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alwaysmarveling · 3 years ago

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Storm

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Warnings: none

Word Count: 2.5k

Summary: Storms are the perfect weather for building forts, and Wanda’s going to make sure you don’t miss out on it.

A/N: I meant to get this out earlier, but then my arm turned into a human chicken wing (I know it makes no sense, you’re just gonna have to believe me)... anyway, I apologize for the delay, I hope you enjoy it!

Wanda woke to feel the bed shaking—no, scratch that. She woke up to feel the entire house shaking. The floors trembled, and the bedside lamp shook… Wanda braced herself to make sure none of the pictures on the walls fell down. As the thunder subsided, she relaxed slightly only to tense back up again at a loud whoosh. The buzzing that she was previously unaware of completely dissolved, leaving her in complete silence. Well, complete silence if she didn’t count the pounding of the rain against the windows, the howling wind, or the thunder that was bound to come back again. Sure enough, when she tried to turn on the lamp, no light appeared; the power had gone out.

A flash of lightning and a quick glance to her right told her that you were somehow still sound asleep. Your head was inches from her own, your own pillow forgotten and tossed to the side at some point during the night. No matter how far away the two of you were when you went to bed, as long as you were in the same bed, you somehow ended up using Wanda’s pillow instead of your own. And while some might find your hair tickling their nose or your soft snores right next to their ear to be annoying, Wanda thought it was nothing but angelic.

A catlike grin grew on Wanda’s face as she leaned over to wrap her arms around you. When you still didn’t stir, she began to press light kisses starting behind your shoulder and trailing up to your ear.

“Baaabe,” Wanda whispered. Her voice was both gentle and filled with urgency. “Malysh, wake up.”

“Huh? What’s going on?” With your sleepiness now turned bewilderment, you were able to notice how your girlfriend was trying and failing to stifle her giggles. “Wan, it’s still dark out,” you whined. “I’m sleepy.” You let out a huff and were two seconds away from throwing yourself back into the pillow when Wanda pulled you in to kiss the top of your head.

“Y/N,” she murmured, her voice muffled by your hair, “The power went out.”

“Okay. Night night.” The witch watched with a pout as you slid back down, a small grin playing on your lips as you closed your eyes.

“Detkaaa,” Wanda sang, poking your side lightly, “Let’s build a fort.”

“Okay,” you murmured, not paying attention enough to tell what you had agreed to. When you didn’t shift in the slightest, your girlfriend’s eyes narrowed. The romance movies had always promised her adventure, but here she was, ready and rearing to go, while the only adventure you were taking was from one side of the bed to the other, and not in a good way.

Had you been awake, you would have noticed how Wanda’s eyes lit up, the Cheshire cat grin returning as she realized how to get you up. The witch turned on her side, wrapping her arm around you. A low hum escaping from your lips told her that her plan was working; you thought she was going back to sleep. So, when a flash of lightning lit up the room and Wanda shot up with a gasp, you did too.

“Oh my god! Y/N, there’s a mouse!”

“What?! Where?” Arms slipping and legs flailing, you pushed yourself backwards into your girlfriend’s chest. You were too busy looking for the mouse to notice how your girlfriend was strangely unaffected by the presence of the rodent.

“Can we build a fort now?”

“Are you kidding me? Where’s the mouse?”

“Malysh… there’s no mouse. I just wanted to wake you up.” As much as Wanda wanted to give you an innocent look when you turned to look at her, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter at your raised eyebrows and gaping mouth.

“I hate you,” you muttered, closing your lips and narrowing your eyes at the still giggling witch. With that, you fluffed Wanda’s pillow and laid back down. Wanda watched you as you stared at the ceiling. You both knew you weren’t going back to sleep any time soon.

“So… the fort?”

“No.” Your girlfriend brought her fingers up to brush against the swell of your cheek.

“Pleeeeaaasseee?”

“No.”

“We can snuggle in the fort! And eat ice cream! And I’ll play with your hair after!” You knew she wasn’t going to give up until you said yes. To be fair, it sounded like a lot of fun, but you didn’t need her knowing that. So, with one big sigh and a dramatic eye roll, you slowly pushed yourself to sit back up.

“Fine. But none of this would be a problem if we just stayed in the Avengers Tower because the generator would be working.” Your girlfriend didn’t miss a beat as she jumped out of bed.

“Well, we’re not in the Avengers Tower, so we’re going to make a blanket fort. Now, come on.” She didn’t give you any time to go back on your answer, instead scooping you up in her arms and carrying you bridal style into the living room. She laughed at the squeak you let out before pressing a soft kiss to your browbone.

“I love you,” the brunette whispered.

“You’d better.” Now slightly less wary, you allowed yourself to melt into her arms. “It’s like 5 AM and you woke me up to build a blanket fort.”

“Actually, it’s 2:30…” Wanda barely moved in time as you shot upwards.

“2:30?! Wanda!”

“But, babe, the power is out! And it’s all stormy!” As if the world agreed with her, the walls trembled with another clap of thunder. “Perfect time to build a fort.” Your girlfriend set you down once you reached the living room, but you kept your arms wrapped around her, not letting her move away. “Malysh,” Wanda giggled, “You gotta let me go. We can cuddle once we build the fort.”

“‘S gonna take too long.” You buried yourself further into Wanda’s embrace, closing your eyes as she wrapped her arms around you.

“Cute, but…” You groaned as she pulled your arms off of her. “No more than thirty minutes. I promise.”

---

Unfortunately for you, Wanda was incorrect. One confusion-filled hour later, the two of you finally had the fort set up to Wanda’s liking (You couldn’t really care one way or another, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy the absolutely adorable look of pride and glee on Wanda’s face when she clapped her hands together underneath her chin, sighing that, at last, the fort was perfect.).

The witch placed one hand on the small of your back to guide you in between the light blue cotton sheets that hung overhead—”It’ll be like the sky, detka!”—and the pillowy faux mink blankets that cushioned the hardwood floors. With a sleepy grin gracing your lips, you pushed yourself into the throw pillows the two of you had scavenged the house for to line the back of the fort and waited for your girlfriend to join you.

“See? Isn’t this nice?” the Sokovian exhaled as she wrapped an arm around your waist. She wasn’t wrong. The thunderstorms had yet to let up, and from Wanda’s strategic planning, the two of you had the perfect view of the rain hitting the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights shining through the plump drops that rolled down the glass. Small camping lanterns lit the actual fort, and Wanda had even found some fairy lights to string along the top. You didn’t have much time to admire the view, though, because the second you rested your head on Wanda’s shoulder, the house shook again as another loud rumble of thunder boomed, and the entire fort came crashing down on your heads.

As tired as you were, neither of you could help but burst into laughter at the irony of the situation. “Oh, yes... this is perfect… Wan,” you managed to get out in between the contractions of your stomach as you giggled.

