"No Place for Me:" Fredi Washington and the Confines of Racial Casting during Hollywood's Golden Era.

"No Place for Me:" Fredi Washington and the Confines of Racial Casting during Hollywood's Golden Era" It was widely accepted that Fredi Washington (1903-1994) in her few starring roles, was an electrifying presence on the screen. Yet her career as an actor was interrupted and sidelined due to narrowly defined racial proscriptions and "types" that excluded the racially ambiguous Washington. In this paper, I will examine the rhetorics of racial casting in 1930s Hollywood, commonly referred to as the "Golden era" as it applied to this promising star. I argue that the very elements that created a "golden" time for the expansion and glorification of its image, made Hollywood a dreadful place for talented but uncompromising black actors like Washington. Included in this discussion is the interplay of her biography and political sensibilities juxtaposed with her film career. The main source for this essay and other in progress work on Washington, is her personal papers and letters in which the full dimension of her frustration, talent, and political sentiments are revealed. The paper concludes with a comparative look at the careers of her black and white contemporaries in order to fully understand the rewards and punishment of Hollywood's codified racial casting during this era. Audrey Thomas McCluskey Indiana University April 17, 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]