Ernestine Wade was an American actress who is best known for playing the role of Sapphire Stevens on the radio and television program Amos "n Andy.
Background
Her mother, Hazel Wade, worked in vaudeville as a performer, while her maternal grandmother, Mistress Johnson, worked for the Lincoln Theater in Baltimore, Maryland. Ernestine grew up in Los Angeles and started her acting career at age four.
Career
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Wade was trained as a singer and organist. Her family had a strong connection to the theater. She appeared in bit parts in films and did the voice performance of a butterfly in the 1946 Walt Disney production Song of the South.
In her interview which is part of the documentary Amos "n" Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy, Wade related how she got the job with the radio show.
Initially there for a singing role, she was asked if she could "do lines". When the answer was yes, she was first asked to say "I do" and then to scream.
The scream got her the role of Valada Green. Ernestine also played the radio roles of The Widow Armbruster, Sara Fletcher, and Mistress
Van Porter. In a 1973 interview, she stated, “I know there were those who were offended by it, but I still have people stop me on the street to tell me how much they enjoyed lieutenant
Ernestine was among them, and she continued her defense of the show and those with roles in lieutenant She believed that the roles she and her colleagues played made it possible for African-American actors who came later to be cast in a wider variety of roles. She also considered the early typecast roles, where women were most often cast as maids, not to be damaging, seeing them in the sense of someone being either given the role of the hero or the part of the villain.
In later years, she continued as an actress, doing more voice work for radio and cartoons.
After Amos "n" Andy, Wade did voice work in television and radio commercials. Ernestine also did office work and played the organization
She also appeared on an episode of Family Affair as a maid working for a stage actress played by Joan Blondell. Ernestine Wade is buried in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
Since she had no headstone, the West Adams Heritage Association marked her grave with a plaque.
Amos "n" Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy Video by Hulu.
Views
Wade defended her character against criticism of being a negative stereotype of African American women.
Membership
In 1935, Ernestine was a member of the Four Hot Chocolates singing group. Wade was a member of the choir organized by actress-singer Anne Brown for the filming of the George Gershwin biographical film Rhapsody in Blue and appeared in the film as one of the "Catfish Row" residents. Wade, Johnny Lee, and Lillian Randolph were the only cast members of the radio version of Amos "n Andy to star in the television version.
And many of those people are black members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” The documentary Amos "n" Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy covered the history of the radio and television shows as well as interviews with surviving cast members.