Someone could’ve taken the situation as a bad omen for your life together, overanalyzed it until they determined the two of you would never be fit for a future with each other in it, but for you guys, it was perfect; you could’ve stayed there forever, still wrapped in Wanda’s arms, the sheets now draped over your heads making it difficult for you to see anything but the lower half of Wanda’s face. But her laughter was the prettiest thing you’d ever had the privilege of hearing, her teeth sparkled as a beam of light from one of the lanterns managed to catch them, and you could just make out the beauty marks speckled across her face, the ones you loved to spoil with kisses until your girlfriend got impatient and guided your lips to hers.

When the two of you had finally caught your breath, you noticed a flash of red out of the corner of your eye, and the fort was reassembled in seconds. The remaining smile on your face immediately disappeared as you met Wanda’s eyes.

“Wanda, you couldn’t just do that the first time?”

“Nope.” The shake of her head was playful, though, which was more than enough to tell you what you needed to know.

“You totally could’ve.”

“Okay, maybe I could’ve, but it wouldn’t have been as fun.”

“Wan!” Your eyes narrowed further at her growing amusement, and you only relaxed slightly as your girlfriend brought you in closer to her side.

“Do you want your snuggles or not?”

“Yes please.” There was no way that you could’ve said no, especially now that you had already melted into the warmth of her embrace and sleepiness once again tugged at your eyelids. And so the two of you stayed that way for a while, with your legs draped over Wanda’s, your head resting on her shoulder and her head pressed against yours. In between the drawn-out blinks and heavy breaths, you managed to catch flashes of lightning and noticed how the flurries of rain would swell and fall repeatedly, never a consistent drizzle or downpour. Perhaps the one thing keeping you awake was the thunder. Wanda didn’t miss how you jumped slightly every single time it rumbled.

“You scared, printsessa?” your girlfriend murmured as she gently scratched your scalp in an effort to calm you down.

“Just a little startled is all,” you hummed sleepily as you pushed yourself further into her. “Could never be scared when you’re here.” Even though you were almost asleep, Wanda was quite awake, and she couldn’t help but smile at your sincerity.

“I love you,” she murmured with a kiss to your forehead.

“And I love you more.”

A comfortable silence settled itself between the two of you once again as Wanda went back to watching the storm and you played with her fingers. A thought came to you, and with you being as exhausted as you were, you barely noticed when it slipped through your lips and made itself known to Wanda.

“Wands, what would you say to having someone else to watch the storms with us?” It wasn’t until Wanda responded that you realized you had spoken out loud.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” The brunette pulled away from you slightly to study your face.

“Can we get a dog?”

“Yes! Of course!” All you could manage was a drowsy smile as Wanda cheered in excitement. “You have any ideas?” she asked after pressing a quick kiss to your lips.

“Hmm… maybe a bernedoodle? They’re really cute and really sweet.”

“Yeah, that would be nice,” your girlfriend agreed. “Or maybe a-”

“And they have such cute eyes. Oh Wanda, the eyes.” Wanda paused as you let out a dreamy sigh.

“Malysh…”

“What?” You kept your gaze directed at Wanda’s fingers as you continued to fiddle with them because you knew you’d crack the second you made eye contact with her. Obviously, though, it was pointless since she had already figured you out.

“You got one already, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Y/N.”

“Okay, fine,” you sighed. “Yes.”

“Printsessa, I love you, but we’re supposed to talk about these things together!” The continued presence of her warmth and her hand that had never left your waist told you that she wasn’t mad, and you were extremely grateful for that.

“I know, I know, but he was so cute, and I couldn’t say no, and you just had to be there, Wands! You wouldn’t have said no if you were there.” Wanda simply sighed, knowing that, as much as she’d rather not admit it, you were right.

“What’s his name?” she finally asked, resting her chin back on the top of your head.

“Storm.”

“You were really waiting for the perfect opportunity to tell me, huh? And how long have you known about this?” You shrunk slightly at the sternness that filled her voice.

“Maybe a couple of days…”

“Y/N.”

“Okay, maybe a couple of weeks. Or months.”

“Detka! So when is the dog getting here?”

“This weekend!” The witch’s head spun at how long you had managed to keep the secret from her. And while she loved the thought of getting a dog with you, she was certainly not expecting it to happen this soon, especially since you had only just brought it up minutes ago. But she couldn’t help but laugh when you responded with such excitement, your body perking up even though you were so close to dozing off in her arms. As excited as you were, you couldn’t help but tense up after sharing that with Wanda. She’d taken the initial news better than you expected, but this…

“You’re lucky I love you,” Wanda finally sighed, and it was with that that you were able to relax once again.

“What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

“Don’t push it,” the witch grumbled, and you two chuckled, rain still pounding down on the house and the storm just as lively as before.

---

It didn’t take long for you to fall back asleep with the burden you’d been carrying for months now spilled and accepted. Wanda continued to look mindlessly out the window, focusing for one moment on a particularly fat drop rolling down the window before switching to another. She thought about how you’d tensed up each time you revealed a new piece of the secret to her, and if she was being honest, it hurt her a little. She wanted you to be able to come to her with anything, trust her with anything, without having to feel guilty or ashamed. The witch pulled her eyes away from the window to watch your sleeping form.

“I’m always going to love you, malysh. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be sure to hold down the fort from now on, I promise. No more collapsing in two seconds.” With a final soft giggle and a kiss to your head, she allowed herself to rest. She’d keep her promise and prove it to you every day, multiple times a day; she was sure of it. And even though you didn’t hear her, that weekend, when the two of you started your life as a family of three, you knew it too.

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x fem!reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff #avengers x reader #marvel #mcu #I wrote something #alwaysmarveling

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groundramon · 7 years ago

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I wanted to make a tanookie/raccoon dog family for no discernible reason so i made a tanookie/raccoon dog family for no discernible reason

The dad is a raccoon and the mom is a mink

Fun fact: this fits in perfectly fine with the worldbuilding of one of my original worlds so now they’re minor characters floating around that world. The reason the child is a tanookie is because his grandfather on his dad’s side was a tanookie. It’s rare for species to skip a generation, but not impossible.

#tanookie #raccoon dogs #raccoons #minks #original art #stormy art #stormy speaks #this is also how i draw when im just fucking around #screw anatomy; give me roundness #im also trying to develop a cartoonier side style but anyways

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theramblingsofadork · 3 months ago

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Morning retweet!

⋆｡°✩ Starpoint Squad AU Lore Post 2⋆｡°✩

— Competition Arc: Act II: The Plot

🚨 (Major spoilers ahead!)

Throughout the duration of the competition, there are multiple teams who are at odds with the Starpoint Squad. Several in particular clash with and pose more of a threat than the others. Like Skara the Skunk and Stormy the Mink.

Although Starline thinks them to be nothing more than rude, loud-mouthed bikers at first, he quickly finds out that they’re serious about being here, and are rather competent despite their unfitting appearance.

There’s also the pompous, above-it-all rich boy Atlas and his silent cohort (currently unnamed). Starline knows Atlas from their shared time at university, as they were somewhat at odds with each other, and graduated the same year. The friction of their opposing dynamics are ever present, even here.

