Ethel Waters was famous almost from the moment she sang on stage professionally for the first time in 1917 for her exuberant performing persona: laughing and smiling, warm, sexy and sassy. She interpreted songs from the 1920s onward with such flair that songwriters courted her to introduce their material; she established classics like "Stormy Weather," "Am I Blue?" and "Heat Wave." Audiences were crazy about her "hot-cool style," and she sold records by the thousands, not only in the "race music" market but in the mainstream.
Her stage allure was so strong and distinctive that many influential people wanted to be her friends as well as her fans. If any of them had expected to meet in a living room the same person they adored onstage, they were in for a rude awakening, as Donald Bogle tells us in this monumental, definitive biography. Author Zora Neale Hurston summed Waters up as "one of the strangest bundles of people I have ever met. You can just see the different folks wrapped up in her if you associate with her long. Just like watching an open fire--the color and shape of her personality is never the same twice."
Ethel Waters was an early diva, mercurial, demanding and complex. Because of her turbulent childhood, many cut her slack when she went off on spectacular tirades; Bogle traces the sources of those legendary outbursts with sympathy and understanding. Waters lived a long life (1896-1977) and was successful enough for a time to be considered one of the leading stage performers in America. Yet, in true diva tradition, she never got over herself. When her temper was unleashed, smart people took cover. One who had suffered abuse at her hands remarked, "She was very religious. She talked about God all the time, until she got ready to curse you out. Then... she'd lay God on the side." Waters told another unfortunate target, "I don't intend to beat you up--today. But I'll get you some other time when I'm more in the mood."
"The poor girl from nowhere [actually Chester, Pa.] who had risen to the top through hard work and a fierce talent" is now primarily remembered for the films Cabin in the Sky and A Member of the Wedding. Thankfully, Bogle refreshes our memories about the important role Ethel Waters played in American popular music. After all, as Duke Ellington confided to Lena Horne's daughter, "My dear, she wrote the history of jazz."--John McFarland
Shelf Talker: A monumental and definitive biography of the great (and notoriously difficult) singer and actress, who did not have to watch reality TV to learn diva behavior.