Carol Chilton
A young smiling Black woman, glancing over her shoulder, wavy dark hair loose
Carol Chilton, from a 1931 newspaper
BornDecember 13, 1907
Chicago, Illinois
DiedOctober 27, 1996(1996-10-27) (aged 88)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationDancer
SpouseMaceo Thomas

Carol Chilton Thomas Anthony (December 13, 1907 – October 27, 1996) was an American dancer, part of the duo Chilton and Thomas, with her husband Maceo Thomas. She danced in several films and stage productions, and was one of the "first American artists to be selected for the initial television broadcast in England."[1]

Early life and education

Chilton was born in Chicago, the daughter of Newton T. Chilton and Lucille E. Bacon Chilton. Both parents were part of the Great Migration from the American South to Northern cities; her mother was a probation officer and her father was a carpenter. She trained as a dancer in Chicago.[2][3][4]

Career

Chilton was performing as a dancer and singer in Chicago from her teens.[5][6] She and Thomas began touring together as a "fancy dance act" by early 1927.[2][7] They were often billed as "Creole dancers".[8] Theirs are really winged feet," commented an Iowa newspaper in 1929. "That seems to be the only solution for the rapidity of their motion. They apparently dance on the air."[9] In 1933 they had a novelty act that involved Chilton playing piano while Thomas danced on dinner plates.[10]

Chilton and Thomas danced in the films Love and Hisses (1937) and Strike Me Pink (1936). The appeared on Broadway with Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor.[11][12] They toured in California with comedian Fanny Brice in 1928,[13] and performed in England during four tours between 1930 and 1937,[14] including a performance for the King and Queen,[15][16] early live television broadcasts for the BBC,[1] and appearances with jazz musician Valaida Snow in 1936.[12] They danced in France with the Blackbirds of 1934 company, but they left in a contract dispute, and they were sued by the French impresario Felix Terry.[17] In 1938 they toured in Australia and the Far East.[18] One of their last performances together was at the opening of the Idlewild resort in Michigan in 1941.[19][20] They also played USO shows in their last years together.[21]

Both Thomas and Chilton stopped dancing by 1943.[22] During World War II, Chilton worked at an aircraft factory in Chicago.[23][24]

Personal life

Chilton married her dancing partner, Maceo Thomas, in 1927.[14][25] They divorced in the early 1940s, and both soon remarried.[26] She married again in 1943, to Louis Fite Anthony; they had three children, Carol, Stephen, and Pamela. Her second husband died in 1987.[27] She died in Chicago in 1996, at the age of 88.

References

  1. 1 2 "Chilton and Thomas Use Green Lipstick to 'Make Up' for London Television Broadcasts; Go Big". The Pittsburgh Courier. September 19, 1936. p. 16. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "Youthful Star Illuminates Broadway". The Pittsburgh Courier. March 12, 1927. p. 1. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Semmes, Clovis E. "Black Chicago Pioneers in the Training of Dancers" in Richard A. Courage and Christopher Robert Reed, eds., Roots of the Black Chicago Renaissance: New Negro Writers, Artists, and Intellectuals, 1893-1930 (1920): 166-182.
  4. ↑ "Wins Charleston Record". The Pittsburgh Courier. April 24, 1926. p. 13. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Lee, Nora E. (December 1, 1923). "One of the Leading Charity Clubs Delightfully Entertained the Wounded Soldiers". The Broad Ax. p. 3. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Matthews, Ralph (August 22, 1931). "Stage Career Can't Kill Romance in her Life". Baltimore Afro American. p. 9. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  7. ↑ "Carol Chilton, Maceo Thomas Know Hoofing; Young Pair Put on One of Cleverest of Exhibitions". Evening Express. May 4, 1928. p. 8. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Chilton and Thomas Are Acclaimed in London as Real Dance Sensation". The Pittsburgh Courier. January 11, 1930. p. 16. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Annabelle and Her Boys Top Fast Moving Show at Iowa Theater Today". The Gazette. April 10, 1929. p. 9. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Theatrical Jottings: Broadway's Newest Novelty Act". The New York Age. January 21, 1933. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Chilton and Thomas Tie Up Al Jolson's Show". The Pittsburgh Courier. March 28, 1931. p. 18. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 "Chiswick Empire". Middlesex County Times. August 15, 1936. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Orpheum to Star Fannie Brice". The San Francisco Examiner. January 6, 1928. p. 18. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 Pearson, James (February 26, 1937). "A Real Live Stage Romance". Evening Despatch. p. 8. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Doesn't Like Paris Shops But Crazy about London". The Pittsburgh Courier. June 21, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Chilton & Thomas to be Feted in Cleveland". The Pittsburgh Courier. June 21, 1930. p. 16. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Chilton-Thomas Explain Lawsuit Filed in London". The Pittsburgh Courier. November 17, 1934. p. 18. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Chilton and Thomas Sail for Sidney". The Pittsburgh Courier. February 19, 1938. p. 13. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Chilton and Thomas Open Resort". The Omaha Guide. August 2, 1941. p. 4. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Chilton and Thomas Team Open New Spot for Vacationists at Idlewild". The Detroit Tribune. July 19, 1941. p. 9. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Mills, Gladys (May 1, 1943). "Maceo Thomas Will Attend State School". The Michigan Chronicle. p. 5. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Maceo Thomas Hangs Up His Dancing Shoes". The Pittsburgh Courier. May 22, 1943. p. 20. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Carol Chilton". The Weekly Review. April 3, 1943. p. 5. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Artists, Models Ball to Choose 'Miss Victory'". Chicago Tribune. October 17, 1943. p. 17. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Actors Wedded in Makeup Costumes". The Enterprise. July 8, 1927. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Maceo Thomas, Dancer, Weds Benton Harbor Nurse". The Detroit Tribune. July 24, 1943. p. 6. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ "Louis Anthony (death notice)". Chicago Tribune. October 14, 1987. p. 34. Retrieved February 13, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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