There are also some human competitors involved in the mix, like a conservationist named Yew and a hotheaded brute named Dude. (Name TBD but Dude sounds funny.) Due to the tensions between the two races, partially in Aethos, this adds a whole other level of drama to the event.

Halfway through the competition, strange things begin to happen, including sabotages, fights, and Skara and Stormy dropping out of the running quite suddenly.

As these tensions and escalating events threaten to bring a premature end to the competition, Starline decides the only way to prevent that is to find out what’s really going on. So he and the squad begin to dig in and investigate.

What they eventually find out is that the tensions and sabatoges are being used to distract and draw security away from their usual outposts.

As Starline discovers from hacking someone’s personal computer, there’s a plot going on behind the scenes to weaken security and cause division, so the assailants can break into and take control of the Atmos CORE— using it’s power systems to take over security and turn both them and the competitor’s robots against them.

At this revelation, Starline finds himself torn. On one hand, he could use to his advantage by ‘joining’ them, only to then betray and assume control later on, allowing him to hand over Atmos and the CORE to Eggman.

But on the other hand, if his plan somehow fails, that could have this dangerous and ancient artifact in the hands of an idiot.

It’s at this point that he’s discovered and confronted by a teammate, and the farce he sought to maintain crumbles. His morals and reason for being here are challenged, and he’s given a single choice.

Join the saboteurs and show everyone his true colors, or help the team— HIS team, to stop a tried and true disaster from occurring.

Starline grapples with his selfishness, and the part of him that’s become attached to the squad. And he ultimately decides..

He’s gone soft. Not only would the improper handling of the CORE be a catastrophe, but he knows the others are going to charge in regardless of what he chooses. And whether he wants to admit it or not, some small part of him doesn’t want to see them get hurt.

So, they all head to stop the plot from happening, and in doing so, stumble upon Stormy and Skara, who did in fact NOT drop out, but were instead captured and locked up for discovering the grand scheme earlier on.

The assailants reveal themselves to the entire competition, applauding the squad for making it this far before stating that they’re ultimately too late.

A widespread broadcast activates on the intercom for the entire facility, and the CORE is activated, being directed to take over security and capture the both the Board of Directors and the competition participants.

What started out as a simple little competition suddenly turns into a fight for Atmos, and by extension— like or or not—the very balance of the world as they know it.

#starpoint squad au #dr starline #sonic idw #sonic au #sonic ocs #rivet the cat #hex the rat #lug the dog #Skara the skunk #stormy the mink #atlas the timberwolf #charge the cat #digital art #synopsis

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cma-drawing · 3 years ago

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Mink Lake, Adirondacks, Winslow Homer , 1892, Cleveland Museum of Art: Drawings

Mink Pond was Homer’s favorite haunt in the Adirondacks. With a subtle range of smoky blue washes, the artist conveyed the grandeur of the mountains and a stormy sky towering above a diminutive canoe with a casting fisherman. Small breaks of brightness provide moments of relief in the monochromatic tonality of the whole. Medium: watercolor

https://clevelandart.org/art/1954.833

#cmadrawings #clevelandartmuseum #museumarchive #cmaopenaccess

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rambird12 · 4 years ago

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heart pirates week day Bepo/ storm

a stormy winter island and the crew needs supplies no problem for a polar bear mink!

#heart pirates #bepo #one piece #one piece fanart #heartpiratesweek2021 #opfanart #op minks

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shewhoworshipscarlin · 4 years ago

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Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Waters notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was the first African American to star on her own television show and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896 (some sources state her birth year as 1900) as a result of the rape of her teenaged African-American mother, Louise Anderson (1881–1962), by John Waters (1878–1901), a pianist and family acquaintance from a middle-class African-American background. Waters' family was very fair skinned, her mother in particular. Many sources, including Ethel herself, have reported for years that her mother was 12 or 13 years old at the time of the rape, 13 when Ethel was born. Stephen Bourne opens his 2007 biography, Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather, with the statement that genealogical research has shown that she may have been in her late teens.

Waters played no role in raising Ethel. Soon after she was born, her mother married Norman Howard, a railroad worker. Ethel used the surname Howard as a child and then reverted to her father's name. She was raised in poverty by Sally Anderson, her grandmother, who worked as a housemaid, and with two of her aunts and an uncle. Waters never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. Of her difficult childhood, she said "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family."

Waters grew tall, standing 5 feet 9.5 inches (1.765 m) in her teens. According to jazz historian and archivist Rosetta Reitz, Waters's birth in the North and her peripatetic life exposed her to many cultures. Waters married at the age of 13, but her husband was abusive, and she soon left the marriage and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel, working for $4.75 per week. On her 17th birthday, she attended a costume party at a nightclub on Juniper Street. She was persuaded to sing two songs and impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She recalled that she earned the rich sum of $10 per week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage.

After her start in Baltimore, Waters toured on the black vaudeville circuit, in her words "from nine until unconscious." Despite her early success, she fell on hard times and joined a carnival traveling in freight cars headed for Chicago. She enjoyed her time with the carnival and recalled, "the roustabouts and the concessionaires were the kind of people I'd grown up with, rough, tough, full of larceny towards strangers, but sentimental and loyal to their friends and co-workers." But she did not last long with them and soon headed south to Atlanta, where she worked in the same club as Bessie Smith. Smith demanded that Waters not compete in singing blues opposite her. Waters conceded and sang ballads and popular songs. Around 1919, Waters moved to Harlem and became a performer in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

Her first Harlem job was at Edmond's Cellar, a club with a black patronage that specialized in popular ballads. She acted in a blackface comedy, Hello 1919. Jazz historian Rosetta Reitz pointed out that by the time Waters returned to Harlem in 1921, women blues singers were among the most powerful entertainers in the country. In 1921, Waters became the fifth black woman to make a record, for tiny Cardinal Records. She later joined Black Swan, where Fletcher Henderson was her accompanist. Waters later commented that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she preferred, often lacking "the damn-it-to-hell bass."

She recorded for Black Swan from 1921 through 1923. Her contract with Harry Pace made her the highest paid black recording artist at the time. In early 1924, Paramount bought Black Swan, and she stayed with Paramount through the year.

She first recorded for Columbia in 1925, achieving a hit with "Dinah". She started working with Pearl Wright, and they toured in the South. In 1924, Waters played at the Plantation Club on Broadway. She also toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. With Earl Dancer, she joined what was called the "white time" Keith Vaudeville Circuit, a vaudeville circuit performing for white audiences and combined with screenings of silent movies. They received rave reviews in Chicago and earned the unheard-of salary of US$1,250 in 1928. In September 1926, Waters recorded "I'm Coming Virginia", composed by Donald Heywood with lyrics by Will Marion Cook. She is often wrongly attributed as the author. The following year, Waters sang it in a production of Africana at Broadway's Daly's Sixty-Third Street Theatre. In 1929, Waters and Wright arranged the unreleased Harry Akst song "Am I Blue?", which was used in the movie On with the Show and became a hit and her signature song.

