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Stepin Fetchit

May 23, 2023

"Lincoln Perry" redirects here. For the artist, see Lincoln Perry (artist).

Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career.[3] His highest profile was during the 1930s in films and on stage, when his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as the "Laziest Man in the World".

Stepin Fetchit
Fetchit in 1959
Born
Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry

(1902-05-30)May 30, 1902
Key West, Florida, US
DiedNovember 19, 1985(1985-11-19) (aged 83)
Woodland Hills, California, US
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery, Los Angeles
OccupationActor
Years active1925–1976
Spouse(s)
Dorothy Stevenson (1929–1931)[1]
Bernice Sims (1951–1984)[2] (her death)
Children2

Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, becoming the first black actor to earn $1 million. He was also the first black actor to receive featured screen credit in a film.[4][5]

Perry's film career slowed after 1939 and nearly stopped altogether after 1953. Around that time, Black Americans began to see his Stepin Fetchit persona as an embarrassing and harmful anachronism, echoing negative stereotypes. However, the Stepin Fetchit character has undergone a re-evaluation by some scholars in recent times, who view him as an embodiment of the trickster archetype.[6]

Early life

Little is known about Perry's background other than that he was born in Key West, Florida, to West Indian immigrants.[4] He was the second child of Joseph Perry, a cigar maker from Jamaica (although some sources indicate the Bahamas)[7] and Dora Monroe, a seamstress from Nassau, 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. Another source says he was adopted when he was 11 years old and taken to live in Montgomery, Alabama.[4]

His mother wanted him to be a dentist, so Perry was adopted by a quack dentist, for whom he blacked boots before running away at age 12 to join a carnival. He earned his living for a few years as a singer and tap dancer.[4]

Vaudeville career

In his teens, Perry became a comic character actor. By the age of 20, Perry had become a vaudeville artist and the manager of a traveling carnival show. His stage name was a contraction of "step and fetch it". His accounts of how he adopted the name varied, but generally he claimed that it originated when he performed a vaudeville act with a partner. Perry won money betting on a racehorse named "Step and Fetch It", and his partner and he decided to adopt the names "Step" and "Fetchit" for their act. When Perry became a solo act, he combined the two names, which later became his professional name.[8]

Film career

 
Stepin Fetchit and Chubby Johnson in Bend of the River (1952)

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, he was highly literate and had a concurrent career writing for The Chicago Defender. He signed a five-year studio contract following his performance in the film, In Old Kentucky (1927). The film's plot included a romantic connection between Perry and actress Carolynne Snowden,[9] a subplot that was a rarity for black actors appearing in a white film during this era.[10] Perry also starred in Hearts in Dixie (1929), one of the first studio productions to boast a predominantly black cast.[11]

Jules Bledsoe provided Perry's singing voice for his role as Joe in the 1929 version of Show Boat.[12] Fetchit did not sing "Ol' Man River", but he did sing "The Lonesome Road" in the film. In 1930, Hal Roach signed him to a film contract to appear in nine Our Gang episodes in 1930 and 1931. However, his only appearance in the series was in A Tough Winter. Perry's contract was cancelled for unknown reasons after its release.

Perry was good friends with fellow comic actor Will Rogers.[4] They appeared together in David Harum (1934), Judge Priest (1934), Steamboat 'Round the Bend (1935), and The County Chairman (1935).

By the mid-1930s, Perry was the first black actor to become a millionaire.[6] He appeared in 44 films between 1927 and 1939. In 1940, Perry temporarily stopped appearing in films, having been frustrated by his unsuccessful attempt to get equal pay and billing with his white costars.[6] He returned in 1945, in part due to financial need, though he only appeared in eight films between 1945 and 1953. He declared bankruptcy in 1947, stating assets of $146[4] (equal to about $1,772 today)[13] He returned to vaudeville; he appeared at the Anderson Free Fair in 1949 alongside Singer's Midgets.[14] He became a friend of heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali in the 1960s,[4] allegedly converting to the Nation of Islam shortly before.[15] (Other sources have said he was a lifelong Catholic.[16])

After 1953, Perry appeared in cameos in the made-for-television movie Cutter (1972) and the feature films Amazing Grace (1974) and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976).[17] He found himself in conflict during his career with civil rights leaders who criticized him personally for the film roles that he portrayed. In 1968, CBS aired the hour-long documentary Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed, written by Andy Rooney (for which he received an Emmy Award)[18] and narrated by Bill Cosby, which criticized the depiction of black people in American film, and especially singled out Stepin Fetchit for criticism. After the show aired, Perry unsuccessfully sued CBS and the documentary's producers for defamation of character.[6]

