Black Hollywood Starlet & Model Vera Francis 1950s Cabaret Photograph
Item History & Price
ITEM: This is a 1950s vintage and original photograph of African-American Hollywood sensation and later boulevard of broken dreams archetype Vera Francis. The model and actress is pictured in a leg-baring flamenco dress and standing at the top center of the stage stairs during a nightclub / cabaret performance.
This photograph comes from the personal archives of Vera Francis (who was also known as 'Veijah' or 'Vijah'). A voluptuous mid-century model and actress who began i...n the business as a way to pay for college, Francis found some fame as a pin-up and cover model. A staple on the social pages of newspapers and magazines, her looks led her to some acting jobs, from the silver screen to theatre roles (notably as "The Girl", Marilyn Monroe's iconic part, in a stage production of "The Seven Year Itch"). Her Hollywood aspirations were cut short in 1957 after she was blacklisted from the screen for allegedly selling stories to the scandalous tabloid Confidential about the inappropriate behavior of her often white co-stars and superiors. The real tragedy of her career though is that despite appearing in movies throughout the early 1950s and being splashed upon magazine covers (Jet and Ebony notably) for her breakthrough role in "The President's Lady, " a story about the interracial affairs of American president Andrew Jackson, her name isn't even featured in IMDb for many of her known parts. The combination of her outspoken personality and the scarcity of roles for Black actresses in 1950s Hollywood meant that she disappeared quickly from the scene. However, she retained a lot of her allure in African American theatre communities, performing in touring productions throughout the 1950s and 1960s and appearing in cabarets and as a model and pitch woman mostly in Jamaica where she appears to have made her home since 1957.
Photograph measures 10" x 8" on a glossy single weight paper stock.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
This photograph comes from the personal archives of Vera Francis (who was also known as 'Veijah' or 'Vijah'). A voluptuous mid-century model and actress who began i...n the business as a way to pay for college, Francis found some fame as a pin-up and cover model. A staple on the social pages of newspapers and magazines, her looks led her to some acting jobs, from the silver screen to theatre roles (notably as "The Girl", Marilyn Monroe's iconic part, in a stage production of "The Seven Year Itch"). Her Hollywood aspirations were cut short in 1957 after she was blacklisted from the screen for allegedly selling stories to the scandalous tabloid Confidential about the inappropriate behavior of her often white co-stars and superiors. The real tragedy of her career though is that despite appearing in movies throughout the early 1950s and being splashed upon magazine covers (Jet and Ebony notably) for her breakthrough role in "The President's Lady, " a story about the interracial affairs of American president Andrew Jackson, her name isn't even featured in IMDb for many of her known parts. The combination of her outspoken personality and the scarcity of roles for Black actresses in 1950s Hollywood meant that she disappeared quickly from the scene. However, she retained a lot of her allure in African American theatre communities, performing in touring productions throughout the 1950s and 1960s and appearing in cabarets and as a model and pitch woman mostly in Jamaica where she appears to have made her home since 1957.
Photograph measures 10" x 8" on a glossy single weight paper stock.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
