Rose McClendon
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| Rose McClendon | |
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 Rose McClendon photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1935 |
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| Born | Rose Virginia Scott McClendon August 27, 1884 New York, New York, United States |
| Died | July 12, 1936 (aged 51) New York, New York, United States |
Rose McClendon born Rose Virginia Scott McClendon, (August 27, 1884 – July 12, 1936) was a leading African American Broadway actress of the 1920's.
Rose McClendon, the "Negro first lady of the dramatic stage"(1) was born in Greenville, SC under the name of Rosalie Virginia Scott. Rose was born circa in 1885 in South Carolina and as a child relocated to New York City. She started acting in church plays as a child, but did not become a professional actress until she won a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Art, when she was in her thirties.
Her first claim to fame came in Deep River, a "native opera with jazz", in 1926. In addition to acting, she also directed several plays at the Harlem Experimental Theatre.
She was a contemporary of Paul Robeson, Ethel Barrymore, Lynne Fontanne and Langston Hughes. Hughes wrote a character for her in his 1935 play, Mulatto. Her talent extended to directing as well as acting. She co-founded the Negro People's Theatre in Harlem (1935). A year later McClendon died of pneumonia. Her co-founder and his wife, Dick Campbell and Murial Rahn, founded the Rose McClendon players.
[edit] Productions
- Deep River 1926
- Abraham's Bosom 1927
- Porgy 1928
- Black Souls 1932
- Never No More 1932
- Panic 1935
- Mulatto 1936