Music composition

In late November 1963, Perry collaborated with Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. and Esther Gordy Edwards in composing "May What He Lived for Live," a song intended to honor the memory of President John F. Kennedy in the wake of his assassination. Perry was credited under the pseudonym W.A. Bisson. The song was recorded in December 1963 by Liz Lands, who in 1968 performed the work at the funeral of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.[19]

Death

Perry suffered a stroke in 1976,[4] ending his acting career; he then moved into the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.[4] He died on November 19, 1985, from pneumonia and heart failure, at the age of 83.[20] He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles following a Catholic funeral Mass.[21]

Legacy

Perry spawned imitators, such as Willie Best ("Sleep 'n Eat") and Mantan Moreland, the scared, wide-eyed manservant of Charlie Chan. Perry had actually played a manservant in the Charlie Chan series before Moreland in 1935's Charlie Chan in Egypt.[22]

Perry appeared in one 1930 Our Gang short subject, A Tough Winter, at the end of the 1929–30 season. Perry signed a contract to star with the gang in nine films for the 1930–31 season and be part of the Our Gang series, but for some unknown reason, the contract fell through, and the gang continued without Perry. Previous to Perry entering films, the Our Gang shorts had employed several black child actors, including Allen Hoskins, Jannie Hoskins, Ernest Morrison, and Eugene Jackson. In the sound Our Gang era, black actors Matthew Beard and Billie Thomas were featured. The black performers' personas in Our Gang shorts were the polar opposites of Perry's persona.[23][24][25][26]

In the 2005 book Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry,[27][28] African-American critic Mel Watkins[29][30][31] argued that the character of Stepin Fetchit was not truly lazy or simple-minded,[32] but instead a prankster who deliberately tricked his White employers so that they would do the work instead of him. This technique, which developed during American slavery, was referred to as "putting on old massa", and it was a kind of con art with which Black audiences of the time would have been familiar.[6][33][34]

Awards and honors

Fetchit has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1976, despite popular aversion to his character, the Hollywood chapter of the NAACP awarded Perry a special NAACP Image Award. Two years later, he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

Personal life

In 1929, Perry married Dorothy Stevenson. She gave birth to their son, Jemajo, on September 12, 1930.[5] In 1931, Dorothy filed for divorce, stating that Perry had broken her nose, jaw, and arm with "his fists and a broomstick."[35] A few weeks after their divorce was granted, Dorothy told a reporter she hoped someone would "just beat the devil out of him," as he had done to her.[35] When Dorothy contracted tuberculosis in 1933, Perry moved her to Arizona for treatment. She died in September 1934.[35]

Perry reportedly married Winifred Johnson in 1937, but no record of their union has been found.[36] On May 21, 1938, Winifred gave birth to a son, Donald Martin Perry.[37] Their relationship ended soon after Donald's birth. According to Winifred's brother, Stretch Johnson, their father intervened after Perry knocked Winifred down the stairs and broke her nose.[35] In 1941, Perry was arrested after Winifred filed a suit for child support. When he was released from jail, he told reporters, "Winnie and I were never married. It was all a publicity stunt. I want you and everybody else to know that that is not my baby. Winnie knows the baby isn't mine but she's trying to be smart."[36] Winifred admitted that they were not legally married, but she insisted Perry was her son's father. The court ruled in her favor and ordered Perry to pay $12 a week (almost $220 in 2020 dollars) for the child's support. Donald later took his stepfather's surname, Lambright.[a]

Perry married Bernice Sims on October 15, 1951. Although they separated by the mid-1950s, they remained married for the rest of their lives. Bernice died on January 9, 1985.[35]

For most of his life, Perry was a devout Catholic, but he allegedly became a member of the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s, following the footsteps of his close friends Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, even appearing in the 1977 movie Muhammad Ali, the Greatest.[41] (Other sources have said he was a lifelong Catholic.[16])

Filmography

See also

Notes

  1. ^ On April 5, 1969, Donald Lambright was traveling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when he went on a spree shooting. Reportedly, he injured sixteen and killed four, including his wife, with an M1 carbine and a .30-caliber Marlin 336 carbine, before turning one of the rifles on himself.[38][39][40] The 1969 Pennsylvania Turnpike shootings were officially ruled a murder-suicide, but the account of the circumstances upon which the ruling was based was questioned by Lambright's daughter and discussed at length in her 2005 self-published book about Stepin Fetchit. In a Los Angeles Times interview, Lincoln Perry stated his belief that his son was set up. Lambright's involvement with the Black Power movement at the peak of the COINTELPRO program was believed to be related to his death. Perry never provided child support for Lambright, and they only met two years before his son's violent death.[15]

