Stepin Fetchit
Encyclopedia
Stepin Fetchit was the stage name
of American comedian
and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry.
Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, eventually becoming a millionaire
, the first black actor in history to do so. He was also the first black actor to receive a screen credit
.
Perry's typical film persona and stage name have long been controversial, and seen as illustrative of negative stereotype
s of African-Americans. Seen through a modern lens, Perry's "laziest man in the world" character can be "painfully racist" but also "subversive".
to West Indian immigrants. He was the second child of Joseph Perry, a cigar maker from Jamaica
(although some sources indicate the Bahamas
) and Dora Monroe, a seamstress from Nassau
. Both of his parents came to the United States in the 1890s, where they married. By 1910, the family had moved north to Tampa, Florida
. Another source says he was adopted when he was eleven years old and taken to live in Montgomery, Alabama
.
His mother wanted him to be a dentist, so Perry was adopted by a quack dentist, where he blacked boots before running away at age twelve to join a carnival
. He earned his living for a few years as a singer and tap dancer. By the age of twenty, Perry had become a Vaudeville
artiste and the manager of a traveling carnival show. He performed a vaudeville act with a partner, with the two of them being known as "Step" and "Fetchit." When Perry became a solo act he combined the two names, which later became his professional name.
. His stage name was a contraction of "step and fetch it", or perhaps, "step in [and] fetch it." According to his entry in Ephraim Katz
's The Film Encyclopedia, he borrowed his screen name from a racehorse that won him some money in his pre-Hollywood days.
Perry played comic relief
roles in a number of films, all based on his character known as "The Laziest Man in the World." In his personal life, Perry was highly literate and had a concurrent career writing for the Chicago Defender
.
Perry starred in Hearts in Dixie (1929), one of the first studio productions to boast a predominantly African-American cast.
For his role as Joe in the 1929 part-talkie
film version of Show Boat
, Perry's singing voice was supplied by Jules Bledsoe
, who had originated the role in the stage musical. Fetchit did not "sing" "Ol' Man River
", but instead a new song used in the film, "The Lonesome Road". Bledsoe was actually seen singing "Ol' Man River" in the sound prologue shown preceding the film.
Perry was good friends with fellow comic actor Will Rogers
, and they appeared in four films together, David Harum
(1934), Judge Priest
(1934), Steamboat 'Round the Bend (1935), and The County Chairman
(1935).
Perry spawned imitators, most notably, Willie Best
(Sleep 'n Eat) and Mantan Moreland
, the scared, wide-eyed manservant of Charlie Chan
(Perry actually played a manservant in the Chan series before Moreland - in 1935's Charlie Chan in Egypt
).
Perry did not invent the stereotype with which his stage name became synonymous, but Stepin Fetchit's image was used to popularize it. Many black film characters were based on Stepin Fetchit, including Matthew Beard's "Stymie" in the Our Gang
comedies. (Perry repaid the reference: he guest-starred in an Our Gang short, A Tough Winter
, intended as the pilot film for a Fetchit short subject
series producer Hal Roach
had planned, but which never materialized.)
Fetchit appeared in 54 films between 1925 and 1976, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
in the category "Motion pictures".
in 1947, stating assets of $146.
Perry reportedly converted to Islam
in the 1960s and became a friend of heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali
. Perry also found himself in conflict during his career with civil rights
leaders who criticized him personally for the film roles he portrayed. However, to some extent Perry had the last laugh: in 1976, the Hollywood chapter of the NAACP awarded him a Special NAACP Image Award
. Two years after that, Perry was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
.
In April 1969, Perry's son, Donald Lambright, traveled the Pennsylvania Turnpike
shooting people. He injured 15 and killed 3 before turning the gun on himself.
in 1976 ended Perry's acting career, and he moved into the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
. He died November 19, 1985 from pneumonia
at age 83.
, in which Rose Nylund
(Betty White
) tells a story about two dancers from her hometown of St. Olaf, Minnesota, Adolf Stepp and Olga Fetchik, who became "the internationally renowned Scandinavian dance team of Stepp 'n' Fetchik."
The Stepin Fetchit image came to be seen as sufficiently degrading that Perry's films are rarely shown, and have not received widespread video release
. On the rare occasions the films are shown, most of his segments are deleted.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of American comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry.
Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, eventually becoming a millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
, the first black actor in history to do so. He was also the first black actor to receive a screen credit
Motion picture credits
-Opening credits:Opening credits, in a television program, motion picture, or video game, are shown at the beginning of a show and list the most important members of the production. They are usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in...
