Nina Mae McKinney (Born 12 June 1913 Lancaster, South Carolina, USA and died 3 May 1967 New York, New York, USA) was an American actress known for her leading role in Hallelujah! (1929), she was one of the first African-American film stars and is believed to be the first black person to appear on British television. June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... The film Hallelujah! (1929) was an MGM musical directed by King Vidor and starring Daniel L. Hayes and the then unknown Nina Mae McKinney. ... An African American (also Afro-American or Black American, or black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...

McKinney moved to New York when still a teenager and began her career performing as a dancer; she was spotted dancing in The Blackbirds of 1928 by the director King Vidor and cast in the lead role of Hallelujah!, one of the first all-black films by a major studio and Vidor's first sound film, for which he was nominated for the best directors Oscar in 1930. In the film McKinney dances the "Swanee Shuffle", a seductive dance which became a minor fashion. King Wallis Vidor (February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director. ... Academy Awards The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States. ...

After Hallelujah! McKinney signed a five year contract with MGM but this was not a success; they seemed reluctant to star her in feature films; her most notable roles during this period were in films for other studios, including a leading role in Sanders of the River (1935) where she appears with Paul Robeson. After MGM cut almost all her scenes in Reckless (1935) she left Hollywood for Europe where she acted and danced, appearing mostly in theatrical shows and caberet. She returned to the USA at the start of World War Two where she married Jimmy Monroe, a jazz musician. After the war she moved to Athens, Greece and lived there until she returned to New York in 1960. MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... USPS Black Heritage stamp Paul Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was a multi-lingual American actor, athlete, bass-baritone concert singer, writer, and radical civil rights activist. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

In 1978 she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

External links

• Nina Mae McKinney on the Internet Movie Database
• Biography on screenonline.org
• On sandlapper.org a local history magazine
• A Nina Mae McKinney fansite