Suzette Harbin

Suzette Harbin (July 4, 1915 – September 5, 1994) was an American actress and dancer.

Suzette Harbin
Suzette Harbin, from a 1939 directory.
Suzette Harbin, from a 1939 directory.
Born(1915-07-04)July 4, 1915
Ledbetter, Texas
DiedSeptember 5, 1994(1994-09-05) (aged 79)
Texas
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSuzette Marquin Harbin
Occupation(s)Actress, dancer

Early life

Harbin was from Ledbetter, Texas and was raised in California, first in Pacific Grove, California, and then in Los Angeles. Harbin graduated from Jefferson High School in 1934, soon after the school's buildings were destroyed in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.[1]

Career

Harbin worked as an artists' model in Los Angeles in the 1930s.[2] Harbin's film appearances included roles in So Red the Rose (1935), Up Jumped the Devil (1941), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Stormy Weather (1943), I Dood It (1943), Jam Session (1944), To Have and Have Not (1944), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Look-Out Sister (1947),[3] The Foxes of Harrow (1947),[4][5] The Pirate (1948), Sky Dragon (1949), Destination Murder (1950), The Cimarron Kid (1952), Skirts Ahoy! (1952), Lydia Bailey (1952), Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952),[6] The Green-Eyed Blonde (1957).[7] She was also in an episode of the television program Wagon Train (1958).[8] She was sometimes told that she was "too pretty" for the roles available to African-American actresses in mainstream films of the 1940s and 1950s.[9]

In 1954, Harbin went to Korea to give 25 performances for American troops at military installations there, headlining the "first all-Negro entertainment package to tour Korea."[10] She also toured military bases in Alaska that year, in a troupe where she was the only African-American performer.[11]

In 1960 she retired to the Monterey Peninsula and directed children's theatre; she also worked as a Monterey County juvenile officer. She moved back to Texas in 1980, and worked as a tour guide at the airport in San Antonio.[1]

Personal life

Harbin married Hildred Claude Johnson in 1938, and for a time used the name Suzette Harbin-Johnson.[2][12] She was injured in a car accident in 1952.[13] She married caricature artist Calvin Bailey in 1954.[14][15] Harbin died in 1994, aged 79 years, in San Antonio, Texas.[1]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1935So Red the RoseBelleUncredited
1941Up Jumped the Devil
1943Cabin in the SkyDancer / Jim Henry's Paradise PatronUncredited
1943Stormy WeatherDancer / Nightclub PatronUncredited
1943I Dood ItPart of Hazel Scott's Entourage / Singer in JerichoUncredited
1944Jam SessionWoman Armstrong Sings ToUncredited
1944To Have and Have NotWaitressUncredited
1945Ziegfeld FolliesFlirt ('Love')Uncredited
1947Look-Out SisterBetty Scott
1947The Foxes of HarrowBelleUncredited
1948The PirateBlack MaidUncredited
1949Sky DragonMaid #2Uncredited
1950Destination MurderHarriett - Nightclub Maid
1952The Cimarron KidMrs. StaceyUncredited
1952Skirts Ahoy!Black Drill Team MemberUncredited
1952Lydia BaileyFlorealUncredited
1952Bomba and the Jungle GirlPrincess Baru
1957The Green-Eyed BlondeYounger WomanUncredited

References
  1. "Deaths: Suzette Harbin Bailey" Los Angeles Sentinel (March 2, 1995): A9. via ProQuest
  2. Advertisement, The Official Central Avenue Directory (August 1939): 6.
  3. "Apollo Gets Film Premier" New York Age (December 18, 1948): 15. via Newspapers.com
  4. Ellen C. Scott, Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression, and Race in the Classical Hollywood Era (Rutgers University Press 2015). ISBN 9780813572925
  5. Phyllis R. Klotman, "A Harrowing Experience: Frank Yerby's First Novel to Film" CLA Journal 31(2)(December 1987): 215.
  6. "Suzette Harbin Gets Star Role in 'Jungle Girl'" Jet (September 25, 1952): 57.
  7. Bob McCann, Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television (McFarland 2009): 148-149. ISBN 9780786458042
  8. "Suzette Harbin to Appear in TV Western" Jet (May 8, 1958): 66.
  9. "Some Directors Want 'Mammy' Characters" Jet (September 17, 1953): 58.
  10. "20,000 Men and a Girl" Jet (July 22, 1954): 58-61.
  11. "Suzette Harbin Signs for Alaskan Army Tour" Jet (August 12, 1954): 56.
  12. "Black L.A. 1947: Bandleader Jimmie Lunceford Collapses in Record Store, Dies at 45" The Daily Mirror (July 17, 2018).
  13. "Actress Seeks $100,000 in Auto Crash Suit" Jet (May 21, 1953): 59.
  14. "Actress Suzette Harbin to Wed Artist Cal Bailey" Jet (August 19, 1954): 21.
  15. "Actress Suzette Harbin Weds Artist Cal Bailey" Jet (November 11, 1954): 17.
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