May 3, 1967, New York City, New York, United States
Spouse
Jimmy Monroe
Fact
Was going to star in The Duke Is Tops (1938) as Ethel Andrews, but she became sick while in Australia performing, and the role was given to Lena Horne; that movie made Horne a star.
Nina Mae McKinney was born in 1913 in South Carolina, the first child of James and Eliza McKinney. Her father was a sharecropper and her mother was a domestic worker. Nina Mae had four brothers and sisters. She attended a one-room schoolhouse for her primary education. When she was eleven years old, she moved to New York City to live with her aunt. In New York, she attended the High School of Music & Art.
Nina Mae began her career as a dancer in the Cotton Club revue. She went on to star in several Broadway musicals, including Blackbirds of 1928 and Shuffle Along. In 1930, she made her film debut in the all-black cast movie, Hallelujah!. Nina Mae’s breakout role came in 1932, when she starred in the Oscar-nominated film, The Green Pastures. She was one of the first black actresses to achieve mainstream success in Hollywood.
During the 1930s, Nina Mae appeared in several more films, including Emperor Jones and She Done Him Wrong. She also toured Europe with the all-black revue, Blackbirds of 1930. In 1934, she married bandleader Kenneth Spencer. The couple had one child together before divorcing in 1940.
Nina Mae’s career began to decline in the 1940s. She appeared in only a handful of films during this decade. In 1950, she starred in the short-lived television series, The Nina Mae McKinney Show. During the 1950s and 1960s, she mostly worked as a nightclub singer.
Nina Mae McKinney died of a heart attack in 1967 at the age of 54.
General Info
Full Name
Nina Mae McKinney
Died
May 3, 1967, New York City, New York, United States
Height
1.6 m
Profession
Actor
Nationality
American
Family
Spouse
Jimmy Monroe
Parents
Hal McKinney, Georgia McKinney
Accomplishments
Movies
Pinky, Night Train to Memphis, The Devil's Daughter, Pie, Pie Blackbird, Safe in Hell, Hallelujah
The Negro artists went to Europe because we were recognized and given a chance. In Europe they had your name up in lights. people in the United States would not give us that chance.
2
You just tell me one Ngro girl who's made movies who didn't play a maid or a whore. I don't know any.
Facts
#
Fact
1
King Vidor offered the youthful teenage McKinney the leading actress role in "Hallelujah" when intended star Ethel Waters proved unavailable for undetermined reasons. Ironically, two decades later, McKinney played a decidedly supporting role in "Pinky," a film in which Waters was Oscar-nominated.
2
In 1978 she received a posthumous award from the American Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
3
Was going to star in The Duke Is Tops (1938) as Ethel Andrews, but she became sick while in Australia performing, and the role was given to Lena Horne; that movie made Horne a star.
Pictures
Movies
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Copper Canyon
1950
Theresa (uncredited)
Pinky
1949
Rozelia
Danger Street
1947
Veronica
Night Train to Memphis
1946
Maid
Mantan Messes Up
1946
Nina
The Power of the Whistler
1945
Flotilda, Constantina's Maid (uncredited)
Together Again
1944
Maid in Nightclub Powder Room (uncredited)
Dark Waters
1944
Florella
Swanee Showboat
1940
Short
Nina McKinney (as Nina McKinney)
Straight to Heaven
1939
Ida Williams
The Devil's Daughter
1939
Isabelle Walton
Gang Smashers
1938
Laura Jackson
On Velvet
1938
Singer
The Lonely Trail
1936
Dancer (uncredited)
The Black Network
1936
Short
Nina Mae McKinney
Reckless
1935
Nina Mae McKinney - Singer
Sanders of the River
1935
Lilongo
Kentucky Minstrels
1934
uncredited
Passing the Buck
1932
Short
Pie, Pie Blackbird
1932
Short
Miss Nina
Safe in Hell
1931
Leonie - the Hotel Manager
They Learned About Women
1930
Specialty Singer (uncredited)
Manhattan Serenade
1929
Short
Singer / Dancer
Hallelujah
1929
Chick
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical
2008
Video documentary performer: "Swanee Shuffle" - uncredited
The Black Network
1936
Short performer: "Half of Me Wants to Be Good" - uncredited
Reckless
1935
performer: "Reckless" 1935
Pie, Pie Blackbird
1932
Short performer: "It Takes a Blackbird to Make the Sweetest Kind of Pie", "Everything I've Got Belongs to You" - uncredited
Safe in Hell
1931
performer: "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" 1931 - uncredited
They Learned About Women
1930
"Harlem Madness" 1929, uncredited
Manhattan Serenade
1929
Short performer: "Harlem Heaven" - uncredited
Hallelujah
1929
" Gimme Dat Old Time Religion", uncredited / performer: "Swanee Shuffle" 1929, "St. Louis Blues" 1914 - uncredited
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
BBC: The Voice of Britain
1935
Documentary
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Classified X
1998
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood