Elisabeth Welch

In British films of the 1930s and 1940s, American-born singer Elisabeth Welch made several memorable guest appearances in cabaret sequences, and starred opposite Paul Robeson in two features. Sophisticated, glamorous and charming, her appearances were a refreshing departure from the stereotype of black women perpetuated by Hollywood films of that time. One of her best screen roles was Beulah, the nightclub owner and hostess, in Ealing's Dead of Night (1945). After a long and distinguished career in West End musical theater, Elisabeth returned to the screen in 1979, making a memorable appearance as "A Goddess" in Derek Jarman's The Tempest (1979), singing her theme song, "Stormy Weather".