Anita Bush

Anita Bush
Poster for The Crimson Skull (1921) with Lawrence Chenault and Anita Bush
Born	(1883-09-01)September 1, 1883 Brooklyn, NY, United States
Died	February 16, 1974(1974-02-16) (aged 90) New York, NY, United States
Occupation	Theatre producer, Dancer, Actor
Years active	1899–?

Anita Bush (September 1, 1883–February 16, 1974) was an American stage actress and playwright. She founded the Anita Bush All-Colored Dramatic Stock Company in 1915, a pioneering black repertory theatre company that helped launch the careers of Charles Gilpin, Dooley Wilson, Evelyn Preer and others.

Anita Bush was born on September 1, 1883, in Brooklyn, New York. Her first experience with theater was with her father who is described as, “a theatrical costumer whose clients included many New York actors and performers”. She spent hours working alongside her father, gaining exposer to many white theater actors and actresses. Furthermore, while working with her father she also had a sister whom she acted alongside in a play, called Antony and Cleopatra which inspired her to pursue a career in the theater realm.

While working with her father at the Bijou Theater, she saw the Williams and Walker company performing a piece on stage titled, In Dahomey. It was during this time that she asked her father for permission to audition for the group, in hopes to gain a career in acting. At the age of 17, she was cast with the company and it allowed her to tour the world and pave a way for her to form her own companies. With the Bijou Theater Company, she “traveled to England with the musical and later performed in the Chorus of four other Williams and Walker shows”.

After performing in her final play titled, Mr. Lode of Koal with the troop, she went on to form her own dance group. The dance group was called the “Anita Bush and her 8 Shimmy Babies”. Unfortunately, at the break of her career she had to stop dancing due to a back injury, which then inspired her to pursue a full-time career in theater drama.

In the early part of the 20th century, Bush worked extensively as a dancer in musical theatre and vaudeville performing with the likes of Bert Williams and George Walker. While working with Maria C. Downs she put on vaudeville acts and plays. With a signed contract with Elmore, Bush went to Billie Burke, a Harlem-based white director/playwright to stage his play, The Girl at the Fort, a light comedy with five characters. Bush then assembled the cast which included Carlotta Freeman, Dooley Wilson and Andrew Bishop. The play opened at the Lincoln Theatre in November 1915. For the next six weeks, Bush's company presented a different play every two weeks to much success. The Anita Bush Stock Company presented a one-act play titled The Girl at the Fort.