Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame

The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc. (BFHFI), was founded in 1974, in Oakland, California. It supported and promoted black filmmaking, and preserved the contributions by African-American artists both before and behind the camera. It also sponsored advance screenings of films by and about people of African descent and hosted the Oscar Micheaux Awards Ceremony, held each February, from 1974 to 1993, in Oakland.

The Hall started as the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1974, as an all-volunteer project of Oakland Museum of California's Cultural and Ethnics Affairs Guild. It grew quickly, incorporating as BFHFI in 1977.

In 2014, all its archives were given to the Black Film Center/Archive, within the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington.^[1]

This is a partial list of inductees:^[2]

Inductees

1974

Alvin Childress
Lillian Cumber
Ossie Davis
Sammy Davis Jr.
Katherine Dunham (1909–2006)
Theresa Harris
Eugene Jackson
William Marshall
Juanita Moore
Clarence Muse
Gordon Parks Sr.
Lincoln Theodore Perry (stage name Stepin Fetchit) (1902–1985)
Beah Richards
Paul Robeson (1898–1976)
Vincent Tubbs
Lorenzo Tucker
Leigh Whipper

1975

Ruby Dee (1922–2014)
Allen Hoskins (1920–1980)
Hall Johnson (1888–1970)
Abbey Lincoln (1930–2010)
Hattie McDaniel (1895–1952)
Butterfly McQueen (1911–1995)
Louis S. Peterson (1922–1998)
Fredi Washington (1903–1994)

1976

Eubie Blake (1887–1983)
Louise Beavers (1902–1962)
Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951)
Brock Peters (1927–2005)
Melvin Van Peebles (1932-2021)
Diahann Carroll (1935–2019)

1977

Maidie Norman (1912–1998)
Cicely Tyson (1924-2021)

1978

Benny Carter (1907–2003)
Nicholas Brothers - Fayard (1914-2006), Harold (1921-2000)
Nina Mae McKinney (1912–1967)
Sidney Poitier (1927-2022)

1979

Lonne Elder III (1927–1996)
Earl "Fatha" Hines (1903–1983)
Herb Jeffries (1913–2014)
Etta Moten Barnett (1901–2004)
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993)
Floyd Norman (born 1935)
Diana Sands (1934–1973)
Leo D. Sullivan (1940–2023)
Paul Winfield (1939–2004)

1980

Vinnette Carroll (1922–2002)
Ivan Dixon (1931–2008)
James Edwards (1918–1970)
William Greaves (1926–2014)
Lillian Randolph (1898–1980)
Frank Silvera (1914–1970)
Woody Strode (1914–1994)

1982

Cab Calloway (1907–1994)

1984

Billy Dee Williams (born 1937)

1986

Madame Sul-Te-Wan (1873–1959)

1987

Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925–1990)
Scatman Crothers (1910–1986)
Jeni Le Gon (1916–2012)
Ernie Morrison (1912–1989)

Additional resources

Indiana University maintains the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Archives.

References

^ "Mary Perry Smith, Co-Founder of the BFHFI, Passes". August 14, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
^ "Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Archives |Inductees 1974–1993". Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2020.

Moon, Spencer. Reel Black Talk: A Sourcebook of 50 American Filmmakers, Greenwood Press, (1997) - ISBN 0-313-29830-0
Peterson, Bernard L. Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816–1960, Greenwood Press, (2000) - ISBN 0-313-29534-4

[1] "Mary Perry Smith, Co-Founder of the BFHFI, Passes". August 14, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2020.

[2] "Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Archives |Inductees 1974–1993". Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2020.

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