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... here are a few more clues ... and if nobody comes up with the answer in a few days, I'll post a different question:

She was born in Chester, PA on Oct. 31st, 1896.

She began her career as a teenager in Balitmore, MD and started working the vaudeville circuit.

She moved to Atlanta, where she worked in the same club with Bessie Smith, who demanded that she not compete in singing blues opposite her. She conceded and sang ballads and popular songs. Perhaps today best known for her blues voice, she then was to sing, dance, play and star in musicals, plays and movies, and later in TV; but, she returned to singing blues whenever opportunity presented.

She recorded for Black Swan (1921-23), Paramount (1924), and Columbia Records (1925).

She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1949 for the film "Pinky." In 1950, she won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play "The Member of the Wedding." She and Harris repeated their roles in the 1952 film version of "Member of the Wedding."

She has three songs in the Grammy Hall of Fame:
Grammy Hall of Fame Awards
Year Recorded - Title - Genre - Label - Year Inducted
1929 - "Am I Blue?" - Traditional Pop (Single) - Columbia - 2007
1933 - "Stormy Weather" (Keeps Rainin' All The Time) - Jazz (Single) - Brunswick - 2003
1925 - "Dinah" - Traditional Pop (Single) - Columbia 1998