Ethel Waters, a child born to a teenage rape victim, grew up in the impoverished slums of Philadelphia and neighboring cities, never staying in one place for more than a few weeks at a time. Without any formal upbringing, she was left to fend for herself, describing her childhood as a period of "running wild". Despite the challenges she faced, Waters discovered a natural talent for singing and dancing, and began performing at church functions and local events.
As a teenager, she gained local recognition for her energetic "hip shimmy shake" dance style, and by 1917, she made her debut on the black vaudeville circuit, billing herself as "Sweet Mama Stringbean" due to her tall and slender build. Her rendition of "St. Louis Blues" was particularly notable, as she performed it in a softer and more subtle style than her contemporaries, Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith.
Waters' big break came in the late 1920s, when she began performing in Harlem nightclubs, and later on the lucrative "white time" vaudeville circuit. She became one of America's most celebrated and highest-paid entertainers, and her performances at the Cotton Club were particularly memorable. It was during one of these performances that she introduced "Stormy Weather", a song composed specifically for her by Harold Arlen.
Waters wrote of her performance of "Stormy Weather", saying that she was singing the story of her own misery and confusion, and the wrongs and outrages she had suffered at the hands of people she had loved and trusted. This powerful performance did not go unnoticed, and Irving Berlin was so impressed that he wrote "Supper Time", a song about a lynching, for Waters to perform in a Broadway revue.
In her later years, Waters successfully transitioned from the stage to the screen, and became the first African-American star of a national radio show. She was a devoutly religious woman, but was also notoriously difficult to get along with. Despite this, she found few roles worthy of her talents, and her later years were marked by a sense of disappointment and frustration.
