Blacks in Blackface

Eddie Anderson 1902-1977 "Rochester"   Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was born in Oakland in 1906. His father, Big Ed Anderson, had been a minstrel performer; his mother, Ella Mae, had been a circus tightrope walker until an accident ended her career. Eddie Anderson started out in vaudeville and had appeared in a number of films when he debuted as the voice of a Pullman porter on Jack Benny's popular radio show in 1937. Audiences responded with such enthusiasm that the canny Benny soon made Rochester his man Friday and inseparable sidekick, and the duo starred together on radio, in movies and on television for twenty-three years.  He was born in Oakland, California, USA on September 18, 1905. As a boy, Anderson sold newspapers on a street corner and permanently damaged his vocal cords ...

  Louise Beavers (1902-1962)   Beavers began her performing career as a minstrel show singer, but when she moved to Hollywood in the early 20s, it was as a maid to actress Leatrice Joy. Like Hattie McDaniel and most other Black actors of the period, Louise Beavers was limited to character roles, most often playing a "mammy" a subservient but jovial African-American maid or cook. Like McDaniel, she was heavy and dark-skinned, and her characters were extremely cheerful, loyal, and asexual.  Before long, though, she made her feature debut in "Gold Diggers" (1923). She acted in other silent films such as the 1927 version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" but really made her mark with the coming of sound. In over 160 films between 1929 and 1960, working in every genre and at every studio, Beaver...

  Willie Best  1913-1962 Sleep 'n' Eat     Willie Best was one of the first well-known African American film actors and comedians, although his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is today sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77 of them, an unusual feat for a bit player. Willie Best came to Hollywood as a limo driver for a vacationing couple. He was discovered in a LA stage play by a talent scout and got into films. In addition to being a talented comedian and character actor, Best was also a musician/song writer.  When Stepin Fetchit became very demanding and difficult, studio executives and directors began to use Willie Best as a replacement. Best's easy-going manner and work...

Ruby Dandridge (1899-1987)   Ruby Dandridge in "Dead Reckoning"   Born Ruby Jean Butler, her parents were Nellie Simon and George Butler. Ruby had mixed Jamaican, Mexican, and Native American ancestry. Her father was a janitor, minister, school principal, and entertainer, and it was he who inspired her to go into acting. Ruby's trademark was her high-pitched voice which rose even higher when she was excited. That voice later served her well as an actress in movies, radio, and television. Usually playing comic, befuddled maids, all Ruby had to do was open her mouth and audiences would break into hysterics. But the real Ruby Dandridge was anything but flighty or absent-minded. She was a strategist and a survivor who possessed a sharp and calculating mind. Ruby was a woman who could quickly read a person or situation and then manipulate ...