Person
Bessie Smith
Acting · 1894–1937 · Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Biography
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Known for
It's Black Entertainment
Self (archive footage)
Blues Masters
Self (archive footage)
A Huey P. Newton Story
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
STAIN
Music
The Story Of The Blues
Self (archive footage)
Bluesland: A Portrait in American Music
Self (archive footage)
St. Louis Blues
Bessie - Battered Wife
Memories
Music
Blues Masters - The Essential History of the Blues
Self (archive footage)
Filmography
- 2025MemoriesMusic
- 2024STAINMusic
- 2004The Story Of The BluesSelf (archive footage)
- 2002It's Black EntertainmentSelf (archive footage)
- 2001A Huey P. Newton StorySelf (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1999Blues MastersSelf (archive footage)
- 1993Bluesland: A Portrait in American MusicSelf (archive footage)
- 1993Blues Masters - The Essential History of the BluesSelf (archive footage)
- 1929St. Louis BluesBessie - Battered Wife
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