Amanda Randolph
Amanda Randolph was one of the first African American performers who consistently appeared on television. She played a reoccurring role in the show The Laytons and is one of the only cast members remembered from that show. She is also one of the only original radio cast of the show Amos n' Andy to be cast in the television show as well. The Amos n' Andy television show was the first TV series to feature an all black cast.
Randolph appeared in three Oscar Micheaux films, Swing (1938), Lying Lips (1939)
and The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940). These films were important because they were created to accurately portray the lives of African Americans, something that Hollywood was not prioritizing.
Despite the limitations of the roles available to her, Amanda Randolph brought life to her parts and dignified many. She often played a tough-talking maid or housekeeper but she took them and made them her own. In the Amos n' Andy show, she was the mother-in-law of one of the characters all the way until the show's cancellation. Being an African American woman in steady, reoccurring roles on TV was a difficult job to get, but she managed and helped pave the way to modern day television where people of all kinds can be cast into steady roles.
Despite the limitations of the roles available to her, Amanda Randolph brought life to her parts and dignified many. She often played a tough-talking maid or housekeeper but she took them and made them her own. In the Amos n' Andy show, she was the mother-in-law of one of the characters all the way until the show's cancellation. Being an African American woman in steady, reoccurring roles on TV was a difficult job to get, but she managed and helped pave the way to modern day television where people of all kinds can be cast into steady roles.
No author given. "The Literary Club", That's Entertainment!, Oct 17, 2018,
IMDb. "Amanda Randolph", IMDb, no date given,
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