Introducing Bert Williams

Burnt Cork, Broadway, and the Story of America's First Black Star

Author: Camille F. Forbes
ISBN: 9780465024797

It is not hard to argue that every black performer in show business owes something to Bert Williams. Discovered in California in 1890 by a minstrel troupe manager, Williams swiftly became a regular player in the troupe. Traveling on from the rough-and-ready "medicine shows” that then dotted the West, he rose through the ranks of big-time vaudeville in New York City, and finally ascended to the previously all-white pinnacle of live-stage success: the fabled Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. Inspite of his triumphs-he brought the first musical with an all-black cast to Broadway in 1903-he was often viewed by the black community with more critical suspicion than admiration because of his controversial decision to perform in blackface. Modest, private, and conservative in his personal life, Williams left political activism and soapbox thumping to others. More than the simple narration of a remarkable life,Introducing Bert Williams offers a fascinating window into the fraught issues surroundi

Publisher: Basic Books
Publish Date: 2008

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Cultural Heritage, Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts, History / United States / General, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Black/African American (BLCK))