Fredi Washington

Biography

Fredi Washington was a pioneering American stage and film actress of African descent who rose to recognition in the 1920s and 1930s. She gained fame for her roles in "Imitation of Life" (1934) as Peola, a light-skinned Black woman who passes as white, and in "The Letter" (1929). Active in the Harlem Renaissance, Washington also transitioned to theatre and civil rights activism after leaving Hollywood.