving the honor for his performance in Lilies of the Field (1963).
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(1927-)
Film Actor, Filmmaker
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Della Reese
Television Actress, Singer / 1931 -
Della Reese is a singer and actress known for her gospel talents and for her role on TV's Touched by an Angel.
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(1931-)
Television Actress, Singer
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Cicely Tyson
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress / 1933 -
Cicely Tyson is an Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning actress committed to presenting positive images of strong African American women.
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(1933-)
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress
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Quvenzhané Wallis
Film Actress / 2003 -
Quvenzhané Wallis is an actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as Hushpuppy in the 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild.
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(2003-)
Film Actress
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Denzel Washington
Film Actor / 1954 -
Former star of the hit TV drama St. Elsewhere, actor/director Denzel Washington has earned popular and critical acclaim for his roles in several feature films, including Training Day and American Gangster.
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(1954-)
Film Actor
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Ethel Waters
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress, Singer / 1896 - 1977
Ethel Waters was a blues and jazz singer and dramatic actress whose singing, based in the blues tradition, featured her full-bodied voice and slow vibrato.
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(1896-1977)
Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress, Singer
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Oprah Winfrey
Film Actress, Entrepreneur, Producer, Philanthropist, Talk Show Host, Television Producer / 1954 -
Billionaire Oprah Winfrey has hosted her own internationally popular talk show since 1986. She is also an actress, philanthropist, publisher, and producer.
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(1954-)
Film Actress, Entrepreneur, Producer, Philanthropist, Talk Show Host, Television Producer