#Amos and andy anatomy of a controversy tv#

Ernestine also did office work and played the organ. After Amos 'n' Andy, Wade did voice work in television and radio commercials.

In later years, she continued as an actress, doing more voice work for radio and cartoons. She also considered the early typecast roles, where women were most often cast as maids, not to be damaging, seeing them in the sense of someone being either given the role of the hero or the part of the villain. She believed that the roles she and her colleagues played made it possible for African-American actors who came later to be cast in a wider variety of roles. Ernestine was among them, and she continued her defense of the show and those with roles in it. And many of those people are black members of the NAACP.” The documentary Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy covered the history of the radio and television shows as well as interviews with surviving cast members. In a 1973 interview, she stated, “I know there were those who were offended by it, but I still have people stop me on the street to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Wade defended her character against criticism of being a negative stereotype of African American women.

#Amos and andy anatomy of a controversy tv#

Tim Moore, her TV husband, wrote the following on his, 'My Best Wishes To My Darling Battle Ax From The Kingfish In a 1979 interview, Ernestine related that she would often be stopped by strangers who recognized her from the television show, saying, 'I know who you are and I want to ask you, is that your real husband?' At her home, she had framed signed photos from the members of the Amos 'n' Andy television show cast. Ernestine also played the radio roles of The Widow Armbruster, Sara Fletcher, and Mrs. When the answer was yes, she was first asked to say 'I do' and then to scream the scream got her the role of Valada Green. Initially there for a singing role, she was asked if she could 'do lines'.

In her interview which is part of the documentary Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy, Wade related how she got the job with the radio show. Wade, Johnny Lee, and Lillian Randolph, Amanda Randolph, Jester Hairston, Roy Glenn (and several others) were among the Amos 'n' Andy radio cast members to also appear in the TV series.Įrnestine began playing Sapphire Stevens in 1939, but originally came to the Amos 'n' Andy radio show in the role of Valada Green, a lady who believed she had married Andy. She enjoyed the highest level of prominence on Amos 'n Andy by playing the shrewish, demanding and manipulative wife of George “Kingfish” Stevens. Wade was a member of the choir organized by actress-singer Anne Brown for the filming of the George Gershwin biographical film Rhapsody in Blue (1945) and appeared in the film as one of the 'Catfish Row' residents in the Porgy and Bess segment. She appeared in bit parts in films and did the voice performance of a butterfly in the 1946 Walt Disney production Song of the South.

In 1935, Ernestine was a member of the Four Hot Chocolates singing group. Johnson, worked for the Lincoln Theater in Baltimore, Maryland.Įrnestine grew up in Los Angeles and started her acting career at age four. Her mother, Hazel Wade, worked in vaudeville as a performer, while her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Her family had a strong connection to the theater. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Wade was trained as a singer and organist.