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Eric Ledell Smith, Bert Williams: A Biography of the Pioneer Black Comedian
I first learned about Bert Williams (1874-1922) from my father, who, as a youth growing up in rural Missouri, shared in the uproarious laughter of his family as they gathered around the victrola to listen to one of the renowned comedian's humorous songs. His most famous was `~Nobody," but there were many others. When the first major Williams biography, Nobody, by Ann Charters, was published in 1970, I bought a copy for my father. Eric Ledell Smith states in his preface to Bert Williams: A Biography of the Pioneer Black Comedian that prior to Charters' book, the only other book-length work on Williams, Bert Williams -- Son of Laughter, an anthology of anecdotes and tributes edited by Mabel Rowland,was published in 1923.
As Smith skillfully explains in his meticulously researched biography, Williams, a member of a Barbadian immigrant family, achieved a phenomenal career. He was the first black superstar comedian, the first black to be regularly featured in a Broadway revue, "The Ziegfield Follies," the first major black star to be motion picture (in 1910), and, with his partner, George Walker (1873-1911), first notable black recording artist (in 1901). Williams, author or co-author of upwards of seventy songs, was loved nearly as much for his singing and song writing as for his comedy and pantomime. He managed the nearly unmanageable feat of appealing to both black and white audiences. He was the American entertainment industry's first great crossover success. It is difficult today to appreciate the extent of his popularity and influence; even the recent phenomenon of "The Cosby Show" would not truly compare. Nearly immediately after his death, however,...