In 1933, Waters appeared in a satirical all-black film, Rufus Jones for President, which featured the child performer Sammy Davis Jr. as Rufus Jones. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where, according to her autobiography, she "sang 'Stormy Weather' from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated." In 1933, she had a featured role in the successful Irving Berlin Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer with Clifton Webb, Marilyn Miller, and Helen Broderick.

She became the first black woman to integrate Broadway's theater district more than a decade after actor Charles Gilpin's critically acclaimed performances in the plays of Eugene O'Neill beginning with The Emperor Jones in 1920.

Waters held three jobs: in As Thousands Cheer, as a singer for Jack Denny & His Orchestra on a national radio program, and in nightclubs. She became the highest-paid performer on Broadway. Despite this status, she had difficulty finding work. She moved to Los Angeles to appear in the 1942 film Cairo. During the same year, she reprised her starring stage role as Petunia in the all-black film musical Cabin in the Sky directed by Vincente Minnelli, and starring Lena Horne as the ingenue. Conflicts arose when Minnelli swapped songs from the original script between Waters and Horne. Waters wanted to perform "Honey in the Honeycomb" as a ballad, but Horne wanted to dance to it. Horne broke her ankle and the songs were reversed. She got the ballad and Waters the dance. Waters sang the Academy Award nominated "Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe".

In 1939 Waters became the first African American to star in her own television show, before the debut of Nat King Cole's in 1956. The Ethel Waters Show, a variety special, appeared on NBC on June 14, 1939. It included a dramatic performance of the Broadway play Mamba's Daughters, based on the Gullah community of South Carolina and produced with her in mind. The play was based on the novel by DuBose Heyward.

Waters was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Pinky (1949) under the direction of Elia Kazan after the first director, John Ford, quit over disagreements with Waters. According to producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Ford "hated that old...woman (Waters)." Ford, Kazan stated, "didn't know how to reach Ethel Waters." Kazan later referred to Waters's "truly odd combination of old-time religiosity and free-flowing hatred."

In 1950, she won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play The Member of the Wedding. Waters and Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version.

In 1950, Waters was the first African-American actress to star in a television series, Beulah, which aired on ABC television from 1950 through 1952.

It was the first nationally broadcast weekly television series starring an African American in the leading role. She starred as Beulah for the first year of the TV series before quitting in 1951, complaining that the portrayal of blacks was "degrading." She was replaced by Louise Beavers in the second and third season. She guest-starred in 1957 and 1959 on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In a 1957 segment, she sang "Cabin in the Sky".

Her first autobiography, His Eye Is on the Sparrow, (1951), written with Charles Samuels, was adapted for the stage by Larry Parr and premiered on October 7, 2005.

In 1953, she appeared in a Broadway show, At Home With Ethel Waters that opened on September 22, 1953 and closed October 10 after 23 performances.

Waters married three times and had no children. When she was 13, she married Merritt "Buddy" Purnsley in 1909; they divorced in 1913. During the 1920s, Waters was involved in a romantic relationship with dancer Ethel Williams. The two were dubbed "The Two Ethels" and lived together in Harlem.She married Clyde Edwards Matthews in 1929, and they divorced in 1933. She married Edward Mallory in 1938; they divorced in 1945. Waters was the great-aunt of the singer-songwriter Crystal Waters.

In 1938, Waters met artist Luigi Lucioni through their mutual friend, Carl Van Vechten. Lucioni asked Waters if he could paint her portrait, and a sitting was arranged at his studio at 64 Washington Square South. Waters bought the finished portrait from Lucioni in 1939 for $500. She was at the height of her career and the first African American to have a starring role on Broadway. In her portrait, she wore a tailored red dress with a mink coat draped over the back of her chair. Lucioni positioned Waters with her arms tightly wrapped around her waist, a gesture that conveyed vulnerability, as if she were trying to protect herself. The painting was considered lost because it had not been seen in public since 1942. Huntsville (Alabama) Museum of Art Executive Director Christopher J. Madkour and historian Stuart Embury traced it to a private residence. The owner considered Waters to be "an adopted grandmother" but she allowed the Huntsville Museum of Art to display Portrait of Ethel Waters in the 2016 exhibition American Romantic: The Art of Luigi Lucioni where it was viewed by the public for the first time in more than 70 years. The museum acquired Portrait of Ethel Waters in 2017, and it was shown in an exhibition in February 2018].

By 1955, Waters was deeply in debt for back taxes; the IRS seized royalties of her work. She lost tens of thousands in jewelry and cash in a robbery.[35] Her health suffered, and she worked sporadically. Yet she had faced lean times before. A turning point came in 1957 when she attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Madison Square Garden. She entered the Garden that night a disillusioned, lonely, 61-year-old woman. She had become successful at giving out happiness, but her personal life lacked peace. She was in debt, had physical problems, weighed too much to perform comfortably, and was worried about her career.

Years later, she gave this testimony of that night, "In 1957, I, Ethel Waters, a 380-pound decrepit old lady, rededicated my life to Jesus Christ, and boy, because He lives, just look at me now. I tell you because He lives; and because my precious child, Billy, gave me the opportunity to stand there, I can thank God for the chance to tell you His eye is on all of us sparrows." In her later years, Waters often toured with the preacher Billy Graham on his crusades.

Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer, kidney failure, and other ailments, in Chatsworth, California. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Waters

#black history month #historical #actress #actor

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sabineelectricheart · 4 years ago

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Verlangen

Summary: Lili has no more strenght to fight Dante. She can only fight for her son.

Rating: M - Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with non-explicit suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, or coarse language.

Explicit depiction of domestic violence. Reader discretion is highly advised.

Words: 1600

Notes: I am a nasty, nasty person. I know.

"I don’t want for the entire province to know I am married to some ungrateful little slut!" Dante thundered, backing her into the brick wall of the manor house.

She was scared, and her husband has hurting her, but she tried to manage to keep herself standing, if she fell to the ground, it would only be worse.

Her expensive mink coat snagged on the prickly thorns of a long-dead rose bush and ripped a piece off. She would have to fix it tonight, before dawn.

"I d-didn't do anything," Lili managed to get out.

“Spare me, will you? I have you all figured out, cunt.” He sneered. "I saw him eyeing you up and down, and you laughing at his tasteless jokes."

Lili backed further into the wall as he spoke, the creeping ivy scratching at the back of her neck. She had been here before. She knew nothing she had to say would convince him that a barely-cordial conversation with Gilbert on her way back from the church was anything less than a cardinal sin.

"I'm sorry, Dante.” She cried, pleading. “I didn't mean anything by it. You've got to believe me."

"I don’t have to do anything, dirty whore." He spat. “Or have you forgotten who has the upper hand in this marriage?”

His turquoise eyes were as hard and sharp as flint, forcing her to look away. There was no future in trying to out-stare a monster.

