List of entertainers who performed in blackface
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Bert Williams, shown here in blackface, was the highest-paid African-American entertainer of his day.
This is a list of entertainers known to have performed in blackface makeup, whether in a minstrel show, as satire or historical depiction of such roles, or in a portrayal of a character using makeup as a racial disguise, for whatever reason.
A–C
- Roy Acuff, country music singer, performed in blackface in 1930s-40s traveling medicine shows[1]
- Julie Andrews, in the 1964 film Mary Poppins[2][3]
- Anne of Denmark, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, in The Masque of Blackness[4]
- Fred Armisen, impersonating U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live in 2008 and 2009[5]
- Louis Armstrong, as Zulu King during 1949's Mardi Gras in New Orleans[6]
- Clarence Ashley, 1910s-1940s singer and blackface comedian in traveling medicine shows[7]
- Ant and Dec, in old Saturday Night Takeway sketches[8]
- Fred Astaire, in Swing Time (1936)[9] and in Easter Parade (1948)
- Gene Autry[7]
- Dan Aykroyd, in Trading Places (1983)[10]
- David Baddiel, while portraying Jason Lee on a 1995 episode of Fantasy Football League[11]
- Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, while performing for World Championship Wrestling[12]
- Fay Bainter, as Topsy in a 1933 production of Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Milt G. Barlow, 19th-century American minstrel[13]
- Ethel Barrymore, in the 1930 play Scarlet Sister Mary [14]
- Billy Barty, in Roman Scandals (1933)[15] and Rabbit Test (1978)
- Jack Black, in Be Kind Rewind (2008)[16]
- Sergei Bondarchuk, in Othello
- John Boulter, lead singer of the long-running Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC[17]: 248
- Zach Braff, in the Scrubs episodes "My Friend the Doctor" and "My Chopped Liver"[18]
- Frank Brower, 1840s-1860s minstrel performer[19]
- Bugs Bunny, in the 1942 cartoon Fresh Hare[20]
- George Burns[7]
- Butterbeans and Susie[21]
- Eddie Cantor, 1912-1927 performances in vaudeville and Ziegfeld Follies[22]
- Judy Carne, in a 1969 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In[23][24]
- Graham Chapman[25][26]
- Dave Chappelle, in a 2006 episode of Chappelle's Show[27]
- George Christy, born George Harrington but became a star with Christy's Minstrels in the 1840s[17]: 8
- Charles Correll[21]
- Bing Crosby,[28] in Dream House (1932), Mississippi (1935), Road to Singapore (1940), Holiday Inn (1942), Dixie (1943), and Here Come the Waves (1944)
- Billy Crystal, in the "Negro Leagues" skit on Saturday Night Live in 1984 and whenever impersonating Sammy Davis Jr., including at the 84th Academy Awards.[29]
D–G
- Ted Danson, at a 1993 Friars Club roast of his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg[30]
- Tommy Davidson in the 2000 film Bamboozled[31]
- Sammy Davis, Jr.[28] in Ocean's Eleven (1960)[32]
- Shane Dawson, YouTuber, actor, and comedian[33]
- Neil Diamond in The Jazz Singer[34]
- Thomas Dilward, 1850s-1870s dwarf minstrel performer[35]
- George Washington Dixon, 1820s-1830s stage performer[36]
- Lew Dockstader, 1870s-1900s minstrel performer[37]
- Roma Downey in an episode of the television series Touched By An Angel entitled “Black Like Monica”, the character is turned black to better empathize with a community dealing with racial tensions.[38]
- Robert Downey Jr. in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder[39]
- Jimmy Durante[28]
- Harry Enfield, impersonating Nelson Mandela in the television show Harry & Paul.[40]
- The Ethiopian Serenaders were a Boston troupe which performed at the White House in 1844 and then toured Britain.[41]
- Jimmy Fallon, impersonating Chris Rock on Saturday Night Live[42]
- Edwin Forrest[43]
- Dai Francis, lead singer of the long-running Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC[44]
- George Givot, in the play The Constant Sinner (1931)[45]
- Freeman Gosden[21]
- Billy Gould (1869-1950)[46]
- Savion Glover in the 2000 film Bamboozled[31]
H–L
- Sam Hague[47]
- Masatoshi Hamada, dressed in blackface as Eddie Murphy from the film Beverly Hills Cop for the 2017 New Year's Eve special of Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!![48]
- Jon Hamm on an episode of 30 Rock[49]
- Goldie Hawn, in a 1969 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In[23][24]
- Bob Height[47]
- Charles Hicks[47]
- Ernest Hogan[21]
- C. Thomas Howell in the 1986 movie Soul Man[50]
- William A. Huntley[51] Starting 1860. Moved to whiteface in mid-1880s.
