Sheila Guyse (born Etta Drucille Guyse; July 14, 1925 – December 28, 2013) was an American singer and actress who performed on stage and screen during the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life

Sheila Guyse was born in

Forest, Mississippi Forest is a city and the county seat of Scott County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,684 at the 2010 census and the population is a minority-majority. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a tot ...

on July 14, 1925. She moved with her parents in 1945 to

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

, where she worked at a dime store on 125th Street, across from the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

. Guyse first got her start in show business by performing in amateur shows, as was common among African-American performers of the time. She made her nightclub debut in 1945 at Club Zombie in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Race films

Guyse had a sultry "girl-next-door" appeal which she showcased in three independent all-Black films (so-called "

race film 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 ...

s") of the late 1940s: '' Boy! What a Girl!'' (1947), '' Sepia Cinderella'' (1947, co-starring with

Billy Daniels William Boone Daniels (September 12, 1915 – October 7, 1988) was an American singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of " That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on ...

), and '' Miracle in Harlem'' (1948) giving impressive performances in all of them. She also appeared in the "Harlem Follies of 1949" and in a 1957 television adaptation of the play ''

The Green Pastures ''The Green Pastures'' is a play written in 1929 by Marc Connelly adapted from '' Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun'' (1928), a collection of stories written by Roark Bradford. The play was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. It ha ...

''.

Broadway

Guyse was not an experienced or trained actress but she was a natural talent. She made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

debut in the stage production '' Memphis Bound'', which opened in 1945. She was selected to play the female lead opposite

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black entertainer in the United States during the first half of the 20 ...

. The show closed after 36 performances. She also appeared in the Broadway stage productions ''

Lost in the Stars ''Lost in the Stars'' is a musical theatre, musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway in 19 ...

'' and ''

Finian's Rainbow ''Finian's Rainbow'' is a musical with a book by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane, produced by Lee Sabinson. The original 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances, while a film version was re ...

'', which were both long-running. ''Lost in the Stars'' won an Outer Circle Critics Award. Guyse contributed to cast recordings for these productions.

Magazines

Sheila Guyse was popular in the 1940s and 1950s, and graced many covers of publications such as '' Jet'', ''

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'', and '' Our World''. She also was known to grace the cover of a magazine called ''

Hue In color theory, hue is one of the properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as ...

.''

Marriages

Sheila Guyse was married three times. She married and divorced Shelby Irving Miller, and their union produced one daughter, Sheila Crystal Miller. Guyse's most publicized marriage, however, was to her second husband, Kenneth Davis. The couple was featured in the article "Negro Women with White Husbands" in the February 1952 issue of '' Jet''. Guyse and Davis met on the set of ''

'', where Davis was a dancer. They married in Philadelphia, but spent the majority of their marriage in the

Bronx, NY The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. In 1954 Ken Davis and Sheila Guyse announced that they would end their marriage. In 1958 Guyse married Joseph Jackson, a sanitation worker in New York, and they had two children: Deidre Jean Jackson and Michael Jackson. Guyse later became a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...

due to her marriage to Jackson. The couple remained married until his death in 2012.William Yardley
"Sheila Guyse, Singer and Star in ‘Race Movies,’ Dies at 88"
''The New York Times'', January 15, 2014.

Health

Shelia Guyse's health played a very important role in her career as a performer and entertainer. She struggled with her health many times throughout her career which caused her to turn down various roles and even take time away from the entertainment industry. In 1953, she was diagnosed with stomach ulcers a day after she had accepted a role in the

stage production ''Mile High.'' She later came back to the entertainment industry in 1958 to record her only studio album, ''This is Sheila''. Although she attempted to make a career comeback she struggled to get back into industry. She died of complications due to

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

on December 28, 2013, at the age of 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guyse, Shelia 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 1925 births 2013 deaths African-American actresses American film actresses People from Forest, Mississippi Actresses from Mississippi Actresses from New York City Singers from Mississippi Singers from New York City American stage actresses 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women