Nina Mae McKinney with Eubie Blake and his Orchestra 1932

[blackimpressions]

WOW! nina, I love her, vanaida snow,josephine baker I love them thay are black female royalty.

[TheAdelaidehall]

A trailblazer! Nina Mae McKinney: The Black Garbo by Stephen Bourne has just been published by BearManor Media. This is the first biography of one of Hollywood's most talented & charismatic stars.

[chas63]

She was hot.

[sdwalm]

What a treat! Thanks for posting. She certainly deserves the recognition and more!

[zodiolestes]

Nina Mae Mckinneys stardom predated Lena Hornes by atleast 10 years. Nina Mae was a Stage Star by the 1925 and a Movie Star by 1929! "Hallelujah" might have been an embaressing Debut but she redeemed herself with "Sanders of the River"(1935) co-starring Paul Robeson. Then, she missed the opportunity at a starring role in "The Duke is Tops" in 1938 and was replaced by Lena Horne. Her following roles were in all Black "Race Movies". She did make one important "comeback attempt" in "Pinky"(1949)

[zodiolestes]

I know Nina Mae McKinney was IGNORED! For 25 years from 1938 to 1963 Everything was Lena Horne this, and Lena Horne that! (for the next 25 years Everything was DIANA ROSS!!!) Black folks need to stop being a "1 Star Theatre Generation" They did the SAME THING WITH BILLY DEE WILLIAMS- NOW THEY'RE DOING IT TO DEATH WITH DENZEL WASHINGTON!!! There were others out there like Nina Mae Mckinney, Fredi Washington, James Edwards, Woody Strode, Barbara McNair, and Vonetta McGhee THAT WERE IGNORED!!!

[WoodeytheBigEyedOne]

Awww listen to her cute little growl!

[blacsouljah]

@WoodeytheBigEyedOne  I love that growl!

[blacsouljah]

Respond to this video... Anybody know what year this video was released?

[Corrie121]

This lady's voice is matched by her beauty. What a wonderful combination. This clip is just fantastic.

Thank you so much for sharing.

[levar1979]

this so ghostly and so beautiful. :)

[Bumblebee38]

Quite a CUTE SHEILA as the AUSSIES would say !!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheLizzie12]

Nina Mae McKinney has been remembered - often - by the great American writer DONALD BOGLE (check Amazon for his books, most of which feature Nina). Also the British writer STEPHEN BOURNE who paid tribute to Nina in Films in Review (issue dated Jan/Feb 1991). Bourne has also written bios of Black divas Adelaide Hall, Elisabeth Welch & Ethel Waters but couldn't persuade a publisher to commission his bio of Nina. Check out Bourne's website.

[t4m86]

She was a distant cousin of mine. My father recently told me so I decided to research her. Pretty cool.

[harryoakley]

More than "pretty cool" in my opinion! Nina Mae definitely deserves a good biography.

[sprigged]

@t4m86 She was my grandfather's first cousin. So I guess we may be distantly related...

[hoppy900]

@t4m86 It is a loss to entertainment that she was not more generally recognized for her talent and appeal. I love her voice!

[bkbelly89]

Miss Pie Pie Black bird

[swinginkatz]

Very Good , also on my swinginkatz channel of these great Divas.

[Geezyone]

Great clip, I'm currently reading Donald Bogle's Dorothy Dandridge bio and this one of the names I came across.

[LaDiaFerguson]

that was a great book,i have the donald bogle book on dorothy,nice pictures also.

[jahlaune]

Nina Mae Mckinney There are alot of stories in NY still of this lady. They say she and Billie Holiday hated each other over their husband Jimmy Monroe. That must have been a good feud

[babyEroose]

FINALLY clips of her....months ago I searched for her. The only thing that had her was a montage to all the black actresses 1050s and before that never got their just dues...It only had an image of her up a few seconds.

[MizzLoveable03]

She is amazing, she shares the same birthday as my baby sister June 13...so cool another gemini. I wish my birthday was on the 13th but instead it is on the 16th of June. Sucks :(

[tapdancegirl88]

pretty smooth shoulders

[joomuck]

A great black diva: she had it all, that is, great looks, sex appeal just oozes out of her; great voice, and great presence. She was vastly underated.

Thanks for the clip. Do you know of any audios by Freddie Washington?

[harryoakley]

I couldn't agree more. There's also quite a bit of Louis Armstrong influence in her singing; just look at 1:19 ("happohness 'n babe") quite fantastic!

The only bit of video I have of Fredi Washington is from the 1929 film "Black And Tan Fantasy". I haven't uploaded that yet but will do so in the next few days. There is also more of Nina that I will upload.

[GeorgeStout]

I agree. I am a huge Nina Mae McKinney fan. I first learned of her more than 20 years ago. Do you have more videos of her. I'd love to make a movie of her life or begin a bio if thre's enough information out there.

[tnj2323]

I would LOVE to see a movie based on her life, or even a documentary.

Sadly, when she died, there was not much said about her passing; there was a very small obituary printing in Jet Magazine in 1967.

[sclogse1]

@tnj2323 Considering the size of jet magazine...if it was small in Jet, then...........