A popular Paris nightclub singer after performing in the black revue "Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1928" and frequently played the Moulin Rouge.
Began singing in a church choir at age 8.
Briefly married to a musician at age 18; later married jazz musician Luke Smith, who died in 1936.
Despite severe arthritis, she persevered in such 1970s musicals as "Pippin" and "Cindy-Eller," sometimes performing sitting down.
During World War II she often joined artistic forces with such notables as John Gielgud, Edith Evans and Beatrice Lillie to perform for troops in Malta and Gibraltar.
First gained attention in 1923 singing the song "Charleston" in front of a group of flashy, frenzied dancers in the jazz-age musical "Runnin' Wild" on Broadway.
Had a seven-decade long recording career.
Had two brothers: Edward and John.
Her father, a devout Southern Baptist, divorced her mother after he discovered his wife promoting Elisabeth's show business career behind his back. He supposedly said packing his bags, "Girlie's gone to the boards--she's lost!"
Her father, a head gardener and later coachman, was part African-American and part Native American. Her mother was born in Scotland and was part Scots and Irish. She once called herself a "one-woman United Nations."
Her parents had troubled getting married because her mother was Caucasian and her father was African and Native American. They finally found a Catholic priest who married them in secret.
Her paternal grandmother was of the Lenape tribe of Wilmington, Delaware. She was run off the reservation for marrying an African whose relatives had been slaves.
Introduced many songs which became popular standards in her shows over the years including "Charleston," "Stormy Weather," "Far Away in Shanty Town" and her "scandalous" signature song "Love for Sale."
Launched a one-woman show in 1986, at age 81, at New York's Lucille Lortel Theatre, and earned an Obie and 'special' Outer Critics' Circle awards for "making old song favorites sound young, fresh and vital."
Made her final professional appearance in the 1996 British television documentary "Black Divas," singing "Stormy Weather" for the last time in public.
She never saw her father again after he left her mother.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1986 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Musical) for "Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood."