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T he P ortland O bserver • N ovember 13, 1996
Cross.
Cross finally com es to term s with
her father’s memory when she goes to
Harlem and discovers som e home
movies o f Jim my Cross standing out
side the Apol Io Theatre holding a baby
“ It took m e a couple o f more replays
before it hit me...that the baby was
me," says June. "This is the only pic
ture o f us I’ve ever seen I played it
over and over."
And, ultim ately. C ross finds a full
er understanding o f and forgiveness
SECHET DAUGHTER
took june and m oved to an apartment
on New Y ork’s W est Side, ending a
five year relationship with Jimmy cross.
During the next year and a half, N onna
began to feel the pressure o f raising a
black child in a segregated society.
She becam e convinced that being
brought up in an all-white world would
ruin June’s sense o f identity. When
June was four, N orm a sent her to live
with her A frican-A m erican “ Aunt”
Peggy in Atlantic City. N orm a had
gotten to know the Bush’s when she
and Jimmy C ross rented an apartment
in the Bush’s house when J immy play ed
Atlantic City in the fifties.
“ I d id n ’t think it w as right for you
to be brought up in an entirely w hite
household and n eig h b o rh o o d and
life,” N orm a tells June. “ I knew you
w ere going to have problem s. You
can ’t blend in when y o u ’re different."
But N onna was not concerned about
her daughter’s sense o f self. She mar
ried Larry Storch in 1961, and they
moved to Hollywood two years later.
Larry storch was an em erging star. He
was on the cover o fT V Guide. Norma
was afraid her new husband’s career
would be destroyed if the truth about
June were d isco v ered -th at the Holly
wood o f the 1960s was not ready for a
white man w ho’d taken in his w ife’s
illegitimate black daughter. W hen the
Warner Bros, publicity department was
taking photos o f the families o f the
stars o f F-Troop, N orm a decided to
tell them that June was the Storches’
adopted child. This kind o f “cover
story” was a familiar and painin I part
o f June’s Hollywood life.
But even today N orm a fears her
rich and socially glam orous friends
will think less o f her i f they find out she
has a black daughter. At a party thrown
by one o f N o n n a ’s friends, she keeps
her distance from June fearing her
secret might be uncovered.
“My story is far from unique,” says
Cross “The census used to keep track
o f mulatto children. In 1910, there
were just over two million o f us, a
number that dropped by around h alf a
million aftertheG reat M igration north
enabled some ‘p as’ as white in their
new environm ents.”
Cross discovers that her father’s
side o f the family had mixed racial
heritage going back to slavery days,
and her m other’s side may have in
cluded a woman who “passed” for
white. Her journey uncovers a cousin
June Cross, above front, with her m other Norma.
PBS airdate: Tuesday, November 26, 9 p.m., 1 2 0 minutes.
Growing up, Frontline producer
June Cross lived two very different
lives. During the school year, she lived
in Atlantic City as the foster chi Id o f an
African-American fam ily-the “niece”
o f a school teacher and county clerk.
On summer vacation, she lived in the
shadow o f Hollywood as part o f a
w hite show business fam ily with
Norma, her biological mother, and
stepfather, television star Larry Storch
Norma, who left June’s father-A fri-
can-American vaudeville perform er
Jimmy C ross-had given June away
when she became “too dark to pass for
white.”
In “Secret Daughter”, airing Tues
day, N ovember 26, at 9 a.m., on PBS
(check local listings), producer Cross
takes Frontline viewers on an epic
journey across the racial divide, into
the hidden world o f Hollywood and
black vaudeville and deep into com
plicated relationship between a daugh
ter and the mother who gave her away.
“This film was ajoum ey to uncover
feelings I never knew I had when I was
young,” says J une Cross. “ I was raised
as an only child in the bosom o f the
black middle class: nurtured, support
ed, encouraged. But my own fam ily’s
real story was a mystery to me. I want
ed to find out what had happened to me
and why it had happened.”
Producer Cross interviews distant
relatives, close family members, and
Jimmy Cross’s entertainment contem
poraries, including com edian Jerry
Lewis, to reconstruct the mosaic o f her
life. She explores her father’s history,
tracking down old friends, exposing
the racial tapestry o f show business in
the post-war era as well as forming a
picture o f a man she harbored anger
toward her entire life.
Jimmy Cross was h alf o f the com e
dy team “Stump & Stumpy" and had
appeared in Irving B erlin’s 1943 film
This Is the Army, starring Ronald
Reagan. But to this day, neither he nor
any o f the black singer-dancers re
ceives screen credit for their perfor
mances. The docum entary reveals that
although blacks couldn’t share the stage
with whites, backstage the races mixed
freely. But the on-stage segregation
meant many black acts never got the
recognition they deserved.
June’sstepfather, Larry Storch, who
starred in the W arner Bros. TV com e
dy F-Troop during the mid-sixties,
says he was am ong those who used to
go H arlem ’s Apollo Theatre and get
ideas for material from the black com
ics tim ing from the black acts, includ
ing “Stump & Stumpy.”
Producer Cross went to discover
what led to her m other's decision to
give her away. Did N onna make the
decision in her daughter’s best interest
or to maintain her own social respect
ability? Cross grapples with her moth
e r’s dilem m a as she tries to convince
her to appear in an on-cam era inter
view, which would reveal their secret
to all.
In 1952, Norm a came to New York
and met Jim my Cross. June was bom
two years later. However, as Jim m y’s
career declined, he began to abuse
alcohol and their relationship became
increasingly volatile. In 1957, Norm a
—
on her father’s side in Philadelphia and
a half-sister, Lynda Gravatt, who is an
accomplished actress.
C ross’s cam era confronts some ra
cial stereoty pes o f her ow n when she
goes to meet her m other’s Mormon
cousins in Idaho “ 1 was seized by
conflicting em otions , their sincerity
versus the reality I think M ormon rac
ism perpetrated in my own life," says
for her m o th ers’s decision.
"The way I look at it, she w as smart
enough to know she couldn’t provide
a supportive place for a black girl, and
she loved me enough to give me to
someone who could,” says Cross. "I
d o n ’t feel any anger tow ards her for
that As hard as it’s been, I honor her
for that.”
"Secret Daughter” is written and
produced by June Cross and co-pro
duced by John Baynard and Jean-
Phil lippe Boucicaut.
Holiday ceremonial remembrance
part in the healing process for those
grieving that loss.
Stratte will speak in conjunction
with M ary Lou C ook, co-author o f
the new book “ You can H elp Som e
one W h o ’s G riev in g ” at Borders
Books (708 SW Third, Portland) on
W ednesday, N ovem ber 1 3 ,19 9 6 at 7
pm.
Me, Too. & Com pany is a free.
M e, T oo. & C o m p an y A dult
G roup Facilitator, N ancy Stratte.
M.A. will speak on the topic o f
cerem onial rem em brances during
the holidays.
Stratte will tell how a sim ple act
o f rem em brance or ritual - such as
lighting a candle in m em ory o f the
loved one before holiday festivities
com m ence - can play an im portant
eight-w eek ch ild ren ’s g rie f support
group sp o n so red by P rovidence
Health System ’s: Providence B ridg
es for C hildren, P rovidence C hild
C enter, K aiser-P erm anente H os
pice, Legacy V isiting N urses A sso
ciation H ospice and the O regon
H ospice A ssociation G roups are
held three tim es a year in east and
w est-side locations.
Pregnancy not required services
o f f 'L e a rn in g to Win: A Program for
girls Age 11-13” on N ovem ber 19th,
6pm until 8pm at 8920 N W oolsey.
“ L earning to W in” , is a special
ized curriculum aim ed at minority
girls with em phasis on m ath, gram
mar. com puter skills, socialization
Traditionally, accessing case m an
agem ent and goal setting was only
available to pregnant girls through
social services agencies.
H ow ever in collaboration with the
H ousing A uthority o f P ortland and
C am pfire Boys and G irls will kick-
Important!!! Important!!!
Parent and Student Night
T o discuss how M easure 1 1, Curfew and the new T ruancy Law will
im pact you and our young people. At the P eninsula Park C om m unity
C enter, Thurs. Nov. 21, 1996; 6:00pm - 7:30pm.
Program Sponsored by TLC-TNTand Portland Police-
tli e Great program
Free non competitive recreation fo r younger children.
Refreshments will be served.
Call 9 /6 -5 6 6 9 fo r other questions.
and pregnancy prevention.
“T his is a culturally com petent,
perform ance-based curriculum that
incorporates the fami ly as partners to
challenge and prepare girls for the
2 1 st century,” said Lanita D uke, co
ordinator o f G ift Fam ily services.
“ W e have a co m m u n ity -b ased
team o f talented w om en w ho will
expect o f these young ladies no less
than what we expected from our own
daughters, “ D uke added.
The k ick -o ff will include a buffet-
style dinner, introduction and o rien
tation into the program .
Gift is the acronym for G ang In
fluenced Fem ale Team . “ L earning to
W in” is open to girls living in North
Portland. For m ore inform ation call
Lanita Duke at 2 8 5 -9 8 7 1.
Non-profit’s Day of Caring
Clackamas
Women’s
Services
The to-do lists o f o ver 50 health
and hum an care agencies in M ult
nomah County were severely cut with
the help o f hundreds o f volunteers
from U nited W ay ’s Day o f Caring.
The annual event m atches volunteer
team s with hands-on projects at agen
cy sites th ro u g h o u t M u ltn o m ah ,
W ashington and C lackam as coun
ties in O regon and C lark County in
W ashington. O ver 2,200 volunteers
com pleted hundreds o f projects at
C lackam as W o m en 's Services
in conjunction with Portland W om
e n 's Crisis line is offering a D o
mestic V iolence Support group for
battered lesbians. The group is free
and confidential. Call Joyce at 232-
9 7 5 1 or I oni at 722-2366.
BUYERS SALE
106 sites o ver tw o days, providing
6,600 hours o f free labor valued at
close to $80,000.
“The volunteers w ere highly m o
tivated and required alm ost no g uid
ance,” say sarep resen tativ e from The
Parry C enter for C hildren ” T he ben
efit for volunteers is im m ense A
volunteer from W illam ette Industries
said the event, “ I liked w orking for a
good cause and the w ork w as badly
needed.”
—
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Beef Chuck Blade Roast
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•SAVEup to 800 lb.
Red and Golden
Delicious
Apples
• Northwest grown
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