Biography
Etta Moten was an American actress and contralto singer. She studied voice and drama at the University of Kansas, graduating in 1931, and began her career in stage revues in New York before moving to Hollywood.
In 1933 she appeared in several films, including an uncredited singing role as a war widow in Gold Diggers of 1933 and as a Brazilian singer in Flying Down to Rio. She also provided uncredited vocal dubbing for other actresses. In 1934 she became the first African-American woman to perform at the White House in the twentieth century.
Moten later starred as Bess in the 1943 Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess. She married journalist Claude Barnett in 1934 and worked as a radio presenter in Chicago.
