Beulah Show, The

The Beulah Show is a radio and television situation comedy series that revolves around an African American maid in the Henderson household, a suburban white middle-class family. The program aired on the ABC radio network from 1945 to 1947, the CBS radio network from 1947 to 1954, and the ABC television network from 1950 to 1953. The direction, writing, and production of The Beulah Show were handled by white men.

The character of Beulah originated with Marlin Hurt, a white man. He introduced and played the maid, Beulah Brown, in 1939 in a program called Hometown, Unincorporated, and in 1940 on NBC radio's Show Boat series. In 1943, Beulah became a major part of another series titled That's Life. In late 1944, the character gained popularity in the radio comedy Fibber McGee and Molly.

Hurt's character Beulah spun off to a separate radio series, The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show (later The Beulah Show), airing on CBS in 1945. The series was well received but was taken off the air temporarily following Hurt's sudden death from a heart attack in 1946. Twelve months after Hurt's death, a nationwide search for a new Beulah occurred, and in February 1947, another white man, Bob Corley, was enlisted to play the role on ABC radio.

The series and character outgrew their novelty act status in October 1947, when Hattie McDaniel signed on to play the role for CBS. McDaniel was a successful black film actress, having performed as a domestic in over 300 films for 15 years before appearing as Beulah.

Amanda Randolph played the role of Beulah from 1953 to 1954. She is shown here with Ernest Whitman, who played Beulah's boyfriend. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among others, accused the show of stereotyping.

In the television version of The Beulah Show, Beulah Brown was played by Ethel Waters from 1950 to 1951, Hattie McDaniel from 1951 to 1952, and Louise Beavers from 1952 to 1953. The Henderson family included father and businessman Harry (portrayed by William Post, Jr., 1950–52; and David Bruce, 1952–53), mother and homemaker Alice (Ginger Jones, 1950–52; and Jane Frazee, 1952–53), and their 10-year-old son Donnie (Clifford Sales, 1950–52; and Stuffy Singer, 1952–53).

Beulah could manage and solve all of the family's problems but could not solve her own, which was convincing her boyfriend and fix-it shop owner Bill Jackson (portrayed by Percy “Bud” Harris, 1950–51; Arthur “Dooley” Wilson, 1951–52; and Ernest Whitman, 1952–53) to marry her. Bill and [Page 338]Beulah's girlfriend Oriole Winston (Thelma “Butterfly” McQueen, 1950–51; and Ruby Dandridge, 1951–53), a maid of the Hendersons’ next-door neighbors, were always present to assist Beulah in resolving her weekly situations.