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

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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

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References

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  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.