Hilda Simms Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

Hilda Simms (April 15, 1918 – February 6, 1994) was an African-American stage actress, best known for her starring role on Broadway in Anna Lucasta. Born as Hilda Moses in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of nine siblings. She studied teaching at the University of Minnesota until lack of money forced her to leave. Anna Lucasta and Ms. Simms' performance in the title role created a stir when the play, written by Philip Yordan and produced by the American Negro Theater, moved from Harlem to Broadway in 1944. In 1943, Ms. Simms moved permanently to New York. She acted in radio dramas and joined... MORE

Hilda Simms (April 15, 1918 – February 6, 1994) was an African-American stage actress, best known for her starring role on Broadway in Anna Lucasta. Born as Hilda Moses in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of nine siblings. She studied teaching at the University of Minnesota until lack of money forced her to leave. Anna Lucasta and Ms. Simms' performance in the title role created a stir when the play, written by Philip Yordan and produced by the American Negro Theater, moved from Harlem to Broadway in 1944. In 1943, Ms. Simms moved permanently to New York. She acted in radio dramas and joined the American Negro Theater, where she was in charge of sound effects, props and publicity. In 1947 Ms. Simms went with the play when it moved to London. While in the UK she married an American actor Richard Angerolla. (Her first marriage, to William Simms in 1941, ended in divorce, although she retained her first husband's surname as her professional name.) Under the alias Julie Riccardo, she sang in nightclubs in Paris nightclubs before she returned to the USA in 1953 to make the film The Joe Louis Story. Her other film role was in The Black Widow (1954). She also appeared in The Cool World (1960), LESS