Suzette Harbin (July 4, 1915 – September 5, 1994) was an American actress and dancer.
Early life Harbin was from Ledbetter, Texas and was raised in California, first in Pacific Grove, California, and then in Los Angeles. Harbin graduated from Jefferson High School in 1934, soon after the school's buildings were destroyed in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake."Deaths: Suzette Harbin Bailey" Los Angeles Sentinel (March 2, 1995): A9.
Career Harbin worked as an artists' model in Los Angeles in the 1930s.Advertisement, The Official Central Avenue Directory (August 1939): 6. Harbin's film appearances included roles in So Red the Rose (1935), Up Jumped the Devil (1941), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Stormy Weather (1943), I Dood It (1943), Jam Session (1944), To Have and Have Not (1944), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Look-Out Sister (1947),"Apollo Gets Film Premier" New York Age (December 18, 1948): 15. via Newspapers.com The Foxes of Harrow (1947),Ellen C. Scott, Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression, and Race in the Classical Hollywood Era (Rutgers University Press 2015). Phyllis R. Klotman, "A Harrowing Experience: Frank Yerby's First Novel to Film" CLA Journal 31(2)(December 1987): 215. The Pirate (1948), Sky Dragon (1949), Destination Murder (1950), The Cimarron Kid (1952), Skirts Ahoy! (1952), Lydia Bailey (1952), Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952),"Suzette Harbin Gets Star Role in 'Jungle Girl'" Jet (September 25, 1952): 57. The Green-Eyed Blonde (1957).Bob McCann, Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television (McFarland 2009): 148-149. She was also in an episode of the television program Wagon Train (1958)."Suzette Harbin to Appear in TV Western" Jet (May 8, 1958): 66. She was sometimes told that she was "too pretty" for the roles available to African-American actresses in mainstream films of the 1940s and 1950s."Some Directors Want 'Mammy' Characters" Jet (September 17, 1953): 58.
In 1954, Harbin went to Korea to give 25 performances for American troops at military installations there, headlining the "first all-Negro entertainment package to tour Korea.""20,000 Men and a Girl" Jet (July 22, 1954): 58-61. She also toured military bases in Alaska that year, in a troupe where she was the only African-American performer."Suzette Harbin Signs for Alaskan Army Tour" Jet (August 12, 1954): 56.
In 1960 she retired to the Monterey Peninsula and directed children's theatre; she also worked as a Monterey County juvenile officer. She moved back to Texas in 1980, and worked as a tour guide at the airport in San Antonio.
Personal life Harbin married Hildred Claude Johnson in 1938, and for a time used the name Suzette Harbin-Johnson."Black L.A. 1947: Bandleader Jimmie Lunceford Collapses in Record Store, Dies at 45" The Daily Mirror (July 17, 2018). She was injured in a car accident in 1952."Actress Seeks $100,000 in Auto Crash Suit" Jet (May 21, 1953): 59. She married caricature artist Cal Bailey in 1954."Actress Suzette Harbin to Wed Artist Cal Bailey" Jet (August 19, 1954): 21."Actress Suzette Harbin Weds Artist Cal Bailey" Jet (November 11, 1954): 17. Harbin died in 1994, aged 79 years, in San Antonio, Texas.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1935 So Red the Rose Belle Uncredited1941 Up Jumped the Devil 1943 Cabin in the Sky Dancer / Jim Henry's Paradise Patron Uncredited1943 Stormy Weather Dancer / Nightclub Patron Uncredited1943 I Dood It Part of Hazel Scott's Entourage / Singer in Jericho Uncredited1944 Jam Session Woman Armstrong Sings To Uncredited1944 To Have and Have Not Waitress Uncredited1945 Ziegfeld Follies Flirt ('Love') Uncredited1947 Look-Out Sister Betty Scott 1947 The Foxes of Harrow Belle Uncredited1948 The Pirate Black Maid Uncredited1949 Sky Dragon Maid #2 Uncredited1950 Destination Murder Harriett - Nightclub Maid 1952 The Cimarron Kid Mrs. Stacey Uncredited1952 Skirts Ahoy! Black Drill Team Member Uncredited1952 Lydia Bailey Floreal Uncredited1952 Bomba and the Jungle Girl Princess Baru 1957 The Green-Eyed Blonde Younger Woman Uncredited
References
External links
Harbin on the cover of Jet magazine (July 22, 1954).