.
Perry's typical film persona and stage name have long been controversial, and seen as illustrative of negative stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s of African-Americans. Seen through a modern lens, Perry's "laziest man in the world" character can be "painfully racist" but also "subversive".
Early life
Little is certain about his background other than that he was born in Key West, FloridaKey West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
to West Indian immigrants. He was the second child of Joseph Perry, a cigar maker from Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
(although some sources indicate the Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
) and Dora Monroe, a seamstress from Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
. Both of his parents came to the United States in the 1890s, where they married. By 1910, the family had moved north to Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
. Another source says he was adopted when he was eleven years old and taken to live in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
.
His mother wanted him to be a dentist, so Perry was adopted by a quack dentist, where he blacked boots before running away at age twelve to join a carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
. He earned his living for a few years as a singer and tap dancer. By the age of twenty, Perry had become a Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
artiste and the manager of a traveling carnival show. He performed a vaudeville act with a partner, with the two of them being known as "Step" and "Fetchit." When Perry became a solo act he combined the two names, which later became his professional name.
Career
Perry began entertaining in his teens as a comic character actorCharacter actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
. His stage name was a contraction of "step and fetch it", or perhaps, "step in [and] fetch it." According to his entry in Ephraim Katz
Ephraim Katz
Ephraim Katz was a writer, journalist, and filmmaker who devoted his life to gathering the information in his book, The Film Encyclopedia, first published in 1979....
's The Film Encyclopedia, he borrowed his screen name from a racehorse that won him some money in his pre-Hollywood days.
Perry played comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
roles in a number of films, all based on his character known as "The Laziest Man in the World." In his personal life, Perry was highly literate and had a concurrent career writing for the Chicago Defender
Chicago Defender
The Chicago Defender is a Chicago based newspaper founded in 1905 by an African American for primarily African American readers.In just three years from 1919–1922 the Defender also attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks....
.
Perry starred in Hearts in Dixie (1929), one of the first studio productions to boast a predominantly African-American cast.
For his role as Joe in the 1929 part-talkie
Part-talkie
A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions lines of dialog are presented as "titles" -- printed text briefly filling the screen -- and the soundtrack is used only...
film version of Show Boat
Show Boat (1929 film)
Show Boat is a film based on the novel by Edna Ferber. This version was released by Universal in two editions, one a silent film for movie theatres still not equipped for sound, and one a part-talkie with a sound prologue...
, Perry's singing voice was supplied by Jules Bledsoe
Jules Bledsoe
Jules Bledsoe was a once renowned, but now semi-forgotten baritone, and the first African American artist to gain regular employment on Broadway, subsequent to Bert Williams, William Grant Still, Ford Dabney and others....
, who had originated the role in the stage musical. Fetchit did not "sing" "Ol' Man River
Ol' Man River
"Ol' Man River" is a song in the 1927 musical Show Boat that expresses the African American hardship and struggles of the time with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River; it is sung from the point-of-view of a dock worker on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show...
", but instead a new song used in the film, "The Lonesome Road". Bledsoe was actually seen singing "Ol' Man River" in the sound prologue shown preceding the film.
Perry was good friends with fellow comic actor Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
, and they appeared in four films together, David Harum
David Harum
David Harum; A Story of American Life is a best-selling novel of 1899 whose principal legacy is the colloquial use of the term horse trading.-Literary significance and criticism:...
(1934), Judge Priest
Judge Priest
Judge Priest is a 1934 American comedy film. The film was based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The film was directed by John Ford and produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film...
(1934), Steamboat 'Round the Bend (1935), and The County Chairman
The County Chairman
The County Chairman is a 1935 comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Will Rogers.-Plot:A political party boss in Wyoming must decide to either do what's right and lose the election or do what's wrong and win it....
(1935).
Perry spawned imitators, most notably, Willie Best
Willie Best
William "Willie" Best sometimes known as Sleep n' Eat was an American television and film actor....
(Sleep 'n Eat) and Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus...
, the scared, wide-eyed manservant of Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
(Perry actually played a manservant in the Chan series before Moreland - in 1935's Charlie Chan in Egypt
Charlie Chan in Egypt
Charlie Chan in Egypt is the eighth 20th Century Fox Charlie Chan film starring Warner Oland in the title role. It was released in 1935. -Plot:Charlie Chan is hired when an archaeologist disappears during the excavation of ancient art treasures in Egypt...