- George Jessel[7]
- Al Jolson[28]
- Louis Jordan[28]
- Buster Keaton, in vaudeville[21] in the short film Neighbors (1920), possibly with satiric intent: he alternates in and out of blackface, receiving a very different reaction from a policeman;[52] also in The Playhouse (1921) and College (1927)
- Billy Kersands, 1880s-1900s minstrel performer[53]
- Jimmy Kimmel, impersonating Karl Malone and Oprah Winfrey on The Man Show[54][55]
- Jane Krakowski twice on 30 Rock[49]
- Cosmo Kramer[56]
- Wallace King, 1880s minstrel performer[57]
- Francis Leon, 1870s-80s minstrel performer[58]
- Eddie Leonard, 1890s-1930s minstrel performer, "last of the great minstrels"[21]
- Paul Levesque[59]
- Sophia Loren in Aida (1953)[60]
- Peter Lorre, in the play Weisse Fracht[61]
- Matt Lucas, multiple characters in Little Britain, Precious Little in Come Fly with Me[62]
- Sam Lucas, 1870s minstrel performer[63]
M–R
- Pigmeat Markham, performer in 1920s-1950s traveling shows, as well as The Ed Sullivan Show and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In[64]
- Joni Mitchell appeared as black dandy, Art Nouveau, at parties and on the cover of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter[65]
- Mickey Mouse in the 1933 cartoon Mickey's Mellerdrammer[2]
- Emmett Miller,[47] an important influence on early country stars like Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills
- Flournoy E. Miller[21]
- Irvin C. Miller[21]
- Clayton McMichen[1]
- Bill Monroe[1]
- Moran and Mack[21]
- Herbert Wassell Nadal (1873-1957)[66]
- Cornelius J. O'Brien (1869-1954)[67]
- Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965)[68]
- Richard Pelham[47]
- Thomas D. Rice[47]
- Jimmie Rodgers[1]
- Benny Rubin[47]
S–Z
- Harry Scott of the comedy duo Scott and Whaley, an African American act working in Britain.[69]
- Ramblin' Tommy Scott[70]
- Sarah Silverman[71]
- Frank Sinatra, in the Major Bowes short The Big Minstrel (1935) and Ocean's Eleven (1960)[32]
- Grace Slick, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1968) and Teen Set magazine (1969)[72][73][74]
- Bessie Smith[28]
- Hobart Smith[7]
- Howard Stern in a series of 1991 skits as Clarence Thomas and in a 1993 New Year's Eve special[75]
- Bert Swor (1878-1943)[76]
- Shirley Temple in The Littlest Rebel.[17]: 152
- Frank Tinney, in vaudeville and Broadway musical comedies[77]
- The Three Stooges[78]
- Sophie Tucker[79]
- Tracey Ullman, in a 1989 episode of The Tracey Ullman Show[80]
- Ben Vereen, as a part of the 1981 inaugural celebrations for US President Ronald Reagan[81]
- Vladimir Vysotsky, as Abram Gannibal in How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor
- David Walliams, as a minstrel, and as character Desiree Devere in Little Britain[62]
- George Walker[21]
- Sean Waltman[82]
- Betty White, in The Golden Girls[83][84]
- Billy Whitlock[47]
- Gene Wilder in Silver Streak (film)[85]
- Barney Williams[86]
- Bert Williams[47]
- Hank Williams[28]
- Slim Williams[87]
- Bob Wills[1]
- Tom Wilson[47]
- Jane Withers in Can This Be Dixie?
- Jo Anne Worley, in a 1969 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In[23][24]
See also
External links
- Kake Walk at UVM digital collection, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries
References
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Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) and chimney sweeps dance in blackface in Mary Poppins
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