Thursday, September 17, 2020

Arabella Fields (1879-after 1931)


Sarah Arabella Fields (January 31, 1879-after 1932)




Known as: Bella Fields, La Belle Fields, The Black Nightingale

Arabella Fields (born Sarah Arabella Middleton; January 31, 1879-c. late 1930s) was a African-American entertainer and actress whose extensive career was based in Europe, primarily Germany. Born in Philadelphia, she began appearing in minstrel shows as early as eight years old. From 1894-1896, she travelled to overseas with the "San Francisco Minstrels", until the show eventually fell apart in Russia.

By the turn of the century, she had become a popular headliner in European cabarets and variety shows. Around 1904, she settled in Hamburg and married German pianist and Impresario, Engelhardt A. G. Winter, soon accepting German citizenship. From this marriage, Arabella bore one child.

From 1900-1925, she toured Europe and the Middle East, dancing and singing in five languages (English, German, Russian, French and Dutch). In December 1907, she recorded six songs for Anker Records. Early 1908, she appeared about three silent films. She was often known as the "Black Nightingale".

Around 1921, she had separated from her husband and her child had left home. Throughout the 1920s, she toured Europe with Sam Wooding's "Chocolate Kiddies" and with Louis Douglas and his troupe. In 1931, she appeared in Rex Ingram's last film, "Baroud" in the role of the North African mammy, Mabrouka.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Galima's debut at the Mirror of Life Cinema (November 1913)

 


On the week of November 10-17, 1913, director Alexander Ivanovich Mizikin presented his Afro-American wife, Oriedo Galima (Emma Harris), the "Black Nightingale" for her debut at Kharkov's Mirror of Life Kino-Theater, located at 24 Moskalevskaya. To the sound of S.L. Dvorina's orchestra, she performed her exotic Algerian belly dances before performing a series of Russian romance songs.

On screen, in-between her performances, the comedy film "Long-Awaited Minute" (Долгожданная Минута), starring G. Weisse, was shown.