Vivienne Baber

Vivienne Baber (born 1913 or 1914, sometimes credited as Vivian or Vivianne) was an actress in the United States. She had a starring role in the 1932 film The Black King.

Vivienne Baber
Born1913 or 1914
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1929–1933, 1946
Spouse(s)
Peter Douglas Johnson
​
​
(m. 1937, divorced)​
Relatives

Early life

Baber was born in Brooklyn, New York. She began acting on stage productions in 1929, at age 15; her first role was the main character in the play, Harlem.[1] Before that, she had sung in a cabaret chorus.[2] In a 1932 interview, Baber said she had "Indian and English blood in [her] veins", and described herself as "three-quarters white and one-quarter colored". She also said she had danced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and still lived in the borough.[3]

Career

Baber played the starring role in a 1929 production of Make Me Know It at Wallack's Theatre in New York City, following a three-day preview in New Rochelle.[4][5] She played a part in You Know Me that same year at Wallack's Theatre.[6] A reviewer praised Baber's performance as "surpass[ing] the rest of the cast" in 1930's Sweet Chariot,[7] and another said she was good at her part and the play entertaining, though it was short of being "important".[8] She was among the supporting cast of Confidence with Frank H. Wilson later that year.[9] Baber was a principal actor in a 1932–33 production of the musical comedy Shuffle Along by Flournoy Miller.[10]

After disliking the roles she was typecast in, she quit acting for seven years. During this time, she worked for the Afro-American Newspapers and organized a children's theater organization in Washington, D.C. She returned to acting around 1946 to play the character Wini Bennett in the play, On Whitman Avenue in New York City.[1]

Baber married Peter Douglas Johnson (1906–1958) in Brooklyn on February 28, 1937.[11] They divorced before May 1946.[1]

She was the only woman cast in one show.[12]

Theater
  • Harlem (1929)[13] as Cordelia Williams[2]
  • Make Me Know It (1929) as Mona Bannon[14]
  • Ginger Snaps (1929)[15]
  • Sweet Chariot (1930) as Delia[16][17]
  • Confidence (1930)[9]
  • Savage Rhythm (1932)[13][18] as Star[19]
  • Shuffle Along of 1933 as Alice Walker;[20][21] a revival of Shuffle Along
  • On Whitman Avenue (1946) as Wini Bennett[22]

Filmography

References
  1. Smith, Milt (May 27, 1946). "Vivienne Baber of Brooklyn Glad She's Not Playing Hussy". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 13. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  2. "'Harlem' Cast Is Varied". Detroit Free Press. April 14, 1929. p. 68. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Musset, Nina (January 10, 1932). "'I Haven't Got a Cigarette, So I Can't Talk,' Says Vivian". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York. p. 61. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "New Colored Play "Coincidental"". Daily News. November 3, 1929. p. 77. Retrieved November 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "New Play Will Be Given at New Rochelle Theatre". The Daily Times. Mamaroneck, New York. October 5, 1929. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Monday Night On Broadway". The Standard Union. November 2, 1929. p. 5. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  7. Feinstein, Isidor (October 7, 1930). "Colored Swindler Turns Messiah in 'Sweet Chariot'". Courier-Post. Camden, New Jersey. p. 18. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Clark, William E. (November 1, 1930). "'Sweet Chariot' Misses Being an Important Play". The New York Age. p. 6. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "At the Alhambra Theatre". The New York Age. December 6, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Chapman, John (December 27, 1932). "Hot Feet, Hot Horns In New 'Shuffle Along'". Daily News. p. 35. Retrieved November 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Deaths". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. April 1960. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  12. Jefferson, Miles M. (1947). "The Negro on Broadway, 1946-1947". Phylon (1940-1956). 8 (2): 146–159. doi:10.2307/271722 – via JSTOR.
  13. "Mantan is Comedian". The Ithaca Journal. New York. December 10, 1932. p. 6. Retrieved December 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Vivienne Baber". Playbill. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  15. Mulhern, Donald (January 2, 1930). "'Ginger Snaps,' All-Colored Revue, at Belmont". The Standard Union. p. 29. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Sweet Chariot". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  17. "Vivian Baber". Playbill. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  18. "The Stars: Where They Are". The Northwest Enterprise. Seattle. January 7, 1932. p. 3. Retrieved December 3, 2021 – via Chronicling America.
  19. "Savage Rhythm: Opening Night Cast". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  20. Peterson, Bernard L. (November 14, 1993). "A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans". Greenwood Publishing Group – via Google Books.
  21. Dietz, Dan (March 29, 2018). "The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals". Rowman & Littlefield – via Google Books.
  22. McGrath, Patrick J. (August 23, 2006). "John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and on Stage". McFarland – via Google Books.
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