Laura Bowman (October 3, 1881 – March 29, 1957) was an American stage, radio, and film actress.Tanner, Jo A.
"Bowman, Laura"
. In Hine, Darlene Clark, ed. ''Black Women in America: Theater Arts and Entertainment'', Encyclopedia of Black Women in America. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1997. ''African-American History Online''. Facts On File, Inc.

Early life and stage career

Bowman was born in

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ) is a city in Adams County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Mississippi River, the population was 39,463 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 40,633 in 2010. The Quincy, Illinois, mic ...

, and grew up in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. She performed in ''

In Dahomey ''In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy'' is a landmark 1903 American musical comedy described by theatre historian Gerald Bordman as "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house."Bordman, ...

'' in London with her common-law husband,

Pete Hampton Pete George Hampton (August 7, 1871 – March 16, 1916) was an American vocalist, harmonicist, banjo player, and vaudevillian from Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was part of various Vaudeville groups of which the most important was his own Dar ...

, in the early 1900s. She joined the Lafayette Players, a

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

acting troupe, in 1916 and worked with them on and off for several years.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1881 births 1957 deaths 20th-century American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses American film actresses American stage actresses People from Quincy, Illinois Actresses from Illinois {{US-theat-actor-1880s-stub