Mamie Smith

Mamie Smith (born Mamie Robinson; May 26, 1883 – September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer and pianist. She appeared in several movies. She performed many musical genres, including blues and jazz. She became the first African American singer to make vocal blues recordings in the early 1920s. Her movies included "Jailhouse Blues" in 1929 and "Paradise in Harlem" ten years after that.
Smith was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She died at age sixty-three in 1946.