Born in Trinidad, Hazel Scott moved to the United States when she was four. Labeled a child prodigy, Hazel began music studies at the Julliard School of Music at 8 years old. She was able to pick out any tune she heard on the piano. At 13, she joined an all-girl jazz band, playing piano and trumpet.
By 16, Hazel was performing on the radio, as well as with Count Basie’s Orchestra at Roseland Ballroom. Throughout the 30s and 40s, Hazel was a featured attraction at the popular Cafe Society, where she entertained the crowds with her jazz, blues and boogie-woogie. Her act became nationally known and Hazel was making $75,000 a year.
Hazel made the jump to movies, however, she refused to take roles of maids or domestics. She negotiated “final cut” privileges for all of her films and insisted on wearing her own clothes and jewelry to control her own image. Hazel was featured in five Hollywood motion pictures and insisted on being credited as “Miss Hazel Scott as Herself.” In 1950, Hazel became the first American black performer to host their own television series.
Hazel remained a staunch advocate for civil rights. She was outspoken against racial discrimination and segregation, as well as growing McCarthyism.
In the late 50s, Hazel moved to France, where she enjoyed more success. When she returned to the US a decade later, she began to take roles on episodic television, including dramas and soap operas.
Hazel passed way from cancer in 1981 at the age of 61. At the 61st Grammy Awards ceremony, singer Alicia Keys thanked Hazel Scott for her inspiration, noting that “she always wanted to play two pianos,” alluding to Hazel’s ability to play two pianos at one time.