Sammy Davis Jr. and Son

Sammy Davis Jr. and his son Mark in 1964. Photo: Leonard McCombe/Time-Life Pictures.

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Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis Armstrong's stage personality matched his flashy cornet and trumpet playing. Armstrong is also known for his raspy singing voice. Text From Wikipedia

Photo by Samkling, Flickr

Paul Robeson

Paul Leroy Robeson (April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976) was an American singer and actor who was a political activist for the Civil Rights Movement. c.1938  Wikipedia

National Archives of Canada | photo Yousuf Karsh

Billie Holiday

One thing is clear, Billie Holiday loved dogs! Here she is with her chihuahua, Pepi, in 1957. photographer Bob Willoughby/Redferns.

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Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson,  (April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976) majestic singer and actor, brilliant scholar and athlete, fierce political activist and all-around renaissance man. He is seen here in 1925 in a photo by the famed British photographer Alex Stewart Sasha. Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis.

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Jessie Mathews

Jessie Mathews in a Noel Coward Revue - UK - 24 March 1928

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Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday post by anna-dee

last.fm/music

Odetta Holmes

Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement".

Jeanette MacDonald

Jeanette MacDonald in San Francisco (1936)

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Ada Smith Ducongé

Bricktop outside of her famous Montmartre club.

Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, better known as Bricktop, (August 14, 1894 — February 1, 1984) was an American dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper who owned the nightclub Chez Bricktop in Paris. (Photographed in Paris on June 22, 1934) 

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Rita Rio

Rita Rio and Her Orchestra 1939

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Mr. and Mrs. Paul Robeson

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Robeson waving from SS Majestic: Paul Robeson, the Black singer and actor, is shown with Mrs. Robeson, as they arrived in New York City from Europe aboard the S. S. Majestic. He was on his way to Hollywood to appear in movies there.

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Eartha Kitt

 Eartha Mae Kitt (January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby".

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Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge

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Polaire

Polaire was her stage name, (Emilie Marie Bouchaud),  May 14, 1874 – October 14, 1939,Polaire's career in the entertainment industry stretched from the early 1890s to the mid-1930s, and encompassed the range from music-hall singer to stage and film actress. Her most successful period professionally was from the mid-1890s to the beginning of the First World War. 

Source: lowmorale

Ivor Novello

David Ivor Davies (15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951), better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.

Source: staticflickr

Betti Mays

Betti Mays was a dancer, singer and popular chorus girl in the 1940's. She  appeared in soundies and films. 

Source: flickrhivemind

Judy Garland

Judy Garland, (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969), at age nine.

Source: paperspots

Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson, (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993) was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. ca. 1939

Source: cthistoryonline | Connecticut History Online | Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library

Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor, (January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964), born Edward Israel Iskowitz, in New York City. After becoming a smash hit in vaudeville, Ziegfeld signed him for his Midnight Frolics and then the Follies of his Midnight Frolics and then the Follies of 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1923.  From there he went to films in the 1920s, starring in Whoopee, Kid from Spain and Kid Millions. Eddie Cantor was an American  performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter.

Source: ziegfeldgrrl