).
Perry did not invent the stereotype with which his stage name became synonymous, but Stepin Fetchit's image was used to popularize it. Many black film characters were based on Stepin Fetchit, including Matthew Beard's "Stymie" in the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedies. (Perry repaid the reference: he guest-starred in an Our Gang short, A Tough Winter
A Tough Winter
A Tough Winter is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 99th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
, intended as the pilot film for a Fetchit short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
series producer Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
had planned, but which never materialized.)
Fetchit appeared in 54 films between 1925 and 1976, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
in the category "Motion pictures".
Later life
While Perry was the first black actor to become a millionaire, he was forced to declare bankruptcyBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1947, stating assets of $146.
Perry reportedly converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in the 1960s and became a friend of heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
. Perry also found himself in conflict during his career with civil rights
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
leaders who criticized him personally for the film roles he portrayed. However, to some extent Perry had the last laugh: in 1976, the Hollywood chapter of the NAACP awarded him a Special NAACP Image Award
NAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
. Two years after that, Perry was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc. , was founded in 1973, Oakland, California. It supports and promotes black filmmaking, and preserves the contributions by African American artists both before and behind the camera...
.
In April 1969, Perry's son, Donald Lambright, traveled the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The three sections of the turnpike system total . The main section extends from Ohio to New Jersey and is long...
shooting people. He injured 15 and killed 3 before turning the gun on himself.
Death
A strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1976 ended Perry's acting career, and he moved into the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
. He died November 19, 1985 from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at age 83.
Legacy
Fetchit's stage name was parodied by the late 1960s/early 1970s counterculture comedy duo The Congress of Wonders, portraying a young Russian lad named Stepney Fetchnik on their September 1970 comedy album Revolting. It was also spoofed on an episode of The Golden GirlsThe Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
, in which Rose Nylund
Rose Nylund
Rose Nylund was born May 1930 in St. Olaf, Minnesota. She is a fictional character featured on the popular 1980s situation comedy The Golden Girls, and its spin-off The Golden Palace. She was portrayed by Betty White for 8 years and 208 episodes.Rose was comically portrayed as naïve and simple,...
(Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
) tells a story about two dancers from her hometown of St. Olaf, Minnesota, Adolf Stepp and Olga Fetchik, who became "the internationally renowned Scandinavian dance team of Stepp 'n' Fetchik."
The Stepin Fetchit image came to be seen as sufficiently degrading that Perry's films are rarely shown, and have not received widespread video release
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
. On the rare occasions the films are shown, most of his segments are deleted.
Filmography
- The Mysterious Stranger (1925)
- In Old Kentucky (1927)
- The Devil's Skipper (1928)
- Nameless Men (1928)
- The Tragedy of Youth (1928)
- Kid's Clever (1929)
- The Ghost TalksThe Ghost Talks (1929 film)The Ghost Talks is a 1929 comedy genre film, directed by Lewis Seiler; based on a Max Marcin and Edward Hammond's Broadway play.-Cast:* Helen Twelvetrees* Charles Eaton* Carmel Myers* Stepin Fetchit* Earle Foxe* Henry Sedley* Joe Brown...
(1929) - Hearts in DixieHearts in Dixie (film)Hearts in Dixie , is one of the first all-talkie, big-studio production to boast a predominantly African-American cast.-Synopsis:Hearts in Dixie unfolds as a series of sketches of life among American blacks. It featured characters with dignity, who took action on their own, and who were not slaves...
(19291929 in film-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
) - Thru Different Eyes (1929)
- Show BoatShow Boat (1929 film)Show Boat is a film based on the novel by Edna Ferber. This version was released by Universal in two editions, one a silent film for movie theatres still not equipped for sound, and one a part-talkie with a sound prologue...
(1929) - Innocents of Paris (1929)
- Fox Movietone Follies of 1929Fox Movietone Follies of 1929Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 was a black-and-white and color American musical film released by Fox Film Corporation.-Preservation status:...
(1929) - Salute (1929)
- Big Time (1929)
- Cameo Kirby (1930)
- The Big Fight (1930)
- Swing High (1930)
- A Tough WinterA Tough WinterA Tough Winter is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 99th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
(19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - La Fuerza del Querer (1930)
- The Prodigal (1931)
- Wild Horse (1931)
- The Galloping Ghost (1931)
- Neck and Neck (1931)
- CarolinaCarolina (1934 film)Carolina is a 1934 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry King. The screenplay by Reginald Berkley is based on the play, The House of Connelly by Paul Green...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - David Harum (1934)
- Stand Up and Cheer!Stand Up and Cheer!Stand Up and Cheer! is a 1934 American musical film directed by Hamilton MacFadden. The screenplay by Lew Brown and Ralph Spence was based upon a story idea by Will Rogers and Philip Klein. The film is about efforts undertaken during the Great Depression to boost the morale of the country...