Luca was crouched behind a tree in their front garden, a large apple tree that hung in front of their home long before she and Dante were wed, his little fists clenched, tears streaming down his cheeks. He had asked her to bake him a pie and insisted to go shop for the ingredients himself when his father came across their stroll in Creta.

Run, she pleaded silently, locking eyes with her son. Run to the grotto.

He nodded once and dropped the bag full of food into the grass as he backed away.

"You have nothing to say for yourself? No excuses? No empty promises?" He growled as he pushed himself against her, his deceivingly fresh breath tickling her ear.

She heard barely-there footsteps disappear down the ginnel. Luca was safe.

"No, I have nothing to say to you."

His large, calloused hand was hot against her throat.

"Are you quite sure about that?" He flexed his hand.

Her voice was little more than a gasp. "Yes."

His hand closed vice-like around her neck, crushing force constricting her windpipe. Her lungs burned as they begged for oxygen, hot tears spilled from her eyes, and dark spots danced enticingly across her vision as she fought to remain conscious.

She lost the fight, she always did, and fell limp as the darkness overtook her.

Dante was gone when she came to her senses in the dim starlight of their bedroom. He must have brought her up and then left somewhere, to his office or to some cantina on the edge of town, to drink his rage away.

The dull, throbbing ache of her throat was unsettlingly familiar. It used to make her angry.

When they had first married, she would fight for all she was worth against the smacks, the punches, and the pushes. She had tried to free Orlok many times from the dungeon, and even made the mistake of pulling a knife on him once, one that he immediately used to stab her in the leg.

Now, she was too exhausted to fight for herself. She had only had the energy to fight for Luca.

She pulled herself up from the overly soft bed, dusted the grass on her dress and took a sip of the icy water that was left conveniently on her bedside table. The liquid quenched the fire that burned her throat, but the relief it provided was only temporary.

Lili notes that her coat was gone, and she would likely never see it again. Soon, another one, more luxurious than its predecessor, would find its way to her overfilled wardrobe.

As for now, she limits herself to picking up another coat from the armchair near the window, having the foresight to choose a larger one that she could snuggle Luca if need be, and left through the bedroom door.

The fact that Dante beat her up was common knowledge, and the reason for that was mostly old news for the Family and the servants. Still, when Lili passed through them, they would always look curiously, even if no-one ever said a thing to her. It did not matter, anyways, because they also did not impede her movement, either by her husband’s orders or they legitimately felt sorry for her.

The reinforced wall of their manor house ran the length of the eery street it was located. The little starlight that escaped the clouds was scattered by the broken glass that littered the floor. Old crisp packets rustled in the light breeze, and the acrid stench of piss assaulted her nose and caught in her bruised throat.

How she wished she could escape from this place, wished she could save Luca from its poisonous grasp.

Eventually, the pavement gave way to lush grass. The scent of tree sap and mulch caressed her nose and filled her lungs. Lili carefully picked her way through the darkness, avoiding tree roots and dog shit. A twig snapped beneath her foot, and she heard a gasp. Luca was perched, bird-like, on a fallen tree, his pale face ethereal in the filtered starlight.

"It's just me, honey." Liliana said, calmly, revealing herself to her son.

His shoulders relaxed slightly and he shuffled over, making room for her on the log.

They had found this place when Luca was barely walking. Dante had been especially stressed with the politics in Rome and was spending more and more time drinking and hitting her to relieve tension.

One night, he had come home angrier than he ever used to be, smashing plates, slamming walls, and effing and blinding. The sharp edge of a broken plate had caught Luca's cheek, slicing through his pale skin.

Lili would never forget the drip of scarlet as her little boy's lip wobbled and his tears stung his cut.

The next day, she had made sure they were both out of the house when Dante came home. They had walked for hours, trying to stay out of sight, until they had wandered into the woodland and found the little grotto. It was open to the sky and stars but closed off to the rest of the world. A retreat.

"Mom, are you alright?" The boy asked, softly.

She sat down next to her son, wrapping an arm around his thin shoulders.

"I'm fine." Her voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper, the words clawing at her sore throat.

"Why does he hurt you?" The drawl of the Florentine Italian, reserved for highly educated individuals, people much, much above her poor station, was both cute and heart-breaking on the tongue of her young son.

She sighed. "Because he's an angry man. His father used to beat his mother, and his grandfather beat his grandmother. He doesn't know any different."

"But you're an angel, right?" He looked at her, unsure. "So, can't angels defeat monsters?"

Her reply caught in her throat. Children should not have to think of their fathers as monsters.

"What your father did…” She breathed out. “When I married your father, I sullied myself. I am not pure on the eyes of the Lord, and so I can’t be the angel anymore. Now, I'm nothing."

"You're not nothing!" Luca insisted, facing her properly. "You're everything to me."

Tears clouded her eyes, but she did not let them fall.

"And you are everything to me." Lili whispered back.

"I know." He snuggled more firmly into her side, wrapping a skinny arm around her waist.

The cold easterly wind blew with force through Burlone. With it, a dark cloud shifted overhead, revealing more of the stars.

Luca pointed to the brightest one. The North Star. Polaris. "We could wish him away? Will you say it with me?"

She could not refuse him anything. They chanted together:

Starlight, star bright, the first star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.

Their voices mingled together as they had a hundred times before, his still high and sweet, hers raw with abuse.

"Do you think it'll work this time?" He looked expectantly at his mother.

Stormy clouds rolled across the sky, cloaking them in near-darkness once more.

Lili smiled. "There's always a chance, Luca."

She pulled herself to her feet and held a hand out for him to take. His small hand was cool and fragile in her own.

"Let's go home."

Lili woke in the pre-dawn light of the following morning. Dante's side of the bed was cold, the blankets unwrinkled. Childish hope coiled in her gut.

She padded down the stairs, careful not to wake Luca, and grabbed the empty milk bottle from the kitchen, so the milkman could take it away this morning.

Opening the French door to the salon, she was greeted with the grunting snores of her husband. He was splayed out across the white couch and covered in dirt. Drool hung in a glistening thread from the corner of his mouth, and his rough hand was clasped loosely around a gun.

Liliana carefully left the room and left Dante for his underlings to find.

Ah, well, she thought with some acidic humour. Maybe next time.

