The Disappearance of Miss Scott -
american masters

Fri, Feb 21 9:00 P.M. NHPBS (11.1)  

How could we forget the one and only Hazel Scott? She was not only the most famous jazz virtuoso of her time, but she was the first African American to have her own television show. This feature documentary will shine a light on this incredible talent whose voice - like the voices of so many women, especially women of color - has been lost. A child immigrant from Trinidad, Scott was a musical prodigy whose talent was equally at home playing Bach, or swinging with Art Tatum and Fats Waller in a jazz club at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. She refused to play before segregated audiences, and as a Hollywood screen siren, she spoke out against unfair treatment - she led an actors strike when a film director insisted on putting his Black actors in dirty costumes. She also took a restaurant to court because it refused to serve her, and joined her voice with the first African American Congressman from the state of New York when she married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in 1945. Scott's bright star dimmed when she was caught up in the Red Scare of the 1950s and refused to back down, testifying in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to defend herself and her colleagues, and was blacklisted as a result. America owes so much to Hazel Scott, trailblazer for Oprah, Beyonce, Alicia Keys and many others, so why is her story not more well-known? Our film will investigate the disappearance of Hazel Scott.

Episode Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes and 0 seconds

Episode Number: 3607

All broadcast times for this episode: (show all)

Fri, Feb 21	9:00 P.M.	The Disappearance of Miss Scott     NHPBS (11.1)
Sat, Feb 22	1:00 A.M.	The Disappearance of Miss Scott     NHPBS (11.1)
Sun, Feb 23	10:00 P.M.	The Disappearance of Miss Scott     NH World (11.3)
Mon, Feb 24	2:00 A.M.	The Disappearance of Miss Scott     NH World (11.3)
Mon, Feb 24	10:00 A.M.	The Disappearance of Miss Scott     NH World (11.3)

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About American Masters:

AMERICAN MASTERS is an ongoing series of award-winning primetime specials examining the lives, works, and creative processes of our most outstanding cultural artists.

Created in 1984 by Susan Lacy and produced by Thirteen/WNET for national public television, the series is both a celebration and an exploration of creativity in America.

Consisting of more than 250 hours of programming to date, AMERICAN MASTERS is a growing film library documenting the role important individuals, groups, and movements have played in the formation of our cultural identity.

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