(1934) - The World Moves OnThe World Moves On-Plot:The story opens 185 years ago when two families, cotton merchants in England and America, with branches in France and Prussia swear to stand by each other in a belief that a great business firmly established in four countries will be able to withstand even such another calamity as the...
(1934) - Judge PriestJudge PriestJudge Priest is a 1934 American comedy film. The film was based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The film was directed by John Ford and produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film...
(1934) - Marie Galante (1934)
- Bachelor of Arts (1934)
- Helldorado (1935)
- The County Chairman (1935)
- One More SpringOne More SpringOne More Spring is a 1935 film about three people living together in the maintenance shed at Central Park as an alternative to living on the streets. The film was written by Edwin J...
(19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Charlie Chan in EgyptCharlie Chan in EgyptCharlie Chan in Egypt is the eighth 20th Century Fox Charlie Chan film starring Warner Oland in the title role. It was released in 1935. -Plot:Charlie Chan is hired when an archaeologist disappears during the excavation of ancient art treasures in Egypt...
(1935) - Steamboat Round the BendSteamboat Round the Bend-Plot:A con man enters his steamboat in a winner-take-all race with a rival while attempting to find a witness that will save his nephew, who has been wrongly convicted of murder, from the gallows.-Cast:* Will Rogers - Doctor John Pearly...
(1935) - The Virginia Judge (1935)
- Dimples (1936)
- 36 Hours to Kill (1936)
- On the AvenueOn the AvenueOn the Avenue is a 1937 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. All of the songs in this film were composed by Irving Berlin.-Plot:...
(19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - Love Is News (1937)
- Fifty Roads to Town (1937)
- His Exciting Night (1938)
- ZenobiaZenobia (film)Zenobia is a 1939 comedy film starring Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke, Alice Brady, James Ellison, Jean Parker, June Lang, Stepin Fetchit, and Hattie McDaniel...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Open the Door Richard (1945)
- Big Timers (1945)
- Miracle in Harlem (1948)
- Mouse CleaningMouse CleaningMouse Cleaning is a 1948 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 38th Tom and Jerry short. The title is a play on "house cleaning". It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on December 11, 1948 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer...
(MGM cartoon short subject,Tom,uncredited voice,1948) - I Ain't Gonna Open That Door (1949)
- Harlem Follies of 1949 (1950)
- Bend of the RiverBend of the RiverBend of the River is a 1952 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their second collaboration. The film is based on the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick.-Plot:...
(19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) - The Sun Shines BrightThe Sun Shines BrightThe Sun Shines Bright is a 1953 comedy film directed by John Ford, based on material taken from a series of Irvin S. Cobb stories. Ford had adapted some of the same material in 1934 in his film Judge Priest. That film originally had a scene depicting the lynching of Stepin Fetchit’s character , but...
(19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) - Cutter (1972) (TV movie)
- Muhammad Ali, the Greatest (1974)
- Amazing Grace (19741974 in filmThe year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
, cameo appearance with Moms MableyMoms MableyJackie "Moms" Mabley, born Loretta Mary Aiken , was an American standup comedian and a pioneer of the so-called "Chitlin' Circuit" of African-American vaudeville.-Early years:...
) - Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (film)Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? is a 1975 documentary film produced by Image Entertainment. It consisted largely of newsreel footage and contemporary film clips to portray the era of the Great Depression.-Cast:...
(19751975 in filmThe year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....
) - Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
See also
- Willie BestWillie BestWilliam "Willie" Best sometimes known as Sleep n' Eat was an American television and film actor....
, actor billed in five films as "Sleep 'n' Eat" - Mantan MorelandMantan MorelandMantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus...
- Fred ToonesFred ToonesFred "Snowflake" Toones was an African-American film actor comedian of the early sound era...
- BlackfaceBlackfaceBlackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
- Uncle TomUncle TomUncle Tom is a derogatory term for a person who perceives themselves to be of low status, and is excessively subservient to perceived authority figures; particularly a black person who behaves in a subservient manner to white people....
- Jar Jar Binks
- List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Fetchit)