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Bessie Smith Movie Airs Saturday On HBO

  • Wednesday, May 13, 2015
  • John Shearer
Chattanoogans who want to learn more about blues legend and native daughter Bessie Smith will have a chance Saturday when a new biopic movie, “Bessie,” airs on HBO at 8 p.m.

Starring Queen Latifah in the title role, the movie traces the life of Ms. Smith from struggling young singer into the “Empress of the Blues,” who was the highest paid black female entertainer in the United States in the 1920s.

The film, put together by filmmaker Dee Rees, has been more than 20 years in production and planning.

Ms.
Smith was born in the Blue Goose Hollow section of Chattanooga near the present Riverfront Parkway and M.L. King Boulevard in the 1890s and had her start singing on street corners for coins.

After leaving Chattanooga, she became quite successful until the Great Depression hit in the 1930s. She died following a car crash in Mississippi in 1937 and was buried in her adult hometown of Philadelphia.

The annual Bessie Smith Strut on M.L. King Boulevard that is part of the Riverbend Festival honors her legacy. Queen Latifah, who has also performed in the Riverbend Festival, has said in promotion interviews for the movie that she knew little about Ms. Smith when she was approached about the role in the pre-Internet days. As a result, much of her initial research involved listening to Ms. Smith's music, she said.

More information on the movie can be found at http://bessiethemovie.com.
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