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10 Famous People And Celebrities Who Passed For White

Originally Published by  Brian in June 2023 and Updated by Nellian in May 2024.

It is referred to as “passing for white” when people who are of African or mixed African ethnicity are regarded or accepted by others as white, either because of their outward look or because they have hidden their racial origin. When non-white people had fewer possibilities due to racial segregation and prejudice, this practice evolved. People choose to pass for white to get greater access to social acceptability, work, housing, and education.

Techniques included changing one’s appearance, adopting a new name, concealing one’s race, or cutting links with their community. Passing for white required juggling the difficulties of race, identity, and social expectations, which frequently had a negative emotional impact. We must understand that faking whiteness was a reaction to historical racial dynamics as well as to personal situations influenced by existing social surroundings. In the article are 10 Famous People And Celebrities Who Passed For White.

1. Anatole Broyard

Anatole American author, literary critic, and editor Paul Broyard, who lived from July 16, 1920, to October 11, 1990, contributed to The New York Times. Throughout his career, he also authored short tales, essays, and two novels in addition to his numerous reviews and editorials. After his passing, his autobiographical novels Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir (1993) and Intoxicated by My Illness (1992) were released.

A few years after his passing, it was found that Broyard had “passed” as white while being a Louisiana Creole of mixed racial origin. This sparked intense debate.

2. Carol Channing

Portrait of Carol Channing .jpg , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Broadway and movie musical star, Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and comedian. Her characters often had a strong sense of expression and a voice that was easy to recognize, whether singing or using it for humorous effect.

In 1949’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and 1964’s Hello, Dolly!, Channing created the major parts and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the latter. Throughout her career, she reimagined both parts multiple times, performing Dolly on Broadway for the final time in 1995. She received her first Tony Award nomination in 1956 for The Vamp, and then another one in 1961 for Show Girl. In 1974, she was nominated for a fourth Tony Award for the musical Lorelei.

3. Ellen Craft

Ellen Craft jpg. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

American abolitionist Ellen Craft (1826–1891) escaped from slavery in 1848 by posing as a white lady, using her husband William Craft as her servant. They traveled a perilous route before arriving in Philadelphia. The abolitionist movement received significant attention and support after their escape. They spent over two decades in England after evading slave catchers following the Fugitive Slave Act, where they raised their children and opposed the Confederacy throughout the Civil War.

“Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom,” their published tale, became an important slave narrative in 1860. They built an agricultural school in Georgia for the children of freedmen upon their return to the US in 1868, which they ran until 1890. Their unique story was preserved when it was republished in 1999.

4. Jean Toomer

Jean Toomer.jpg , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Harlem Renaissance and modernism are frequently associated with American poet and author Jean Toomer (December 26, 1894–March 30, 1967), despite his outspoken opposition to these associations. Toomer wrote Cane (1923), his most well-known work, both while he was the principal of a black school in rural Sparta, Georgia, and thereafter.

The introduction of the book, which connects the lives of six distinct women with what appears to be an autobiographical link, has been dubbed “the most astonishingly brilliant beginning of any Negro writer of his generation” by sociologist Charles S. Johnson.

5. Fredi Washington

Imitation of Life (1934)–Fredi Washington.JPG , via Wikimedia Commons

Fredericka Carolyn “Fredi” Washington was an American actress, writer, and civil rights activist who lived from December 23, 1903, until June 28, 1994. Washington was an American-born African American. In the 1920s and 1930s, she was one of the first black Americans to be recognized for her theater and cinema performances.

Washington participated in the Harlem Renaissance (1920s–1930s), and Peola, the young light-skinned lady who decides to pass for white in the 1934 film adaptation of Imitation of Life, is probably her most well-known performance. Following her final film performance in One Mile from Heaven (1937), she quit Hollywood and relocated back to New York, where she worked in theater and engaged in civil rights advocacy.

6. Clarence King

Clarence King.jpg , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Clarence Rivers King was an American geologist, mountaineer, and author who lived from January 6, 1842, until December 24, 1901. Between 1879 and 1881, he served as the organization’s first director. King was a notable mountain range explorer who was nominated by Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes.

King passed away from TB in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 24, 1901.[59] In addition to King Peak in Antarctica, he is honored with the names of Kings Peak in Utah, Mount Clarence King, and Clarence King Lake near Shastina, California. The Clarence King Library is another name for the US Geological Survey’s main library, which is located in Reston, Virginia.

7.  Walter Francis White

Walter Francis White.jpg , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

After joining the group in 1918 as an investigator, Walter Francis White (July 1, 1893 – March 21, 1955) was an American civil rights activist who oversaw the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1929 to 1955. He oversaw a comprehensive legal defense strategy against racial discrimination and enfranchisement. He also wrote novels, and essays, and was a journalist. He earned his degree from Atlanta University in 1916.

8. James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson.jpg , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

James Weldon Johnson was an American author and human rights campaigner who lived from June 17, 1871, to June 26, 1938. He was married to Grace Nail Johnson, a civil rights activist. In the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he began working in 1917, Johnson was a prominent figure. He was selected in 1920 to serve as the company’s executive secretary and operational officer. 

