Television has taken slow, but noteworthy steps, to become more diverse since the 20th century.
photo: WENN
Before Empire, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder were taking over networking television, black actors and actresses were paving the way for shows of the kind go exist.
Check into the gallery for 11 people who made Black History through television.
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is the first Black woman to had a recurring role on a primetime TV drama; and she’s the first Black woman to win an Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini-Series category.
Nat King Cole
“Mr. Unforgettable,” a.k.a. Nat King Cole, was the first Black person to host a weekly musical variety show. The Nat King Cole Show ran from 1954-1957.
Ethel Waters
Singer/actress Ethel Waters was the first Black person nominated for an Emmy in 1962 for Goodnight Sweet Blues.
Bob Howard
The first Black person to star in a regularly scheduled network series, was musician Bob Howard who hosted The Bob Howard Show in 1948.
Diahann Carroll
Diahann Carroll’s character Julia is widely celebrated as one of the first series depicting a Black woman as a professional, versus stereotypical role.
photo: WENN
Oprah
Oprah’s daytime talk show helped her make Black History. The TV mogul became the first Black female billionaire in 2003.
photo: WENN
Bob Johnson
BET founder Bob Johnson is America’s first black billionaire, 15 years ago.
Bryant Gumbel
Journalist Bryant Gumbel is the first black co-host of NBC’s Today Show.
Bill Cosby
Thanks to I Spy, Bill Cosby is the first Black actor to co-star in a TV drama series, and the first Black actor to win an Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama.
Max Robinson
Nightly news didn’t get its first Black anchor until 1978 with Max Robinson on ABC’s World News Tonight. Robinson left ABC in 1984 and became the first Black anchor of Chicago’s WMAQ-TV.
Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle is noted as the first Black person to win an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries. She won in 1979 for Summer of My German Soldier.
**BONUS**
The Beulah Show
Radio and later television’s first sitcom with a Black female lead was The Beulah Show. Starting as a radio program in 1939, Beulah was originally played by White male actors and was eventually taken over by Hattie McDaniel making her the first Black woman to star in a sitcom. When McDaniel got sick from breast cancer in the early ’50s, Beulah became a rotating casting call. The maid character was played by sisters Lilian and Amanda Randolph , and later Louise Beavers (pictured).
