Expert: Mel - 11/17/2008

Question
Who was the woman who played the singing maid in the 1933 Baby Face movie?

Answer
Hello Mary Ellen,

That character's name was Chico and she was played by Theresa Harris.

Here's a mini-biography......

Born in Houston, Texas, in 1909, Theresa Harris made her screen debut as a camp follower in Josef von Sternberg's "Morocco" (1930). Like most black performers working in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s, Harris was generally limited to servant roles (she actually played the role of a 'Maid' in around 36 films). One of the more artistically rewarding of these was as Chico in the Barbara Stanwyck classic, "Baby Face" (1933). She also played Josephine, the object of Eddie "Rochester" Anderson's affections in the Jack Benny vehicle "Buck Benny Rides Again" (1940) and their duet on the song "My, My" was one of the most memorable scenes in the movie. Harris and Anderson worked so well together that they were reteamed in the same roles in another Benny comedy, "Love Thy Neighbor" (1940). Evidently a favorite of RKO producer Val Lewton, Harris was prominently cast in several of Lewton's productions of the 1940s, most entertainingly as the cheerfully sarcastic waitress in "Cat People" (1943). Theresa Harris remained in films until 1958, her characters slowly moving up the social ladder to include nurses and governesses. She died in 1985.


Glad to be of help. Cheers........Mel.