In such capacity, he worked from 1920 until 1930. Johnson launched his writing career and became well-known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poetry, novels, and anthologies that included spirituals and poetry from the black cultural tradition.

Johnson served as the United States consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua for the majority of the years 1906 to 1913 after being appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. He was appointed as New York University’s first African American professor in 1934. Later in life, he worked as a creative writing and literature professor at the historically black Fisk University.

9. Jimmy Winkfield

Jimmy “Wink” Winkfield, an American jockey who lived from 1880 to 1974, was a well-known figure in horse racing at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to his African American origin, Winkfield, who was born in Kentucky at a time of racial segregation, had to overcome numerous obstacles. He was a brilliant jockey who won the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902 against racial obstacles.

Winkfield was the last African American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby until Marlon St. Julien in 2000 as a result of his triumphs in the illustrious event. He achieved success in the US, but when racial prejudice became more prevalent, he decided to pursue his career in Europe.

Winkfield overcame racial discrimination throughout his career thanks to his outstanding talent and perseverance, which enabled him to overcome the odds and find amazing success in the horse racing industry. His achievements in both the United States and Europe, as well as his reputation as a trailblazing African American jockey, continue to motivate and have an impact on the sport today.

10. Sui Sin Far

Sui Sin Far.jpg , , via Wikimedia Commons

Sui Sin Far, whose real name was Edith Maude Eaton, was a writer best known for her works about Chinese people in North America and the Chinese American experience. She lived from 15 March 1865 to 7 April 1914. Sui Sin Far is the Cantonese name of the narcissus flower, which is well-known among Chinese people, and was the pen name under which the majority of her works were published.

Eaton experienced prejudice and hostility toward Chinese people as a youngster. As a result, she was inspired to write about the Chinese experience, with some of her works concentrating on her personal experiences as a Chinese person. Eaton explores what it was like to be a Chinese woman in a culture dominated by white men in her book In the Land of the Free.

Moreover, the daily life of Chinese people in Canada and the United States is a major theme in many of Sui Sin Far/Edith Eaton’s unsigned works. These articles cover a variety of subjects, including the cuisine and recreational activities of Chinese people.

5 Movies About People Who Passed As White

1. Imitation of Life (1959)

This film underscores race, class, identity, and gender issues. Sarah Jane in the film has fair skin which allows her to pass as white. Struggling with identity battles she rejects being identified as black to navigate social barriers. The role played by American actress Susan Kohner earned her an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award.

The film was an adaptation of a 1933 novel by American writer, Fannie Hurst of the same name. In 2015, the film was recommended for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. The narrative’s preservation stemmed from its cultural, historical, and aesthetical significance. Better still, the 1934 novel version of Imitation of Life was added to the National Film Registry in 2005.

2. The Human Stain (2003)

Coleman Silk, a light-skinned African American passes as white for most of his life in the film. Based on the novel of the same name by American author Philip Roth, the drama film was directed by Robert Benton.

Better still, it stars Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Gary Sinise, and  Ed Harris. Hopkins plays the role of Coleman Silk a former dean and professor of classics at Athena College. He is forced to resign after being accused of making a racist remark in class. His wife dies suddenly and he enters into an affair with a younger, semi-literate woman Faunia Farley a role played by actress Nicole Kidman.

In the film, Coleman has “passed” as a white Jewish man for most of his adult life living a life full of secrets and deception. He seeks to leverage his secret life to avenge the loss of his job and wife.

3. Pinky (1949)

This American drama film was based on the 1946 novel, Quality by Cid Ricketts  Sumner. Pinky, passes for white during her nursing school studies while in the north.  She falls in love with a white man who never knows she is black.

What’s more, she returns to her southern home and she is in a dilemma. She has to choose between running away to live with the man she fell in love with or staying and embracing her life as a black woman. Pinky was played by American actress  Jeanne Crain earning her an Academy Award nomination.

4. Lost Boundaries (1949)

The American film is a real-life account of Dr. Albert C. Johnston and his family. They passed for white while living in New England during the 1930s and 1940s. The film was inspired by a story of the same title by American journalist William Lindsay White.

Moreover, the film won the Cannes Film Festival award in 1949 for Best Screenplay. The use of white actors in the film’s leading black roles sparked controversy leading to its ban in Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee.

5. Show Boat (1936)

The acclaimed American singer cum actress, Julie LaVerne plays the role of Helen Morgan in Show Boat. She passes as white and she is forced to leave the boat because of her background. She takes her white husband Steve Baker played by actor Donald Cook with her. However, under the state’s law, she is illegally married to Baker.

Baker leaves Morgan after a while and she becomes an alcoholic. The musical’s story spans about 40 years, from the late 1880s to the late 1920s era.

Besides, the film’s plot is based on the 1927 musical of the same name by American composers Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Yet the original adaptation comes from the 1926 novel by the same title written by American novelist, Edna Ferber.

These famous people and celebrities who passed as white are a testament to the positive progress made toward curbing ethnic injustices in our modern world. Their legacy informs us of the past allowing us to appreciate advancements made on the subject over the years.