Ethel Waters was not exactly a closet Christian at the end of her life but God helped her through some rough spots. She was born in Philadelphia in 1896 to a mother who was a teenage rape victim.
Performing in black churches would be a key to her later musical success in Harlem at the famous Cotton Club and elsewhere. The song "Stormy Weather" was especially written for her.
She later became the first African-American to star in her own national radio show. She rededicated her life to God at a Billy Graham meeting and began to be a regular on the Graham Crusade circuit. Her speaking/singing/talking style reflects her black church background. "Eye is on the Sparrow" was also the title of her autobiopgraphy.
Here is Ethel Waters two years before her death alive and well with the Crusade choir.
Photo: Ethel Waters sings with Count Basie and his band.