Bert Williams

Entertainer

• Born: November 12, 1874
• Birthplace: Antigua, West Indies
• Died: March 4, 1922
• Place of death: New York, New York

During the early years of the twentieth century, Williams became the first African American comedian to attain superstar status. Forced to perform in blackface, Williams, along with his partner George Walker, starred in Broadway shows that transcended the minstrelsy that was popular during the era. His critical and popular successes helped create future opportunities for African Americans in musical theater.

Early Life

Egbert Austin Williams was born November 12, 1874, on the West Indies island of Antigua, to Frederick and Julia Monceur Williams. His family led a fairly comfortable life, as his paternal grandfather was a high-ranking government official and successful rum exporter. Nevertheless, the family migrated to the United States in 1885, living briefly in Florida before finally settling in Riverside, California. His father found work as a farmer in the booming citrus industry, while his mother worked as a laundress. Williams eventually enrolled in high school there.

Williams’s true desires lay not in academics but in entertainment. An only child, Williams adapted to his solitary environment by developing a keen sense of imagination and creativity. At the age of sixteen, he dropped out of school and left home to become a barker in one of the popular medicine shows traveling through Riverside and other rural towns in California. His father soon found him and, although intrigued by his son’s performance, persuaded him to return home. Williams further honed his talents in storytelling and mimicry by continuing to perform in the medicine shows and by working as a singing waiter at an exclusive hotel. Eventually, he decided that his goals of becoming a professional entertainer exceeded the opportunities available in small-town Southern California. In 1893, Williams headed to San Francisco.

Life’s Work

Williams arrived in San Francisco as a member of a performing troupe called Martin and Selig’s Mastodon Minstrels. Minstrelsy, which had existed since the 1820’s, was the first distinctly American theatrical form. Although the genre relied on prevailing stereotypes of African Americans, in Williams’s era it provided an avenue for black entertainers to enter theatrical performance. Ironically, because Williams had a very light complexion, he had to apply burnt cork to his skin for the performances, which were in blackface.

Williams’s performances with the group represented the key turning point in his career. It was through his association with the Mastodon Minstrels that he met George Walker, who became his partner. The Walker and Williams duo performed song-and-dance numbers, dialogues, and comedic skits. In addition to their initial appearances with the Mastodon Minstrels, they performed at various venues along the California coast, including the San Francisco Midwinter Exposition in 1894. The theatrical circuit had provided many occasions for the men to meet other black performers, who spoke enthusiastically about the greater opportunities available in the East. After a brief stop in Los Angeles, the pair headed to Chicago and then Detroit. These performances, in which Williams’s gift for comedy stood out, signaled a switch in the balance of the act, with Walker playing the role of the straight man and Williams the comedian. With this switch, they changed their act’s name to Williams and Walker. Finally, during a performance in West Baden, Indiana, the team got their first big break when they were invited to perform in a musical opening in New York.

Williams and Walker made their New York debut in a show called The Gold Bug. Although their performance was well received by critics and theatergoers, the production was a failure and soon closed. After appearances in a few more variety shows, the pair made their vaudeville debut in November of 1896. Vaudeville, a genre of live variety performance, was the major American theater form at the time. Thus, Williams and Walker’s entrance into the circuit marked their entrance into mainstream entertainment.

By 1898, Williams and Walker had incorporated the cakewalk into their act and were thereafter recognized as uniquely skilled at it. Over the next few years, the duo performed in a series of musical comedies, including Senegambian Carnival, A Lucky Coon, The Policy Players, and Sons of Ham, in which they established themselves as the leading African American comedians in show business. In September of 1902, the duo debuted in In Dahomey, the production that made Williams an international star. The musical, which signaled a break from stereotypical images, represented the first full-length, major Broadway musical written and performed by African Americans. After successful runs in New York, London, and other cities, the show closed in 1905. Williams and Walker continued to enjoy exceptional success in vaudeville until Walker, in ill health, retired from performing in 1909. He died in January of 1911.

Now a solo act, Williams continued to perform successfully in vaudeville. In April of 1910, he received an offer to appear in the Ziegfeld Follies, the leading revue on Broadway. His appearance with the show made him the first African American entertainer to appear in a regular, full-length Broadway show. In June, Williams made his debut in Ziegfeld Follies to good reviews. He continued to perform as one of the biggest stars, and the only African American, in the show from 1910 to 1919. Williams, who had become a naturalized American citizen on June 14, 1918, used his celebrity to speak out against the segregated accommodations he had to endure while on tour with the revue, and against racism in general.

After leaving Ziegfeld Follies, Williams returned to recording music and performing on Broadway. In early 1922, he became ill while starring in a musical called Under the Bamboo Tree. Despite feeling ill, he insisted on performing in the shows. On February 27, his performance had to be cut short when he was unable to continue. The next day, Williams was transported home to New York City where, on the evening of March 4, 1922, he died of pneumonia complicated by heart disease.

Significance

As both a solo performer and a member of the Williams and Walker team, Williams used his exceptional commercial appeal to present a more realistic depiction of African American life. During an era in which black entertainers faced severe limitations, Williams managed to attain international celebrity as a comedian. His success as an entertainer during an era of pervasive racism led to a number of pioneering efforts and achievements. In addition to his groundbreaking accomplishments in vaudeville and on Broadway, in 1901, he became the first African American recording artist. Moreover, he and Walker also were the first major stars to do business with a black-owned music publisher.

Bibliography

Forbes, Camille F. Introducing Bert Williams: Burnt Cork, Broadway, and America’s First Black Star. New York: Perseus Books, 2008. Biographical treatment of Williams emphasizing his importance to early black musical theater and his appeal to both black and white audiences.

Krasner, David. Resistance, Parody, and Double Consciousness in African American Theatre, 1895-19. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. Provides important historical context to the difficult social conditions under which Williams worked and succeeded as an entertainer.

Smith, Eric Ledell. Bert Williams: A Biography of the Pioneer Black Comedian. London: McFarland, 1992. Offers a detailed account of Williams’s life and career, with particular attention to critical reviews of his performances in vaudeville and on Broadway.