Mildred Boyd (1908-1999) was an actress, a singer, and a dancer who was active in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1950s.[1][2] Like many Black actresses of her era, she was often cast as a maid or a nurse.

Mildred Boyd
Mildred Boyd, Los Angeles, 1940s
BornOctober 2, 1908
Kingston, Tennessee, US
DiedOctober 22, 1999 (aged 91)
Inglewood, California, US
Occupations
  • Actress
  • dancer
  • singer

Biography edit

Boyd was born in Kingston, Tennessee, to Creed Boyd and Rachel Finley. The family moved to Nebraska soon after she was born. Boyd relocated to Los Angeles as a young adult, where she found work a chorus girl at Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club, a popular Black nightclub in Culver City. She was part of a group known as the Creole Cuties.[3][4]

Around the same time, she began appearing in Hollywood films, working regularly throughout the 1930s and 1940s.[citation needed] She appeared in more than 200 films.[5]

On Broadway, Boyd appeared in The Duchess Misbehaves (1946).[6]

Selected filmography edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Mildred Boyd, Los Angeles, 1940s - UCLA Library Digital Collections". digital.library.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  2. ^ "Behind the Scenes with Harry". California Eagle. 27 Jan 1933. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  3. ^ "Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club". The Los Angeles Times. 19 Mar 1926. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  4. ^ "Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club". The Los Angeles Times. 14 May 1926. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  5. ^ "Hope to beat Hollywood's hex". Jet. 1 (4): 61. November 22, 1951. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  6. ^ "Mildred Boyd". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.