*_*_*_*_*

Nach die Alptraum Masterlist

Piofiore Masterlist

#piofiore #dante falzone #orlok

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charlotteinengland · 6 years ago

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Good morning ✨🌞 I was going to crop little Tez out of the photo but I didn’t have the heart 🌹🐕 He’s been feeling a little under the weather with a poorly tum but seems a lot better this morning & eaten his breakfast, bless him 🤒 Do you have any plans this weekend? It’s super stormy here so it’s kind of buggered my plans up ☔️⛈🌬 Wishing you a lovely day despite the stormy April showers ⚡️🍃💚 x . . . Hat: @thomascrown1111 Watch: @morrisrichardsonwatches (15% off with CHARLOTTE15) Shirt: @oxfordshirtco Scarf: @wanderingbeeuk . . . #CharlotteinEngland #OxfordShirtCompany #MorrisRichardsonWatches #tweed #flatcap #tweedtrousers #unionjack #british #britain #breeks #whiteshirt #vintage #vintagestyle #ruffleshirt #stormhannah #lipstick #brunette #english #britishstyle #mink #weimaraner #gundog #country #countrygirl #countrylife #countryclothing #countryblogger #dressingroom #rural #england (at England) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwwKwaDh04R/?igshid=xug1fpoo992a

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writinggeisha · 6 years ago

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Colour Words

White: French beige, Navajo white, alabaster white, albino white, antique white, arctic white, argent white, ashen white, beige, birch, biscuit white, bisque, blanched almond, blanched white, bleached white, blonde, bone white, buff, camel, canvas beige, linen white, marshmallow white, milk white, mocassin, mother-of-pearl, mushroom, neutral white, nude, oatmeal white, off-white, old lace white, opal, paper white, pearl white, piano key white, polar white, porcelain, powder white, pure white, raw cotton white, coconut white, contrast white, cotton white, cream, diamond, dove white, ecru, eggshell white, flax, flour white, fog white, frosted white, ghost white, goose white, hemp, ivory white, lace white, latte, light tan, lily white, sandstone, seashell white, sheep white, sheet white, shell white, shining star white, silvery white, smoky beige, snow white, solid white, spotless white, sugar white, toothpaste white, vanilla, waxen white, wedding white, whey, white, white chocolate, white smoke Yellow: Chardonnay, French fry yellow, Titanium yellow, amber, banana yellow, bleached blond, blond, buff, bumblebee yellow, butter yellow, buttercup, butternut squash yellow, butterscotch, cadmium yellow, canary yellow, champagne, citrine, corn yellow, lemon peel, lemon sherbet, lemon yellow, linen, lion yellow, maize, marigold yellow, mellow yellow, metallic gold, mimosa yellow, mustard yellow, ochre, olive, omelette yellow, palamino, papaya, parakeet yellow, pencil yellow, cream, custard yellow, daffodil yellow, dandelion, duckling yellow, egg yolk yellow, electric yellow, flax, flesh tone, gold, gold yellow, golden bronze, golden yellow, goldenrod, highlighter yellow, honey yellow, lemon chiffon, lemon drop, pineapple yellow, popcorn yellow, raincoat yellow, saffron, school bus yellow, squash yellow, straw yellow, sunflower yellow, sunglow yellow, sunset yellow, sunshine yellow, taxi cab yellow, topaz, vanilla, wheat, yellow, yolk yellow

Orange: amber, apricot, basketball orange, blood orange, bourbon, burnt orange, butterfly orange, candlelight orange, candy corn, cantaloupe orange, carnelian, carotene, carrot orange, cheddar orange, cinnamon, mango, marigold orange, melon orange, neon orange, old gold, orange, orange juice, orange peel, orange sherbet, orange soda, orange-red, papaya, peach, persimmon, pumpkin orange, copper penny, coral, dark orange, dark salmon, dayglo orange, ember orange, fall leaves orange, flame orange, ginger orange, gold, golden orange, goldfish orange, ice pop orange, light orange, light salmon, rust orange, safety orange, saffron, salamander orange, starfish orange, sunrise orange, tabby, tangelo, tangerine, tawny, tiger orange, tiger stripe orange, traffic cone orange, yam orange

Red: Bordeaux red, Indian red, alizarin crimson, amaranth, apple red, auburn, autumn leaf red, barn red, beet red, blood red, blush, bougainvillea, bourbon, brick red, bright red, burgundy, burnt sienna, candy apple red, cardinal red, carmine, carnelian, cerise, cherry red, chestnut red, chili pepper red, magenta, magma red, maroon, orange-red, paprika, pepperoni red, persimmon red, pink red, pomegranate red, poppy red, rabbit eye red, radish red, rare steak red, raspberry red, red, red apple, red berry, red carpet, red licorice, red lipstick, red nose, red pepper, red potato, red rose, red velvet, claret, copper, coral red, crab red, cranberry red, crimson red, dark cerise, dark red, deep pink, devil red, faded rose, fire engine red, fire red, fire truck red, flame red, florid red, fruit punch red, garnet red, geranium red, henna, hibiscus red, hot pink, ketchup red, ladybug red, lipstick red, red wine vinegar, redwood, rosewood, rouge, ruby red, russet red, rust red, sangria red, scarlet, sports car red, stop light red, stop sign red, strawberry red, tawny port red, tawny red, terra cotta, tomato bisque, tomato red, torch red, vermillion, watermelon flesh, wine red, winter apple red

Pink: Pepto Bismal pink, Persian rose, amaranth, apricot, ash rose, baby cheeks pink, baby pink, bacon pink, ballerina pink, ballet pink, ballet slipper pink, begonia, blush pink, bougainvillea, bubblegum pink, cameo, carmine, carnation pink, cerise, cherry blossom, mulberry, neon pink, orchid, pale pink, pastel pink, peach, peach puff, peony pink, petunia pink, pig pink, pink, pink Cadillac, pink champagne, pink cheeks, pink diamond, pink grapefruit, pink lemonade, pink sherbet, polka dot pink, powder pink, conch pink, coral pink, cotton candy, cranberry, cupcake pink, dayglo pink, dusty rose, eraser pink, flamingo pink, flesh, flesh-colored, fuchsia, grapefruit pink, hibiscus pink, hot pink, jellyfish pink, lavender pink, light plum, lipstick pink, magenta, rose, rose petal, rose pink, rose quartz, rosy red, ruby, ruddy pink, sand pink, seashell pink, shocking pink, soft pink, strawberry jam, strawberry milkshake, sunset pink, tea rose, thistle pink, tongue pink, tulip pink, turnip pink, worm pink

Purple: Concord grape, amethyst, aubergine, beet purple, bilberry purple, blackberry, blackcurrant, blue violet, blueberry, brandywine, bruise purple, byzantium, cerise, claret, currant, dahlia, magenta, mauve, monster purple, mulberry, opal purple, orchid purple, pale plum, pansy purple, passionfruit purple, pastel purple, periwinkle, plum, prune, purple, purple cabbage, purple jam, dark raspberry, dark violet, eggplant purple, fandango, grape crush, grape jam purple, grape jelly purple, grape purple, heliotrope, hyacinth, inky purple, iris purple, juice purple, lavender, lavender blush, lilac purple, quartz, raisin purple, raspberry, rhubarb purple, royal purple, thistle, true purple, turnip purple, violet, violet red, wild berry purple, wild grape, wine, wisteria

