Artie Young

Artie Francis Young (February 24, 1915 – July 30, 1989)[1] was an African-American dancer, and actress of theater and film in the 1930s and 1940s.[2] Her film work includes soundies.[3] Young was considered one of the prettiest girls from Harlem in the 1940s.[4] She went by many name variations, including Artie Brandon, Artie Brandon Young Reed,[5] and Artie Young Davis.[6][7]

Artie Young
Born
Artie Francis Young

February 24, 1915
Pasadena, California, U.S.
DiedJuly 30, 1989
Other namesArtie Brandon,
Artie Brandon Reed,
Artie Brandon Young Reed,
Artie Young Davis,
Artie Davis
Spouse(s)Eddie Brandon (divorced),
Leonard Reed (divorced)

Biography

Artie Francis Young was born in c. 1916 in Pasadena, California.[8][9]

The beginning of 1939 saw Young performing as the primary female interest in two films alongside the lead Herb Jeffries, Harlem Rides the Range and The Bronze Buckaroo.[10][11][12] While performing with the Swing Mikado company in August of 1939, Young and her fellow performers were denied service at a cocktail lounge in Los Angeles due to being African American. Her group filed a lawsuit against the cocktail lounge location and the suit was settled in October of 1940.[13] She was a cast member and dancer in Duke Ellington's revue Jump For Joy (1941),[14] a socially significant show for its outspokenness on racial matters of the time.

By 1945, Young had temporarily stopped performing in theatre and was working as a checkroom attendant at the nightclub Shepp's Playhouse in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Los Angeles (now Little Tokyo).[15] In May 1946, she was in "Don't Go Home Yet" and was dance partners with Foster Johnson, they performed at the Finale Club in San Francisco.[16] By July 1946, Young was back in New York City performing in "Zanzibar".[17]

Theater

Filmography

Personal life

Young was married to fellow actor Eddie Brandon,[26] though she filed for divorce against her husband in September of 1938 for "cruelty and incompatibility".[27] She remarried in August of 1943 to producer Leonard Reed,[28] though she filed for divorce against Reed in August of 1945 citing "mental cruelty".[29]

References
  1. "The Bronze Buckaroo". National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  2. Richards, Larry (1998). African American Films Through 1959: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Filmography. McFarland & Company. p. 83, 181. ISBN 9780786403073.
  3. Stratemann, Klaus (1992). Duke Ellington, Day by Day and Film by Film. JazzMedia. p. 186. ISBN 9788788043341.
  4. Jemail, Jimmy (October 21, 1946). "The Inquiring Fotograher". New York Daily News. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Billy Rowe's Notebook". Pittsburgh Courier. October 26, 1949. p. 18.
  6. Smallwood, Bill (August 12, 1954). "On The Delightful Side". California Eagle. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Eagle Social News". California Eagle. October 6, 1955. p. 7 – via Newspaper.com.
  8. "Murray's Ranch". Daily Press. October 21, 1938. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  9. "Artie Francis Young Marriage, California, County Marriages, 1850-1952, database with images, Los Angeles County". FamilySearch.org. September 6, 1936.
  10. Earl J. Morris, "'Plight of Colored Film Actress Pathetic,' Gladys Snyder Admits", The Pittsburgh Courier (June 15, 1940), p. 20.
  11. Burr, Ty (October 22, 1993). "Video Reviews: 'Posse'; 'The Bronze Buckaroo'; 'Buck and The Preacher'; and 'Adios Amigo'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  12. Robert W. Butler, "So bad it's good", The Kansas City Star (November 20, 1996), p. F-10.
  13. "Lounge Pays for Jim Crow". California Eagle. October 3, 1940. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-313-26657-7.
  15. Chandler, Bill (March 31, 1945). "Hollywood Dots And Dashes". The New York Age. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Foster Johnson At Finale Club". California Eagle. May 2, 1946. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Mrs. J.T. Gibson's Candid Comments". California Eagle. July 18, 1946. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "The Mikado - in Swing". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. October 12, 1939. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 203. ISBN 9780313266577.
  20. American Film Institute (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. p. 590, 1212. ISBN 9780520209640.
  21. "Harlem Rides the Range". Library Journal. 113 (1–11): 41. 1988. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  22. Julia, Leyda (2002). "Black-Audience Westerns and the Politics of Cultural Identification in the 1930s". Cinema Journal. 42 (1): 63. JSTOR 1225542 – via JSTOR.
  23. Morris, Earl J. (November 12, 1938). "Column Gossip". The Pittsburgh Courier. Retrieved July 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. Kelley, Andrea J. (2019). "Bedsheet Cinema: The Materiality of the Segregating Screen". Film History. 31 (3): 14–15. doi:10.2979/filmhistory.31.3.01. S2CID 208689487 – via JSTOR.
  25. "7 Boys, 7 Girls, Dancers, Still In 'Stormy Weather'". California Eagle. March 24, 1943. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. Harris, Joe (January 1, 1938). "Out of Billy Rowe's Harlem Note Book". The Pittsburgh Courier. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ""Most Beautiful" Actress Sues Husband for Divorce". The Pittsburgh Courier. October 1, 1938. p. 13. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  28. "Beautiful Artie Brandon Weds Leonard Reed, Ace Producer". The Pittsburgh Courier. August 14, 1943. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. "Len Reed's Wife In Divorce Suit". California Eagle. August 9, 1945. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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