Myrtle Anderson (1901-1978) was a Jamaican actress, singer, and radio performer active in Hollywood in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Myrtle Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Myrtle Doris Anderson May 26, 1901 Kingston, Kingston, Jamaica |
| Died | October 5, 1978 (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Education | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse | Henry Simms (m. 1930) |
Myrtle was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to Charles Anderson and Cecilia Tyrell. She later moved to Manhattan with her sisters and her mother — who seems to have remarried — when she was just 5 years old. A talented student and a gifted singer, she eventually graduated from Columbia University.
She was married for a time to a police officer named Henry Simms; as it turned out, Simms was already married to someone else at the time they said "I do" in 1930; he was charged with bigamy in 1935. During their marriage, Myrtle briefly considered becoming a policewoman.[1]
After performing with the Johnson Singers, appearing on Broadway, and getting her own radio show in NYC,[2] Myrtle began winning small roles in films around 1936, when she played Eve in The Green Pastures, a retelling of biblical stories with an all-black cast.[3] Later on in her career, she split her time between taking on film roles and working at the post office in Los Angeles, California.[4]
Of her prospects in Hollywood, she said she preferred comedic roles: "I'm too skinny to play mammy roles and too unglamourous to become a Lena Horne," she explained.[4]
During World War II, she served in the WAC.[4]
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