Nina Mae McKinney
Actor
1912 - 1967
Profession
ActorDancerSinger
Hometown
Lancaster, SC
Overview
At just 16 years old, Nina Mae McKinney was plucked out of a Broadway chorus line to star in the all-Black musical Hallelujah (1929), making her Hollywood’s first Black female lead and earning her a contract at MGM. But, as Fayard Nicholas would later say, she came into the industry “too early.”—segregated 1930s Hollywood offered few opportunities for a Black leading lady-type like McKinney. Her legacy blazed the trail for other glamorous Black actresses, like Dorothy Dandridge and Lena Horne.
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About the Filmography
The selected filmography for the years 1897–1971 includes works featured in the exhibition and others that are considered historically, socially, or politically relevant. Hollywood productions are generally excluded; the focus is instead on independent films, particularly the work of Black filmmakers. Black Academy Award nominees and winners are noted. This filmography was compiled using the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and various filmographies, including those by Klotman, Richards, and Hyatt. Primary production materials and contemporaneous film reviews were also consulted. Complete credits for many of the films are unavailable. All films are US productions unless otherwise noted, and distribution credits refer to the original distributors.