Linda Hopkins (born Melinda Helen Matthews; December 14, 1924 – April 10, 2017) was an American actress and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

singer. She recorded classic, traditional, and urban blues, and performed R&B and soul, jazz, and show tunes.

Biography

Hopkins was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the second child of the Reverend Fred Matthews, Sr. and Hazel Smith, Hopkins grew up in the section of New Orleans known by the locals as "Zion City". She went to school in "Gert Town" which bordered the

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

. Known as "Lil Helen Matthews" as a child, she was discovered at the age of eleven by

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...

when she persuaded Jackson to perform at a fundraiser at her home church, St. Mark's Baptist Church. Lil Helen opened the children's fundraising program with a rendition of Jackson's gospel hit, "God Shall Wipe Your Tears Away". Jackson was reportedly so impressed by Helen's determination and talent that she arranged for the young girl to join the Southern Harp Spiritual Singers in 1936. Hopkins remained with the group for a decade. She first saw

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...

perform ''Empty Bed Blues'' at The New Orleans Palace Theatre in 1936. Hopkins greatly admired Smith and later won critical plaudits for her rendition of Smith in the 1959 theatrical presentation ''Jazz Train''. Matthews left

in the 1950s, and, in 1951, began performing at Slim Jenkins' Night Club in the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

/ Richmond area. There she met

Johnny Otis Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes (Greek language, Greek: Ιωάννης Αλέξανδρος Βελιώτης)); December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was a Greek American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, ...

and Little Esther Phillips who created her stage name, Linda Hopkins. In 1952, Hopkins toured

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for two years which included a stint with

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

at The Brown Derby in

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. She recorded for the

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, Crystalette, Forecast, Federal and

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

labels and often appeared at the Apollo Theatre 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 ...

. In 1960, Hopkins first toured Europe in the ''Broadway Express'', the restaged production of ''Jazz Train''. She recorded " Shake a Hand" with Jackie Wilson on the Brunswick label, which is her sole hit single reaching #21 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. She also recorded "I Found Love" and "There's Nothing Like Love" with him on Brunswick in early 1962. She attended

Stella Adler Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher. A member of Yiddish Theater's Adler dynasty, Adler began acting at a young age. She shifted to producing, directing, and teaching, founding the ...

's Acting School in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. During the 1970s, Hopkins performed in the Broadway musical, '' Purlie'', and with Sammy Davis Jr. for nine months. In addition, she performed at President Jimmy Carter's 1977 inaugural ball. In 1972 she was awarded a Tony and

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for her performance in ''Inner City''. She sang "Do You Believe" at the political event Star-Spangled Women for McGovern–Shriver, bringing 19,000 people to their feet. Hopkins starred in '' Me and Bessie'', a one-woman show paying homage to

singer

, conceived and written by Hopkins and Will Holt. The world premiere was in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1974. After a run in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

it transferred to the Ambassador Theatre on Broadway. The critically acclaimed show ran for thirteen months and 453 performances, and Hopkins was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. In 1985, '' Black and Blue'', written by Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli, premiered in Paris at the Théâtre Musical Paris. The musical revue opened on Broadway in 1989 and ran for 829 performances. Hopkins received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical. ''Wild Women Blues'', conceived by Hopkins and produced by Mel Howard and created by Hopkins and William Lipscomb, premiered in Berlin in 1997. In 1998 Hopkins celebrated 50 years in show business. In 2005, ''Motherin' The Blues: Linda Hopkins — The Continuing Legacy of The Blues Woman'', researched and written by Erany Barrow-Pryor, Ph.D. through the Department of English at University of California, Los Angeles, was published. In October 2005, Hopkins received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

. Hopkins died in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, on April 10, 2017, at the age of 92.

Discography

* ''Shake a Hand'' with Jackie Wilson (Brunswick, 1963) * ''Linda Hopkins'' (RCA Victor, 1972) * ''Me and Bessie'' (Columbia, 1976) * ''How Blue Can You Get'' (Palo Alto, 1983) * ''Here's the Kid: Live in Sesjun'' (Jazz Between the Dikes, 1994) * ''Mel Howard Presents: Wild Women Blues'' (DRG, 1999) * ''The Living Legend Live!'' (FreeHam, 2006)

Filmography

*2002: ''Cool Cat Theme Song'' with Derek Savage Productions *2003: ''Trolly the Trout Theme Song'' with Derek Savage Productions *2009: ''Linda Hopkins: Deep in the Night'' with

Eddie Harris Eddie Harris (October 20, 1934 – November 5, 1996) was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ. His best-k ...

and Paul Smith

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Linda 1924 births 2017 deaths Actresses from New Orleans American blues singers American gospel singers Drama Desk Award winners Singers from New Orleans Palo Alto Records artists Tony Award winners Baptists from Louisiana Baptists from New York (state) 20th-century Baptists 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women