Black History Month: Tonya Pinkins Pays Tribute to Ethel Waters

In honor of Black History Month, Broadway.com is once again inviting Broadway artists to celebrate the Black theatermakers who inspire them. Stars are taking this chance to honor their friends, mentors, co-stars and idols for this year's edition. Continue reading to learn about the barrier-breaking performer that Tonya Pinkins is inspired by and click here to stay up to date on the series.

A Tony winner for her featured turn in 1992's Jelly's Last Jam, Tonya Pinkins has also been nominated for her powerful performances in 1997's Play On! and 2004's Caroline, or Change. Her screen credits include All My Children, 24, Gotham, Madam Secretary, Fear the Walking Dead and God Friended Me. It was recently announced that she will appear in the Adrienne Warren-led Women of the Movement Series. Pinkins is also the writer, director and producer of the upcoming political thriller Red Pill, which will premiere next month at the all-virtual Pan African Film Festival, the largest Black film festival in the United States. Below, read her tribute to a woman who made her feel  success was possible.

Pinkins on Waters: "Ethel Waters was America’s first multi-hyphenate super star. She worked in every entertainment medium for six decades. She was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for the film Pinky (1949). She was the first African American to star on her own television show and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Her recording contract with Harry Pace made her the highest paid Black recording artist at the time. Waters was the first Black woman to appear on Broadway with an all-white cast in Irving Berlin’s As Thousands Cheer. Waters was the first African American to star in a television series, Beulah which aired on ABC in 1950. Three of her recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and her recording of 'Stormy Weather' was listed in the National Recording Registry by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress in 2003. In her lifetime, she appeared on stage more than 20 times, had 25 Top 20 songs and starred in 21 movies and TV programs. Her autobiography, His Eye Is On The Sparrow, was published in 1951. In 1971, she performed at the White House. Waters died on September 1, 1977 at the age of 80. On September 1, 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor. I have tried to create a show based upon her extraordinary life, however the rights to her autobiography and to her life story were granted to the Billy Graham Foundation. Because Ethel died in the home of friend of mine’s family, I have had access to private photos, journals that may allow me to write that story one day anyway."