Filmography - Ella Fitzgerald




 * 1942 Ride 'Em Cowboy - Ruby
 * 1955 Pete Kelly's Blues- Maggie Jackson
 * 1958 St. Louis Blues- Singer
 * 1960 Let No Man Write My Epitaph - Flora

The Colored Ceiling
Women of color were marginalized by Hollywood from the launch of film as a medium because racism was pervasive in an industry that defined cultural values for millions of Americans. Even when those producing the films might have desired to be more inclusive, fears of censorship and of negative reactions of white moviegoers, particularly in the American South, kept stereotypes alive and access to roles, and to achievement in the industry, limited until Halle Berry broke the colored ceiling at the Oscars in the 21st Century.

Several producers made stabs at opening the door for performers of color, and often they would go to famous African-American singers who had "acceptability" with a white audience in music as a means of opening that door.

Film Appearances
Fitzgerald's first role was a short singing stint in the 1942 Abbott and Costello comedy "Ride 'Em Cowboy":



Her most notable screen role, though, was when she played the part of singer Maggie Jackson in Jack Webb's 1955 jazz film Pete Kelly's Blues. The film costarred Janet Leigh and singer Peggy Lee.



She was reported to be "delighted" when producer Norman Granz negotiated the role for her. "[A]t the time....[she] considered her role in the Warner Brothers movie the biggest thing ever to have happened to her."

The New York Times' panned the film when it opened in August 1955, but the reviewer wrote:

"About five minutes (out of ninety-five) suggest the picture this might have been. Take the ingenious prologue...Or take the fleeting scenes when the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald, allotted a few spoken lines, fills the screen and sound track with her strong mobile features and voice."

After Pete Kelly's Blues, she appeared in sporadic movie cameos, in St. Louis Blues (1958), and Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960).

Television
Much later, she appeared in the 1980s television drama The White Shadow.

She also made numerous guest appearances on television shows, singing on The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, The Frank Sinatra Show, and on dozens of specials like the 1968 "Summertime."



She appeared on television around the world, including appearances for the BBC in "Mr. Paganini" and "Stompin' at the Savoy" in 1961.



Perhaps her most unusual and intriguing performance was of the 'Three Little Maids' song from Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta The Mikado alongside Joan Sutherland and Dinah Shore on Shore's weekly variety series in 1963.



Fitzgerald also made a one-off appearance alongside Sarah Vaughan and Pearl Bailey on a 1979 television special honoring Bailey. In 1980, she performed a medley of standards in a duet with Karen Carpenter on the Carpenters' television program, Music, Music, Music.



Fitzgerald appeared in TV commercials, her most memorable being an ad for Memorex in 1972 that earned her several more appearances for the company over the next few years.

In the commercials, she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking "Is it live, or is it Memorex?"



She starred in a number of commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, singing and scatting to the fast-food chain's longtime slogan, "We do chicken right!"

Her final commercial campaign was for American Express, in which she was photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Filmographies Videographies Fitzgerald, Ella BBC Shows Shore, Dinah Sutherland, Joan TV Commercials