Iris Hall (1892 – 1984) was a Barbadian-American actor. She appeared in leading roles in two

race films The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for African American, black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race ...

by the pioneering African-American director

Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and c ...

: ''

The Homesteader ''The Homesteader'' (1919) is a lost film, lost black-and-white silent film by African-American author and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. The film is based on his novel inspired by his experiences. Plot ''The Homesteader'' involves six principal cha ...

'' (1919) and '' The Symbol of the Unconquered'' (1920). Iris Hall was born on 1892 in Barbados. Her family emigrated to the United States when Hall was a teenager. She worked in

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 ...

as a singer, dancer, and beautician. She joined the Lafayette Players, a stock company of African-American stage actors, in 1916. She later joined African-American producer Sidney Perrin's company and appeared in ''Show Folks'' (1920) and ''High Flyers'' (1921). She also appeared in ''Strut, Miss Lizzie'' (1922)."CHICAGO SOCIETY" ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' (National edition) (1921-1967); Chicago, Ill.. 07 Oct 1922: 5. In ''The Homesteader,'' a now

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

, Hall played Agnes, the daughter of a white Scottish man who is unaware that her mother was

mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

. A black homesteader, Jean Baptiste, falls in love with her but they are unable to marry until he discovers she is black as well. Micheaux wrote of her in a letter: " A Miss Hall, sweet, tender, vivacious and clever - yet possessing all that which I have desired to play the sort of Agnes - can pass for white and is just the size. She has been with the Lafayette Stock Players for three years and has worked in movies as a maid with

Pauline Frederick Pauline Frederick (born Pauline Beatrice Libbey; August 12, 1883 – September 19, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey (later changed to Libby) in Boston in 1883 (some sources stat ...

and can make up fine." In ''The Symbol of the Unconquered,'' Hall played Eve Mason, who inherits land from her grandfather, a prospector. Though Eve is black, she is light-skinned enough that she often inadvertently passes for white. She is helped by her new neighbor, black prospector Hugh Van Allen, and they foil schemes to claim their land. After oil is discovered, Van Allen becomes a rich oil baron and Eve reveals to him she is black as well. She did not appear in any further films by Micheaux. Little is known of her life following her film career. Iris Hall died in 1984.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Iris Created via preloaddraft 1892 births 1984 deaths 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses