Hilda Simms
| Hilda Simms | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 15, 1918 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | February 6, 1994 (aged 75) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | pancreatic cancer |
| Years active | 1953-1963 |
| Spouse(s) |
William Simms (m. 1941; div. 1941) Richard Angarola (m. 1948) |
| Parent(s) | Emile and Lydia Moses |
Hilda Simms (born Hilda Moses, April 15, 1918 – February 6, 1994) was an African-American stage actress, best known for her starring role on Broadway in Anna Lucasta.
Hilda Simms was born Hilda Moses in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of eleven siblings. When Simms starred in the critically acclaimed Broadway hit, Anna Lucasta, her mother Lydia refused to attend the play on Broadway, stating that she would not watch her daughter play a prostitute as she didn't raise her that way. Simms and her siblings were raised devout Catholics in Minneapolis and walked several miles to school each morning to attend the Basilica of St. Mary on the outskirts of Minneapolis.
Prior to becoming an actress, Simms planned to enter the teaching profession. She enrolled at the University of Minnesota and engaged in her studies until lack of funds forced her abandon them. Simms relocated to New York, acting in radio dramas and becoming a member of the American Negro Theater, where she gained professional acting experience. As a member of this noted ensemble, she worked on sound effects, props and publicity while learning her new craft. In New York she met and married William Simms and adopted his surname.Her first marriage ended in divorce, although she retained her first husband's surname as her professional name.
The marriage to Simms was short-lived. In 1943, two years after divorcing him, Simms made her debut in the title role of Philip Yordan's play, Anna Lucasta. Yordan had originally written the play for an all-white cast but the show made a huge splash when the American Negro Theater produced it. The production moved to Broadway in 1944 where it became an early drama featuring African American actors in work that explored themes un-related to race. When the play toured abroad, Simms continued playing in Anna Lucasta while enjoying a singing career in Paris nightclubs under the name Julie Riccardo.
During the British tour of the play in 1947, Simms met and married veteran American actor Richard Angarola. The couple returned to the States in the 1950s and Simms embarked on a brief film career. Her first role was as co-star to heavy-weight boxing champion Joe Louis. She played the boxer's wife in The Joe Louis Story (1953). In 1954, she appeared as Anne in Black Widow. In the 1950s, she was a victim of the Hollywood blacklist.
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