Olivette Miller

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Olivette Miller
Born(1914-02-02)February 2, 1914
Chicago, Illinois, US
DiedApril 27, 2003(2003-04-27) (aged 89)
North Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Other namesOlivette Miller-Briggs (after 1982)
OccupationMusician
Spouse(s)Sax Mallard, Bunny Briggs
Parent(s)Flournoy Miller, Bessie Oliver Miller
RelativesIrvin C. Miller (uncle)

Olivette N. Miller (February 2, 1914 – April 27, 2003), later Olivette Miller-Briggs, was an American musician, a swing harpist and singer.

Early life[edit]

Miller was born in Chicago (some sources say New York), the daughter of actor and writer Flournoy Miller and performer Bessie Oliver Miller.[1] Irvin C. Miller and Quintard Miller, both performers and producers, were her uncles.[2][3][4] She attended the Ethical Culture School in New York, and the East Greenwich Academy in Rhode Island. She pursued further studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She studied harp at Juilliard and in Paris with Marcel Tournier.[5][6]

Career[edit]

Four Black musicians in a small booth, three men and one woman (the harpist).
Gene Sedric, Cliff Jackson, Olivette Miller, and Josh White, Café Society (Downtown), New York, N.Y., ca. Mar. 1947 (William P. Gottlieb 15891)

Miller joined Noble Sissle's orchestra in 1937,[7] and toured with them in Europe with the USO during World War II.[5][8] She also played as a solo act,[9] and was billed as "the World's Greatest Swing Harpist" when she performed on tour and in Las Vegas in the 1940s and 1950s.[10][11][12] She appeared on Broadway in Africana (1934), on television on Toast of the Town (1955),[13] The Ed Sullivan Show (1962)and The Rosey Grier Show (1968), and in the film A Rage in Harlem (1991).

In 1972, Miller sued comedian Flip Wilson, Michael Jackson, and others for $500,000 for infringing on her father's intellectual property.[14] In 1974, she had a solo show in Reno. She wrote and tried to shepherd into production a biographical film about her father, focusing on how his comedy act was exploited by white producers.[15] In 1976 she wrote and co-produced The Show Folks, a syndicated situation comedy for television, starring her ex-husband, dancer Freddie Gordon, with Carole La Mond and DeForest Covan.[16]

Personal life[edit]

Olivette Miller was married numerous times, usually briefly. Her husbands were Orion N. Page (married 1930), Channing Price (married 1933), Athos B. Guy (married 1934), saxophonist Oett Mallard (married 1938), actor Freddie Gordon (divorced in 1952),[17] comedian Albert Gibson (married 1954),[13] Eric Darby, and tap dancer Bernard "Bunny" Briggs (married in 1982).[18][19] She had a son, Alvin Miller Mallard (1939–1943),[20] and daughter born in 1949.[6] Miller died in 2003, aged 89 years, in North Las Vegas, Nevada.[21] Her papers are part of the Flournoy E. Miller Papers at Emory University.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Olivette Miller Plays for Fisk University". California Eagle. 1948-06-10. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Flournoy Miller collection". New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  3. ^ Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (2004). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: K-Y. Taylor & Francis. pp. 792–798. ISBN 978-1-57958-458-0.
  4. ^ "Flournoy Miller's Daughter, Harpist Olivette, Gets Award". Jet: 101. November 11, 1976.
  5. ^ a b Oakley, Annie (1950-07-22). "The Theatre and its People". The Windsor Star. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Wedman, Les (1949-11-02). "Her Ladder's Rungs are Sawed". The Province. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Big Harlem Show On Stage at State Wednesday Only". Hartford Courant. 1942-09-22. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Olivette Miller, Jazz Harpist, at Fisk University". The New York Age. 1948-06-05. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Chicago Lassies and Lads Invade the Motor City's Gay Night Life". Detroit Tribune. May 10, 1941. p. 9. Retrieved February 10, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  10. ^ "The Latin Quarter (advertisement)". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1947-10-12. p. 62. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Elmwood (advertisement)". The Windsor Star. 1950-07-22. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "People". Jet: 30. June 8, 1955.
  13. ^ a b "Harpist Olivette Miller, Comic Bert Gibson on TV". Jet: 66. January 20, 1955.
  14. ^ "Flip, Michael Jackson named in $500,000 Suit". Jet: 54. December 14, 1972.
  15. ^ Rasmussen, Jeannie (1974-11-22). "Movie Features Black Comic". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 51. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "'Show folks': New black comedy features 'Amos'". Tr-State Defender. May 1, 1976. p. 8 – via ProQuest.
  17. ^ "New York Beat". Jet: 63. August 21, 1952.
  18. ^ Hinckley, David (1990-08-14). "Their Contributions Won't Be Lost in 'Shuffle'". Daily News. p. 469. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Bunny Briggs, American tap dancer". Philadelphia Tribune. November 30, 2014. p. 10B – via ProQuest.
  20. ^ "Flournoy Miller's Grandson Passes". The New York Age. 1943-01-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-02-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Olivette Miller in Social Security Death Index".
  22. ^ "Flournoy E. Miller papers, 1924-1995 : Series 2: Olivette Miller papers, 1953-1995". Emory University Library finding aids. Retrieved 2021-02-10.

External links[edit]

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