References

  1. ^ Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. p. 41. ISBN 0-595-37125-6.
  2. ^ Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. p. 87. ISBN 0-595-37125-6.
  3. ^ . Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2007-01-18. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lamparski, Richard (1982). Whatever Became Of ...? Eighth Series. New York: Crown Publishers. pp. 106–7. ISBN 0-517-54855-0.
  5. ^ a b Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. p. 2. ISBN 0-595-37125-6.
  6. ^ a b c d e Roy Hurst (March 6, 2006). "Stepin Fetchit, Hollywood's First Black Film Star". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  7. ^ United States Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Tampa Ward 5, Hillsborough, Florida; Roll: T624_162; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 0054; FHL microfilm: 1374175.
  8. ^ Watkins, Mel (2005). Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry. Pantheon Books. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-375-42382-6.
  9. ^ "Snowden, Carolynne (1900-1985) - The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". Blackpast.org. 13 December 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  10. ^ Ely, Melvin Patrick, The Adventures of Amos 'N' Andy: A Social History of an American Phenomenon, Macmillan Free Press, 1991, pp. 100–101.
  11. ^ Hall, Mordaunt (1929-02-28). "Hearts in Dixie (1929)". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  12. ^ Hall, Mordaunt (1929-04-18). "Showboat (1929)". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  13. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  14. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (July 16, 1949). "16 Rides, 17 Shows Listed At Anderson". Billboard. p. 65. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite magazine}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  15. ^ a b SEILER, MICHAEL (1985-11-20). "Stepin Fetchit, Noted Black Movie Comic of '30s, Dies". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
  16. ^ a b Bird, John (2006). Watkins, Mel (ed.). "The Life and Times of Stepin Fetchit". Studies in American Humor (14): 139–144. ISSN 0095-280X. JSTOR 42573708.
  17. ^ Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. pp. 124, 126, 132. ISBN 0-595-37125-6.
  18. ^ . CBS News. September 21, 2005. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  19. ^ Maraniss, David (2015). Once In A Great City: A Detroit Story. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 296–7.
  20. ^ "Comedian Stepin Fetchit, 83". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 20, 1985. p. C–19.
  21. ^ "Mass to Be Said Friday for Actor Stepin Fetchit". The Los Angeles Times. November 21, 1985. p. A30. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  22. ^ Sennwald, Andre (1935-06-24). "Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
  23. ^ Faraci, Devin (April 26, 2014). "The Annotated MAD MEN: Farina, Stymie And Buckwheat". Birth.Movies.Death. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  24. ^ White, Armond (December 5, 2005). "Back in Blackface". Slate.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  25. ^ "Stepin Fetchit - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times". projects.latimes.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  26. ^ "Stepin Fetchit - Hollywood Walk of Fame". Walkoffame.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  27. ^ Watkins, Mel (July 14, 2010). Stepin Fetchit: The Life & Times of Lincoln Perry. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307547507. Retrieved June 1, 2017 – via Google Books.
  28. ^ "Stepin Fetchit". Npr.org.
  29. ^ "Vindy.com - STEPIN FETCHIT Biographer defends role of black film actor". Vindy.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  30. ^ "Mel Watkins '62 explores progression of black humor - Colgate University News". colgate.edu. December 14, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  31. ^ Stevens, Dana (November 27, 2005). "Caricature Acting". The New York Times.
  32. ^ Strausbaugh, John (December 7, 2005). "How a Black Entertainer's Shuffle Actually Blazed a Trail". The New York Times.
  33. ^ "Behind the Mask". The New Yorker. 5 December 2005. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  34. ^ "Retracing black actor's path from vaudeville to vilification". seattletimes.com. December 5, 2005. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  35. ^ a b c d e Clark, Champ (2005-01-01). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-37125-9.
  36. ^ a b Watkins, Mel (2005). Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry. Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-375-42382-6.
  37. ^ Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. p. 60. ISBN 0-595-37125-6.
  38. ^ Angry Young Man, The New York Times (April 6, 1969).
  39. ^ Pike killer felt violence only racial answer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (April 7, 1969).
  40. ^ Pike killer not on drugs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (April 10, 1969).
  41. ^ John W. Ravage (February 15, 2007). "LINCOLN THEODORE MONROE ANDREW ("STEPIN FETCHIT") PERRY (1902-1985)".
  42. ^ "Judge Priest (1934)". Archive.org. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  43. ^ Jack Goldberg (June 1, 2017). "Miracle in Harlem". Archive.org. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

