Lillian Randolph was an American actress and singer, a veteran of radio, film, and television.
26 Facts About Lillian Randolph
2.
Lillian Randolph worked in entertainment from the 1930s until shortly before her death.
3.
Lillian Randolph appeared in hundreds of radio shows, motion pictures, short subjects, and television shows.
4.
Lillian Randolph prominently contributed her voice to the character Mammy Two Shoes in nineteen Tom and Jerry cartoons released between 1940 and 1952.
5.
Lillian Randolph got her into radio training courses, which paid off in roles for local radio shows.
6.
Lillian Randolph was tutored by a Euro-American actor for three months on "racial dialect" before getting any radio roles.
7.
Lillian Randolph moved on to Los Angeles in 1936 to work on Al Jolson's radio show, on Big Town, on the Al Pearce show, and to sing at the Club Alabam there.
8.
Lillian Randolph opened her home during World War II with weekly dinners and entertainment for service people in the Los Angeles area through American Women's Voluntary Services.
9.
Lillian Randolph is best known as the maid Birdie Lee Coggins from The Great Gildersleeve radio comedy and subsequent films, and as Madame Queen on the Amos 'n' Andy radio show and television show from 1937 to 1953.
10.
Lillian Randolph was cast in the "Gildersleeve" job on the basis of her wonderful laugh.
11.
Lillian Randolph tore down the halls; when she opened the door for the program, she fell on her face.
12.
Lillian Randolph portrayed Birdie in the television version of The Great Gildersleeve.
13.
In 1955, Lillian Randolph was asked to perform the Gospel song, "Were You There" on the television version of the Gildersleeve show.
14.
Lillian Randolph found the time for the role of Mrs Watson on The Baby Snooks Show and Daisy on The Billie Burke Show.
15.
Lillian Randolph's best known film roles were those of Annie in It's a Wonderful Life and Bessie in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.
16.
Lillian Randolph assumed the role in 1952 when Hattie McDaniel became ill; that same year, she received an "Angel" award from the Caballeros, an African-American businessmen's association, for her work in radio and television for 1951.
17.
Lillian Randolph played Beulah until 1953, when Amanda took over for her.
18.
In 1954, Lillian Randolph had her own daily radio show in Hollywood, where those involved in acting were featured.
19.
MGM, Hanna-Barbera and Lillian Randolph had been under fire from the NAACP, which called the role a stereotype.
20.
Lillian Randolph believed these roles were not harmful to the image or opportunities of African Americans.
21.
Lillian Randolph's reasoning was that the roles themselves would not be discontinued, but the ethnicity of those in them would change.
22.
Lillian Randolph was selected to play Bill Cosby's character's mother in his 1969 television series, The Bill Cosby Show.
23.
Lillian Randolph later appeared in several featured roles on Sanford and Son and The Jeffersons in the 1970s.
24.
Lillian Randolph played Mabel in Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough and appeared in the television miniseries, Roots, Magic and The Onion Field.
25.
Lillian Randolph died of cancer at Arcadia Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, California on September 12,1980, at the age of 81.
26.
Lillian Randolph is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park.