In the movie “They Live by Night” (1948), Farley Granger and Peggy O’Donnell are on the lam from the law. They halt their flight and settle into a roadside inn where Marie Bryant is singing “It’s Your Red Wagon.” This is one of the standard cameos of relief from a harrowing script and Bryant takes full advantage of this moment. At one time, she was among the most vivacious performers in the ’40s, physically endowed with an array of seductive movements and a formidable vocal range. This is her only scene in the film, but she has other memorable moments in her brief filmography, including “The Duke is Tops” with Ralph Cooper in 1938.
Bryant was born in Meridian, Miss., in 1917 or 1919, depending on the source. She was still a child when her family moved to New Orleans, but by 10 years of age, her impersonations of Josephine Baker charmed spectators. As a teenager, she studied under Mary Bruce and was selected for the annual show at the Regal Theater in Chicago. She made her professional debut with Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong at the Grand Terrace Cafe in 1934. Her performances were so compelling that she became a regular singer and dancer at the cafe.
When Bryant’s performances came to the attention of Lionel Hampton, he hired her for dates in Los Angeles. Duke Ellington followed suit, securing her for appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. During this phase of her career, Bryant was also a featured attraction at the Apollo Theater. In 1941, she performed in Ellington’s musical revue “Jump for Joy” and her rendition of “Bli Blip” became a popular request wherever she performed.
Bryant’s popularity grew immensely and soon she was a star and leader of a dance troupe featured in several films—“Carolina Blues” in 1944 and the same year in “Jammin’ the Blues,” where she was accompanied by jazz legend Lester Young and guitarist Barney Kessel. Two years later, she was back with Ellington for a star turn in “Beggar’s Holiday,” a musical show with Ellington’s tunes and lyrics by John LaTouche.
When she wasn’t on the road, Bryant was a teacher at dance schools operated by Katherine Dunham and Eugene Loring. Among a coterie of Hollywood notables who perfected their dance steps with her tutelage were Marlon Brando, Debbie Reynolds, Betty Grable, Ava Gardner, and Cyd Charisse. These lessons may have been the conduit to the movie industry, giving her opportunities to get in films and work with Gene Kelly, who praised her as “one of the finest dancers I’ve ever seen.” Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia all hired her as a top dance coach, where she developed a teaching style she called “controlled release.”
Bryant continued to perform in various musicals for the next decade or so, touring with the Harlem Blackbirds in 1952, where she met and married the company manager, John A. Rajakumar.
London and Europe beckoned, as well as other parts of the globe. One of the venues included South Africa and it was here that she caused quite an uproar with her version of “The Plea,” a calypso song that ridiculed the racist prime minister. When her husband became ill, she returned to the States. He died in 1965.
Bryant opened her dance studios in the 1970s and was the understudy for Pearl Bailey in the stage show “Hello, Dolly!” Most of her time was spent teaching and working as a choreographer in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
She died of cancer in Los Angeles in 1978 at the age of 58.