Blue: Caribbean blue, Caribbean turquoise, Dodger blue, Pacific blue, Prussian blue, Tiffany blue, alice blue, aqua blue, aquamarine, azure blue, baby blue, blue belle, blue ice, blue jean blue, blue-green, blueberry, bluebird blue, bluebonnet blue, cadet blue, lapis lazuli, light blue, marine blue, marlin blue, midnight blue, navy blue, neon blue, nighttime blue, ocean blue, pale blue, pastel blue, peacock blue, police officer blue, pool blue, powder blue, ribbon blue, robin egg, royal blue, sapphire blue, cobalt, cornflower, cyan, dark blue, dark slate blue, deep sky blue, denim blue, dolphin blue, electric blue, frostbite blue, glacial blue, heather, iceberg blue, icy blue, imperial blue, indigo blue, inky blue, jay blue, lake blue, slate blue, snowflake blue, stained glass blue, steel blue, stone blue, summer sky blue, surf blue, swimming pool, teal blue, true blue, turquoise, ultra blue, ultramarine, verdigris, violet blue, washed denim blue, whale blue

Green: Granny Smith apple, Kelly green, Kermit green, Persian green, absinthe, algae green, alligator green, apple green, aqua, army green, artichoke green, asparagus green, avocado green, bay leaf green, bluegrass green, boxwood green, broccoli green, cabbage green, cactus green, caterpillar green, celery green, chartreuse, chive green, chlorophyll green, iceberg lettuce, iguana green, ivy green, jade green, jadestone, jungle green, kelp green, key lime green, leaf green, leprechaun green, lettuce green, lichen green, light cyan, lime green, lizard green, melon rind green, metallic mint, mint green, moss green, myrtle green, neon green, olive drab, olive green, parrot green, crocodile green, cucumber green, cyan, cypress, dark khaki green, dark olive green, dollar bill green, drab olive, eel green, emerald green, evergreen, fern green, forest green, frog green, grass green, grasshopper green, green, green apple, green olive, green pepper, green tea, green-yellow, holly, honeydew green, pea soup, pear green, pickle green, pine green, pistachio, sage green, sea green, seafoam green, seaweed green, shamrock green, spinach green, spring bud green, spring green, sprout green, spruce green, summer grass, swamp green, tea green, turtle green, verdant, verdigris, wasabi green, zucchini green

Brown: October brown, acorn brown, auburn, autumn leaf, barbecue sauce brown, bark brown, bay, bear brown, beetle brown, biscuit brown, branch brown, brick brown, bronze, brown, brown sugar, brunette, burnt sienna, burnt umber, butterscotch brow, cafe au lait, camel brown, cappuccino brown, caramel brown, cardboard brown, chestnut brown, kangaroo brown, khaki, leather, lion brown, liver brown, mahogany, maple brown, maple sugar brown, maroon, meatball brown, milk chocolate, mink, mocha brown, mud brown, nougat, nude, nut brown, nut brown ale, nutmeg, oak brown, pancake brown, peanut butter brown, potato brown, pretzel brown, raisin brown, cinnamon brown, cocoa, cocoa brown, coffee bean brown, coffee brown, coffee stain brown, copper, dark chocolate brown, dark citrine, deer brown, desert sand, dirt, doeskin, dun, earth brown, earth yellow, earthenware brown, fallow, fawn brown, football brown, fox brown, freckle brown, ginger brown, golden brown, hazel brown, rich earth, roan, root beer brown, rosewood, ruddy brown, russet brown, rust, saddle brown, sand, sandy brown, sea lion brown, semi-sweet chocolate, sepia, sienna, sorrel, steak brown, tan, tan brown, tan-nude, tawny, toast brown, tumbleweed, tweed brown, walnut brown, wheat,

Gray/Grey: argent silver, ash gray, battleship gray, cadet gray, charcoal gray, chrome, cloud gray, cloudy day gray, concrete gray, cool gray, cool grey, dim gray, dolphin gray, dove gray, overcast gray, owl gray, oyster gray, pewter, pigeon gray, platinum, rainy day gray, rhinoceros gray, river rock, salt and pepper gray, sardine gray, seal gray, shark gray, silver, elephant gray, fog gray, grandma gray, granite gray, gray, grey, gunmetal gray, haze gray, hippopotamus gray, iron gray, koala gray, metal gray, mist gray, moon gray, smoke gray, soot gray, steel gray, stone gray, storm gray, stormy sea gray, taupe gray, thunder cloud gray, warm gray, wed sidewalk gray, wool gray, zinc gray

Black: Mars black, black, black cat, black coffee, black licorice, black pearl, black pepper, black tar, blackboard black, blackout, blue-black, bow tie black, kettle black, kohl black, licorice black, mascara black, mica, midnight black, molasses black, night sky black, ninja black, obsidian, onyx, outer space black, caviar black, chalkboard black, charcoal black, coal black, ebony black, eclipse black, eyelash black, fig, gothic black, hearse black, ink black, jet black, piano key black, pitch black, pupil black, raven black, sable black, shadow black, smoky black, sooty black, spade black, spider black, tar black, tarmac black

https://www.words-to-use.com/words/colors-names/

#tools #links #colours #lists #word lists

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blackkudos · 6 years ago

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Benny Carter

Bennett Lester "Benny" Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King. In 1958, he performed with Billie Holiday at the Monterey Jazz Festival - but, then, really, he performed with every major artist of several many jazz generations, and at every major festival you could possibly care to name.

The National Endowment for the Arts honored Benny Carter with its highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award for 1986. He was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and both won a Grammy Award for his solo "Prelude to a Kiss" and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. In 2000 awarded the National Endowment for the Arts, National Medal of Arts, presented by President Bill Clinton.

Biography

Born in New York City in 1907, the youngest of six children and the only boy, received his first music lessons on piano from his mother. Largely self-taught, by age fifteen, Carter was already sitting in at Harlem night spots. From 1924 to 1928, Carter gained valuable professional experience as a sideman in some of New York's top bands. As a youth, Carter lived in Harlem around the corner from Bubber Miley who was Duke Ellington's star trumpeter, Carter was inspired by Miley and bought a trumpet, but when he found he couldn't play like Miley he traded the trumpet in for a saxophone. For the next two years he played with such jazz greats as cornetist Rex Stewart, clarinetist-soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, pianists Earl Hines, Willie "The Lion" Smith, pianist Fats Waller, pianist James P. Johnson, pianist Duke Ellington and their various groups.

First recordings

He first recorded in 1928 with Charlie Johnson's Orchestra, also arranging the titles recorded, and formed his first big band the following year. He played with Fletcher Henderson in 1930 and 1931, becoming his chief arranger in this time, then briefly led the Detroit-based McKinney's Cotton Pickers before returning to New York in 1932 to lead his own band, which included such swing stars as Leon "Chu" Berry (tenor saxophone), Teddy Wilson (piano), Sid Catlett (drums), and Dicky Wells (trombone). Carter's arrangements were sophisticated and very complex, and a number of them became swing standards which were performed by other bands ("Blue Lou" is a great example of this). He also arranged for Duke Ellington during these years. Carter was most noted for his superb arrangements. Among the most significant are "Keep a Song in Your Soul", written for Fletcher Henderson in 1930, and "Lonesome Nights" and "Symphony in Riffs" from 1933, both of which show Carter's fluid writing for saxophones. By the early 1930s he and Johnny Hodges were considered the leading alto players of the day. Carter also quickly became a leading trumpet soloist, having rediscovered the instrument. He recorded extensively on trumpet in the 1930s. Carter's name first appeared on records with a 1932 Crown label release of "Tell All Your Day Dreams to Me" credited to Bennie Carter and his Harlemites. Carter's short-lived Orchestra played the Harlem Club in New York but only recorded a handful of brilliant records for Columbia, OKeh and Vocalion. The OKeh sides were issued under the name Chocolate Dandies. His trumpet solo on the October 1933 recording of "Once Upon A Time" by the Chocolate Dandies (OKeh 41568 and subsequently reissued on Decca 18255 and Hot Record Society 16) has long been considered a milestone solo achievement.

