Ted Sarandos

Miky Lee

Kimberly Steward

Jim Gianopulos

Patricia Bellinger Balzer

Jason Blum

Arnaud Boetsch

Laura Dern

David Dolby

Sidonie Seydoux Dumas

Sid Ganis

Olivier de Givenchy

Ray Halbritter

Tom Hanks

Dawn Hudson

Bill Kramer

David Linde

Eva Longoria

Ryan Murphy

Dominic Ng

Katherine L. Oliver

Alejandro Ramírez Magaña

David Rubin

Regina K. Scully

Emma Thomas

Kevin Yeaman

Doris Berger

Donald Bogle

Cara Caddoo

Rhea L. Combs

Terri Simone Francis

Michael Boyce Gillespie

Whoopi Goldberg

J. Raúl Guzmán

Shola Lynch

Ron Magliozzi

Ellen C. Scott

Jacqueline Stewart

Gary Dauphin

Lauren Girard

Erwin Hines

Yosuke Kitazawa

Kit Masaracchia

Adriana Siu de Olaso

Emily Rauber Rodriguez

Mike Schiro

Agnes Stauber

Chandini Tirunagaru

Connor Uretsky

Mike Vazquez

Savannah West

Dan Yalg

Something Good Negro Kiss

Bert Williams and Odessa Warren Grey in Lime Kiln Club Field Day (dir. Edwin Middleton, T. Hays Hunter, 1913), film stills. Courtesy Museum of Modern Art.

Bert Williams and Odessa Warren Grey in Lime Kiln Club Field Day

Louise Beavers in Reform School (dir. Leo C. Popkin, 1939), film still. Courtesy Academy Film Archive.

Fredi Washington (center) and Duke Ellington and his band in Black and Tan (1929). Core Collection, Production Files, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences


Fredi Washington (center) and Duke Ellington and his band in Black and Tan (1929)

Bill Robinson and Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943). Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Sidney Poitier with Diahann Carroll in Paris Blues (1961)

I am Somebody

Nina-Mae-McKinney Updated

Nina Mae McKinney

With her starring role in MGM’s all-Black musical Hallelujah (1929), Nina Mae McKinney became Hollywood’s first major, Black leading lady and set the tone for future tempestuous, romantic leads. Due to restrictions against depicting interracial relationships on screen through the 1960s, Black actresses could only be paired romantically with Black actors. The few leading ladies that emerged over this era shared similar characteristics; like McKinney, most were young, slender, and light-skinned, reflecting Hollywood’s racist beauty standards.

Photograph of Abbey Lincoln

Abbey Lincoln

Paired with Ivan Dixon in Nothing But a Man (1964) and with Sidney Poitier in For Love of Ivy (1968).

Photograph of Diahnn Carrol

Diahann Carroll

Diahann Carroll (Nina Mae McKinney)

Paired with Sidney Poitier in Paris Blues (1964) and with James Earl Jones in Claudine (1974).

Photograph of Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge (Nina Mae McKinney)

Paired twice with Harry Belafonte, in Bright Road (1953) and Carmen Jones (1954) and with Sidney Poitier in Porgy and Bess (1959).

Photograph of Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt (Nina Mae McKinney)

Paired with Sammy Davis Jr. in Anna Lucasta (1958).

Photograph of Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters (Nina Mae McKinney)

Ethel Waters would be claimed as a queer icon by later generations and lived openly with her partner, dancer Ethel Williams in the 1920s. (The two were known as “The Two Ethels.” On-screen, she would be paired with Sammy Davis Jr. in Rufus Jones for President (1933) and would be part of a love triangle in Cabin in the Sky (1943) with Lena Horne and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson.

Photograph of Lena Horne

Lena Horne

Lena Horne (Nina Mae McKinney)

Paired with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson in Stormy Weather (1943), and found herself in a love triangle with Ethel Waters and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson in Cabin in the Sky (1943).

Photograph of Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee (Nina Mae McKinney)

Paired with Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) and with Sidney Poitier in Buck and the Preacher (1972).

Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 is the recipient of the 2018 Sotheby’s Prize. The Sotheby’s Prize was founded to support and encourage museums to break new ground by recognizing curatorial excellence and facilitating an upcoming exhibition that explores overlooked or underrepresented art history. The Sotheby’s Prize was awarded by a jury of museum curators and directors comprising Sir Nicholas Serota, Donna De Salvo, Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019), Connie Butler, Emilie Gordenker, and chaired by Allan Schwartzman.

Regeneration is made possible in part by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Technology solutions generously provided by Christie®.

Lead support provided by Campari® and J. P. Morgan Private Bank.

Generous support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and Octavia Spencer.

Accompanying exhibition catalogue supported in part by a grant from Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Academy Film Archive restorations are funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation.

Academy Museum Digital Engagement Platform sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies.