Gertrude Jeannette

Gertrude Hadley Jeannette (November 28, 1914 – April 4, 2018) was an American playwright and film and stage actress. She is also known for being the first woman to work as a licensed taxi driver in New York City, which she began doing in 1942. In the 1960s and 1970s she appeared in Broadway productions such as The Long Dream, Nobody Loves an Albatross, The Amen Corner, The Skin of Our Teeth and Vieux Carré. She also appeared in films such as Cotton Comes to Harlem in 1969, Salley Getrude Crawford Hadley, her mother, was a homemaker. Willis Lawrence Hadley, her father, taught on a Native American reservation near Spiro, Oklahoma. Gertrude Jeannette had five brothers and one sister, and grew up on a farm. The family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas during the Great Depression, and she enrolled at the segregated Dunbar High School. her first Broadway production. died in 1956. She died on April 4, 2018, at the age of 103 at her home in Harlem. She was survived by many nephews and nieces.

A Bolt from the Blue (1948) This Way Forward (1948-1950) Light in the Cellar (1960) Open House (1974) Who's Mama's Baby, Who's Daddy's Child? (1985) Gladys' Dilemma (1990)

Theater credits Title Year Role Vieux Carre 1977 Nursie Nobody Loves an Albatross 1963-64 Sarah Washington Lost in the Stars 1949-50 Grace Kumalo

Awards 1984 AUDELCO Outstanding Pioneer Award 2010 AUDELCO Nomination in three categories for Best Play Revival for her play Gladys' Dilemma

Footnotes