- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186366", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc Photo Ernestine McClendon Photographs Collection", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23411590", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1936-1986", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1936/1986"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Ernestine McClendon photographs"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"4 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.38 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Ernestine McClendon was an actress and comedian who was best known as the first Black theatrical agent in New York City. She started her agency, McClendon Enterprises, after a one-woman 1960 letter writing campaign to acting agencies and product manufacturers, compelling them to use Black actors and actresses in commercials. McClendon's collection showcases her performances on stage, her career as an agent, and her social life with partner George Wiltshire via professional headshots, contact sheets, resumes, newspaper clippings, programs, and theatre production photographs."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"McClendon, Ernestine, 1913-1991", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Ernestine McClendon née Epps was born on August 17, 1914 to Edward E. Epps and Lillie Warren in Norfolk, Virginia. She studied at Virginia State College before moving to New York City, where she studied acting with Michael Howard at Columbia University from 1935 to 1936. She married Horace McClendon on December 27, 1937. They separated shortly thereafter. McClendon was living with actor George Wiltshire by 1950, and together they adopted a daughter, Phyllis (born 1948), in the early- to mid-1950s. McClendon and Wiltshire remained together until his death in 1976.</p> <p>McClendon began her career as a television actress in 1950 with roles in <span class=\"title\">No Time for Comedy</span> and the <span class=\"title\">Schlitz Playhouse of Stars</span> episode \"Lady with a Will.\" She also appeared with Wiltshire and Dewey \"Pigmeat\" Markham on <span class=\"title\">The Ed Sullivan Show</span>. In addition to television roles, McClendon appeared in theatre productions and film, performing in <span class=\"title\">Time Out for Ginger</span> (1958), <span class=\"title\">Deep Are the Roots</span> (1959), <span class=\"title\">Raisin in the Sun</span> (1960), and <span class=\"title\">The Grass Harp</span> (1960-1961). Her film credits include <span class=\"title\">A Face in the Crowd</span> (1957), <span class=\"title\">The Apartment</span> (1960), <span class=\"title\">The Rat Race</span> (1960), and <span class=\"title\">The Mother</span> (1961). McClendon was also active in summer stock.</p> <p>In 1960, after Phyllis noticed a Black actor in a television commercial, McClendon launched a one-woman letter writing campaign to acting agencies and product manufacturers, imploring them to hire Black actors and actresses in their commercials. She initially sent 100 letters, but when the answers were largely unsatisfactory, McClendon mailed roughly 400 more letters. In these letters, she emphasized the overlooked economic impact of Black consumers. As the agencies and manufacturers started to agree to use Black talent in their commercials, McClendon evolved from actress to agent and founded McClendon Enterprises, opening her office in 1962. By late 1968, she was managing approximately forty clients, both Black and white.</p> <p>In addition to being the first Black theatrical agent in New York City, McClendon was also the first woman in her field to be franchised by all four acting unions at the time—the American Guild of Variety Artists, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity, and the Screen Actors Guild—as a theatrical agent.</p> <p>In 1971, the McClendon-Wiltshires moved to Los Angeles after McClendon was injured in a serious car accident. She opened a West Coast office of McClendon Enterprises, but was forced to close the New York office when Wiltshire, who had been running the business while McClendon was recovering, fell ill in 1972. Some of McClendon's clients included Morgan Freeman, Gloria Foster, Raymond St. Jacques, and Giancarlo Esposito.</p> <p>McClendon closed her agency in 1980 and returned to performing. She appeared in the television series <span class=\"title\">Remington Steele</span> (1983) and the mini-series <span class=\"title\">Atlanta Child Murders</span> (1985); movies <span class=\"title\">Homer and Eddie</span> (1989) and <span class=\"title\">Secret Agent 00 Soul</span> (1990); and made her debut as a stand-up comedian in 1984, at the age of 71.</p> <p>Ernestine McClendon passed away on September 23, 1991 at the age of 77 in Los Angeles, California.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Ernestine McClendon photographs date from 1936 to 1986 and are arranged by topic into: Productions, McClendon Enterprises, and Personal.</p> <p>Productions showcase McClendon's time as an actress via production photographs, contact sheets, headshots, resumes, and programs. Materials have been arranged alphabetically by title or photographer, if known, and document her work in both New York City and Los Angeles. Unidentified productions are held at the end. Of particular note are photographs of McClendon debuting as a stand-up comedian in 1984, including a photograph of her name headlining a Los Angeles theatre marquee.</p> <p>The photographs, clippings, and contact sheets in McClendon Enterprises depict McClendon at work in her New York offices, and are arranged by subject. Photographs of a 1962 party celebrating the opening of the New York office and McClendon attending performances with her clients are present. Also of note are contact sheets for a 1969 multi-page spread in <span class=\"title\">Ebony Magazine</span> about McClendon's work as a talent agent.</p> <p>Personal photographs are arranged by subject and contain photographs, clippings of social events, friends and family, and parties. Headshots, performance photographs, and candid photographs of George Wiltshire are held here, frequently with his longtime comedic partner, Dewey \"Pigmeat\" Markham. Wiltshire was an avid collector of signed headshots of actors, comedians, and musicians, and these are also held here.</p> <p>This collection contains photographs of Black performers in blackface and in minstrel shows. These are held together in a single folder at the end of the Personal photographs. Many are inscribed to George Wiltshire.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Ernestine McClendon in 1995.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photographs transferred from the Ernestine McClendon papers in Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books, Schomburg Center.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Em Longan</span> in <span class=\"date\">2024</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1936
- keydate
-
1936
- date_end
-
1986
- date_inclusive_start
-
1936
- date_inclusive_end
-
1986
- extent_statement
-
1.38 linear feet (4 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Ernestine McClendon photographs, Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}