Bessie Smith was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Blues Masters - The Essential History of the Blues
(Self (archive footage))
St. Louis Blues
(Bessie - Battered Wife)
The Story Of The Blues
(Self (archive footage))
Blues Masters
(Self (archive footage))
Wild Women Don't Have the Blues
(Self (archive footage))
Bluesland: A Portrait in American Music
(Self (archive footage))
A Huey P. Newton Story
(Self (archive footage) (uncredited))
It's Black Entertainment
(Self (archive footage))