Sheila Guyse facts for kids

Sheila Guyse was an American singer and actress. She was born Etta Drucille Guyse on July 14, 1925. Sheila performed on stage and in movies during the 1940s and 1950s. She passed away on December 28, 2013.

Early Life and First Steps

Sheila Guyse was born in Forest, Mississippi. In 1945, she moved to New York City with her parents. She worked at a store on 125th Street. This street was right across from the famous Apollo Theater.

Sheila started her career by performing in amateur shows. This was a common way for African-American performers to begin. Her first nightclub show was in 1945 at Club Zombie in Detroit.

Movies and TV Shows

Sheila Guyse had a charming "girl-next-door" style. She showed this in three independent films made for Black audiences. These movies were called "race films."

• Boy! What a Girl! (1947)
• Sepia Cinderella (1947), where she starred with Billy Daniels
• Miracle in Harlem (1948)

She also appeared in a show called "Harlem Follies of 1949." In 1957, she was in a TV version of the play The Green Pastures.

Broadway Stage Career

Even though Sheila was not formally trained, she was a natural talent. She made her Broadway debut in a play called Memphis Bound in 1945. She played the main female role alongside the famous Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The show ran for 36 performances.

Sheila also performed in two other long-running Broadway plays:

• Lost in the Stars
• Finian's Rainbow

Lost in the Stars won an Outer Circle Critics Award. Sheila also helped record the songs for these plays.

Magazine Features

Sheila Guyse was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Her picture appeared on the covers of many well-known magazines. These included:

• Jet
• Ebony
• Our World
• Hue

Family Life

Sheila Guyse was married three times. Her first marriage was to Shelby Irving Miller. They had one daughter named Sheila Crystal Miller.

Her second marriage was to Kenneth Davis. They met while working on the play Finian's Rainbow. They got married in Philadelphia. They lived mostly in the Bronx, New York. Sheila and Kenneth ended their marriage in 1954.

In 1958, Sheila married Joseph Jackson. He worked in sanitation in New York. They had two children together: Deidre Jean Jackson and Michael Jackson. Sheila later became a Jehovah's Witness because of her marriage to Joseph. They stayed married until Joseph's death in 2012.

Later Years and Health

Sheila Guyse faced some health challenges during her career. These challenges sometimes caused her to turn down roles. She also took breaks from performing.

In 1953, she was diagnosed with stomach ulcers. This happened right after she accepted a role in a Broadway play called Mile High. Sheila returned to the entertainment world in 1958. She recorded her only studio album, called This is Sheila. She tried to make a comeback, but it was difficult to get back into the industry.

Sheila Guyse passed away on December 28, 2013. She was 88 years old. Her death was due to complications from Alzheimer's disease.