Give Ethel Waters a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Who?

Oh, hush, I’m going to tell you.

By the end of it, you’ll be as certain that Ethel Waters deserves a star on the Walk of Fame as you are that Rin Tin Tin didn’t.

Here are her credentials, as lovingly forwarded to me by her band of supporters:

*First to sing “Stormy Weather” into history on the radio in 1933

*First African-American to star in a Broadway play (Mamba’s Daughters, 1939)

*First African-American actress to star in a television series (Beulah, 1950)

*First African-American nominated for an Emmy Award (Route 66 in 1962)

*Second African-American nominated for an Oscar (Pinky)

*First international hit song by an African-American: “Dinah”

*First woman to scat. Ethel began scatting before it was called scat! (And I don’t want to hear any scat jokes, please.)

*Stage credits included Stormy Weather, As Thousands Cheer, and Cabin in the Sky.

*Films include Member of the Wedding and The Sound and the Fury.

Oh, and let me personally add that she was reportedly mean to younger, prettier African-Americans in some of her movies.

Doesn’t that certify her diva status as much as anything?