Evelyn Ellis
Actor, Director, Educator
1894-1958
Years:
Affiliations:
Lafayette Theatre, Broadway, Federal Theatre Project
Boston, New York, Gordon Heights
Locations:
Connections:
Rose McClendon, Venezella Jones, Sheldon B. Hoskins
Evelyn Ellis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 2, 1894 and became known as a "star" with the Lafayette Players (Harlem) in 1919. Her most famous performance was Bess in PORGY, which she performed on Broadway and toured internationally. Evelyn directed HORSE PLAY by Dorothy Hailparn, "a play for children and adults too" with the "Children's Theatre Unit of the Negro Theatre" with the Federal Theatre Project. Evelyn was hired by Sheldon B Hoskins (whom she met when working with the Lafayette Players) to direct a production of LITTLE WOMEN in 1938 with junior department at the Negro Little Theatre.
Evelyn had a heart condition, and traveled with her cousin, Louise Adams Hall. The two of them were early settlers of Gordon Heights, a Black community on Long Island.
Evelyn continued to perform and direct on stage and in movies, including playing Hannah Thomas in Orson Welles' original Broadway production of NATIVE SON (1941), and directing and performing in the all-Black production of TOBACCO ROAD (1950).
In The Afro American Baltimore article, "Evelyn Ellis Playing with 'Native Son' from May 27, 1941, (below), it mentions "she also opened a dramatic school in Long Island for instructing youth in dramatic acting." We have not yet found additional information or references to this school.
In 1947, Evelyn and Sheldon B. Hoskins opened Penthouse Players in Harlem. (See more in The African American Theatre Directory, 1816-1960)
