14 Facts About Rose McClendon

Rose McClendon was a leading African-American Broadway actress of the 1920s.

Rose McClendon was born as Rosalie Virginia Scott in Greenville, South Carolina, and as a child relocated to New York City.

Rose McClendon started acting in church plays in her youth.

Rose McClendon became a professional actress in her thirties, after winning a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

Rose McClendon appeared in the 1927 Pulitzer Prize-winning play In Abraham's Bosom by Paul Green.

Rose McClendon drew critical praise for her portrayal of Phyllis in Annie Nathan Meyer's Black Souls at Broadway's Provincetown Playhouse in 1932.

Rose McClendon was a contemporary of Paul Robeson, Ethel Barrymore, Lynn Fontanne and Langston Hughes, who created a character for her in his 1935 play, Mulatto.

Rose McClendon's talent extended to directing as well as acting.

Rose McClendon served as liaison to numerous organizations and individuals who became involved in the Federal Theatre Project, including Harry Edward, Carlton Moss and Edna Thomas.

Rose McClendon advised national director Hallie Flanagan that the project should begin under experienced direction and selected John Houseman to co-direct the unit.

In December 1935, Rose McClendon was forced to leave the cast of Langston Hughes's Mulatto after she became critically ill with pleurisy.

Rose McClendon was to have portrayed Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles's Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth, but due to her continuing illness Edna Thomas played the role.

In 1950, the estate of Rose McClendon's husband donated her scrapbooks to the New York Public Library.

In 2021, a biopic titled Voodoo Macbeth, produced by the USC School of Cinematic Arts and chronicling the creation of the New York Negro Unit 1936 production of Macbeth co-directed by Rose McClendon, premiered at the Pan-African Film Festival.