Nina Mae McKinney (June 12, 1912 – May 3, 1967) was an American actress who worked internationally during the 1930s and in the postwar period in theatre, film and television, after beginning her career on Broadway and in Hollywood.

By 1920, Crawford relocated to Savannah, Georgia, to work as a cook for Cynthia Withers, her daughter Irene, and other white lodgers.

Eight-year-old McKinney followed them shortly afterward, but was sent back down south to stay with her Uncle Curtis and his family in Gills Creek when her father went to prison.

The show itself was renamed Blackbirds of 1928 and moved to the Liberty Theatre, where it ran for 518 successful performances,[6] starring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Adelaide Hall.

In October 1928, King Vidor arrived in New York searching for actors for his upcoming all-Black talking picture, Hallelujah!.

During casting sessions in Harlem, McKinney walked back and forth in front of the building to gain the attention of King Vidor.

On May 20, 1929, McKinney was engaged to James Marshall, director of Harlem's Lafayette Theatre, and signed a five-year contract with MGM, the first African American performer to do so.

"[9] The following day, McKinney wed Marshall, but she returned to California in September, moving into the Hotel Dunbar and traveling daily to Culver City to film The Bugle Sounds, Manhattan Serenade and They Learned About Women.

Few Hollywood movies had mixed race casts, and it was difficult for African Americans to find enough work in the creative side of the film industry.

That spring, her new manager, Al Munro, sports writer of The Chicago Whip, arranged a tour of the Midwest for her.

Horrible reviews followed McKinney, declaring her a money-hungry, star struck girl who had grown to despise her own race.

[14] In January 1934, jazz pianist Garland Wilson and McKinney departed for a tour of the Cote d'Azur, beginning in Nice, France, which ended up being a successful five-month project.

In the meantime, she also appeared in Kentucky Minstrels (released in the United States as Life is Real), her first British film, alongside Scott & Whaley and Debroy Somers Orchestra.

The film, which was partly set in Africa, would portray African culture positively, which Robeson had made a condition of his participation in the project.