Variety: Juanita Moore, who broke barriers for African-American actors and was Oscar-nommed for 1959′s “Imitation of Life,” died Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles. Her step-grandson, actor Kirk Kahn, said she was 99. Hat tip to Doc Quatermass.
Sad that the 'Variety' obit as well as Wikipedia fail to list her Rodgers & Hammerstein roles as Auntie Liang in "Flower Drum Song" and--especially--Bloody Mary in "South Pacific", You'd think singing 'Bali Hai' would get a mention. I suspect the omission is because that film historians have decided that Moore's performances, because she was a African-American actress playing Asian or Polynesian roles, are now politically incorrect. She was wonderful as Bloody Mary.
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Sad that the 'Variety' obit as well as Wikipedia fail to list her Rodgers & Hammerstein roles as Auntie Liang in "Flower Drum Song" and--especially--Bloody Mary in "South Pacific", You'd think singing 'Bali Hai' would get a mention.
I suspect the omission is because that film historians have decided that Moore's performances, because she was a African-American actress playing Asian or Polynesian roles, are now politically incorrect.
She was wonderful as Bloody Mary.
The "Bali Hai" scene is unforgettable for at least some of us.
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