In 1933 Carter took part in an amazing series of sessions that featured the British band leader Spike Hughes, who went to New York specifically to organize a series of recordings featuring the best Black musicians available. These 14 sides plus four by Carter's big band were only issued in England at the time, originally titled Spike Hughes and His Negro Orchestra. The musicians were mainly made up from members of Carter's band. The bands (14–15 pieces) include such major players as Henry "Red" Allen (trumpet), Dicky Wells (trombone), Wayman Carver (flute), Coleman Hawkins (saxophone), J.C. Higginbotham (trombone), and Leon "Chu" Berry (saxophone), tracks include: "Nocturne", "Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn", "Pastorale", "Bugle Call Rag", "Arabesque", "Fanfare", "Sweet Sorrow Blues", "Music at Midnight", "Sweet Sue Just You", "Air in D Flat", "Donegal Cradle Song", "Firebird", "Music at Sunrise", and "How Come You Do Me Like You Do".

Europe

Carter moved to Europe in 1935 to play trumpet with Willie Lewis's orchestra, and also became staff arranger for the British Broadcasting Corporation dance orchestra and made several records. Over the next three years, he traveled throughout Europe, playing and recording with the top British, French, and Scandinavian jazzmen, as well as with visiting American stars such as his friend Coleman Hawkins. Two recordings that showcase his sound most famously are 1937's "Honeysuckle Rose," recorded with Django Reinhardt and Coleman Hawkins in Europe, and the same tune reprised on his 1961 album Further Definitions, an album considered a masterpiece and one of jazz's most influential recordings.

Return to Harlem and a move to Los Angeles

Returning home in 1938, he quickly formed another superb orchestra, which spent much of 1939 and 1940 at Harlem's famed Savoy Ballroom. His arrangements were much in demand and were featured on recordings by Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, and Tommy Dorsey. Though he only had one major hit in the big band era (a novelty song called "Cow-Cow Boogie," sung by Ella Mae Morse), during the 1930s Carter composed and/or arranged many of the pieces that became swing era classics, such as "When Lights Are Low," “Blues in My Heart," and "Lonesome Nights."

He relocated to Los Angeles in 1943, moved increasingly into studio work. Beginning with "Stormy Weather" in 1943, he arranged for dozens of feature films and television productions. In Hollywood, he wrote arrangements for such artists as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls, Louis Armstrong, Freddie Slack and Mel Torme. In 1945, trumpeter Miles Davis made his first recordings with Carter as sideman on album Benny Carter and His Orchestra, and considered him a close friend and mentor. Carter was one of the first black men to compose music for films. He was an inspiration and a mentor for Quincy Jones when Jones began writing for television and films in the 1960s. Carter's successful legal battles in order to obtain housing in then-exclusive neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area made him a pioneer in an entirely different area.

Benny Carter visited Australia in 1960 with his own quartet, performed at the 1968 Newport Jazz Festival with Dizzy Gillespie, and recorded with a Scandinavian band in Switzerland the same year. His studio work in the 1960s included arranging and sometimes performing on Peggy Lee's Mink Jazz, (1962) and on the single "I'm A Woman" in the same year.

Academia

In 1969, Carter was persuaded by Morroe Berger, a sociology professor at Princeton University who had done his master's thesis on jazz, to spend a weekend at the college as part of some classes, seminars, and a concert. This led to a new outlet for Carter's talent: teaching. For the next nine years he visited Princeton five times, most of them brief stays except for one in 1973 when he spent a semester there as a visiting professor. In 1974 Princeton awarded him an honorary master of humanities degree. He conducted workshops and seminars at several other universities and was a visiting lecturer at Harvard for a week in 1987. Morroe Berger also wrote the book Benny Carter – A Life in American Music (1982), a two-volume work, covers Carter's career in depth, an essential work of jazz scholarship.

In the late summer of 1989 the Classical Jazz series of concerts at New York's Lincoln Center celebrated Carter's 82nd birthday with a set of his songs, sung by Ernestine Anderson and Sylvia Syms. In the same week, at the Chicago Jazz Festival, he presented a recreation of his Further Definitions album, using some of the original musicians. In February 1990, Carter led an all-star big band at the Lincoln Center in a concert tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. Carter was a member of the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1990, Carter was named "Jazz Artist of the Year" in both the Down Beat and Jazz Times International Critics' polls. In 1978, he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and in 1980 received the Golden Score award of the American Society of Music Arrangers. Carter was also a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1996, and received honorary doctorates from Princeton (1974), Rutgers (1991), Harvard (1994), and the New England Conservatory (1998).

One of the most remarkable things about Benny Carter's career was its length. It has been said that he is the only musician to have recorded in eight different decades. Having started a career in music before music was recorded electrically, Carter remained a masterful musician, arranger and composer until he retired from performing in 1997. In 1998, Benny Carter was honored at Third Annual Awards Gala and Concert at Lincoln Center. He received the Jazz at Lincoln Center Award for Artistic Excellence and his music was performed by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall and Bobby Short. Wynton accepted on Benny's behalf. (Back trouble prevented Benny from attending.)

Carter died in Los Angeles, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center July 12, 2003 from complications of bronchitis at the age of 95. In 1979, he married Hilma Ollila Arons, who survived him, along with a daughter, a granddaughter and a grandson.

Songs composed by Carter

"Blues in My Heart" (1931) with Irving Mills

"When Lights Are Low" (1936) with Spencer Williams

"Cow-Cow Boogie (Cuma-Ti-Yi-Yi-Ay)" (1942) with Don Raye and Gene De Paul

"Key Largo" (1948) with Karl Suessdorf, Leah Worth

"Rock Me to Sleep" (1950) with Paul Vandervoort II

"A Kiss from You" (1964) with Johnny Mercer

"Only Trust Your Heart" (1964) with Sammy Cahn

Other songs by Carter include "A Walkin' Thing", "My Kind of Trouble Is You", "Easy Money", "Blue Star", "I Still Love Him So", "Green Wine" and "Malibu". Of course there are, literally, hundreds more - he truly was one of jazz's greatest composers.

http://wikipedia.thetimetube.com/?q=Benny+Carter&lang=en

#Benny Carter

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