Classic Celebrities

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and singer, and was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater.

Billy Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing

Ida James

Delicate beauty Ida James was a sweet-honey voiced singer who's singing could rival the birds, she gained popularity in the 1940s for her beauty, high, bird-like voice, grace, and glamour.

Nina Mae McKinney

Nina Mae McKinney was an American actress who worked internationally during the 1930s and in the postwar period in theatre, film and television, after getting her start on Broadway and in Hollywood.

Lena Horne

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an African American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.

Half length view Rochester, Lena Horne, Max Baer, and Lionel Hampton in
New York, NY

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she became a citizen of France in 1937.

Once again, Ida James

Sidney Poitier

Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE, is an American-born Bahamian actor, film director, author, and diplomat.

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones is an American actor who in a career of more than 50 years has become known as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors and "one of the greatest actors in American history."

Joe Louis

Joseph "Joe" Louis Barrow, better known as Joe Louis, was an American professional boxer and the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.