Sources

External links

May 23, 2023
stepin, fetchit, lincoln, perry, redirects, here, artist, lincoln, perry, artist, lincoln, theodore, monroe, andrew, perry, 1902, november, 1985, better, known, stage, name, american, vaudevillian, comedian, film, actor, jamaican, bahamian, descent, considered. Lincoln Perry redirects here For the artist see Lincoln Perry artist Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry May 30 1902 November 19 1985 better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit was an American vaudevillian comedian and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career 3 His highest profile was during the 1930s in films and on stage when his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as the Laziest Man in the World Stepin FetchitFetchit in 1959BornLincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry 1902 05 30 May 30 1902Key West Florida USDiedNovember 19 1985 1985 11 19 aged 83 Woodland Hills California USResting placeCalvary Cemetery Los AngelesOccupationActorYears active1925 1976Spouse s Dorothy Stevenson 1929 1931 1 Bernice Sims 1951 1984 2 her death Children2Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career becoming the first black actor to earn 1 million He was also the first black actor to receive featured screen credit in a film 4 5 Perry s film career slowed after 1939 and nearly stopped altogether after 1953 Around that time Black Americans began to see his Stepin Fetchit persona as an embarrassing and harmful anachronism echoing negative stereotypes However the Stepin Fetchit character has undergone a re evaluation by some scholars in recent times who view him as an embodiment of the trickster archetype 6 Contents 1 Early life 2 Vaudeville career 3 Film career 4 Music composition 5 Death 6 Legacy 6 1 Awards and honors 7 Personal life 8 Filmography 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Sources 13 External linksEarly life EditLittle is known about Perry s background other than that he was born in Key West Florida to West Indian immigrants 4 He was the second child of Joseph Perry a cigar maker from Jamaica although some sources indicate the Bahamas 7 and Dora Monroe a seamstress from Nassau 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 Another source says he was adopted when he was 11 years old and taken to live in Montgomery Alabama 4 His mother wanted him to be a dentist so Perry was adopted by a quack dentist for whom he blacked boots before running away at age 12 to join a carnival He earned his living for a few years as a singer and tap dancer 4 Vaudeville career EditIn his teens Perry became a comic character actor By the age of 20 Perry had become a vaudeville artist and the manager of a traveling carnival show His stage name was a contraction of step and fetch it His accounts of how he adopted the name varied but generally he claimed that it originated when he performed a vaudeville act with a partner Perry won money betting on a racehorse named Step and Fetch It and his partner and he decided to adopt the names Step and Fetchit for their act When Perry became a solo act he combined the two names which later became his professional name 8 Film career Edit Stepin Fetchit and Chubby Johnson in Bend of the River 1952 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 he was highly literate and had a concurrent career writing for The Chicago Defender He signed a five year studio contract following his performance in the film In Old Kentucky 1927 The film s plot included a romantic connection between Perry and actress Carolynne Snowden 9 a subplot that was a rarity for black actors appearing in a white film during this era 10 Perry also starred in Hearts in Dixie 1929 one of the first studio productions to boast a predominantly black cast 11 Jules Bledsoe provided Perry s singing voice for his role as Joe in the 1929 version of Show Boat 12 Fetchit did not sing Ol Man River but he did sing The Lonesome Road in the film In 1930 Hal Roach signed him to a film contract to appear in nine Our Gang episodes in 1930 and 1931 However his only appearance in the series was in A Tough Winter Perry s contract was cancelled for unknown reasons after its release Perry was good friends with fellow comic actor Will Rogers 4 They appeared together in David Harum 1934 Judge Priest 1934 Steamboat Round the Bend 1935 and The County Chairman 1935 By the mid 1930s Perry was the first black actor to become a millionaire 6 He appeared in 44 films between 1927 and 1939 In 1940 Perry temporarily stopped appearing in films having been frustrated by his unsuccessful attempt to get equal pay and billing with his white costars 6 He returned in 1945 in part due to financial need though he only appeared in eight films between 1945 and 1953 He declared bankruptcy in 1947 stating assets of 146 4 equal to about 1 772 today 13 He returned to vaudeville he appeared at the Anderson Free Fair in 1949 alongside Singer s Midgets 14 He became a friend of heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali in the 1960s 4 allegedly converting to the Nation of Islam shortly before 15 Other sources have said he was a lifelong Catholic 16 After 1953 Perry appeared in cameos in the made for television movie Cutter 1972 and the feature films Amazing Grace 1974 and Won Ton Ton the Dog Who Saved Hollywood 1976 17 He found himself in conflict during his career with civil rights leaders who criticized him personally for the film roles that he portrayed In 1968 CBS aired the hour long documentary Black History Lost Stolen or Strayed written by Andy Rooney for which he received an Emmy Award 18 and narrated by Bill Cosby which criticized the depiction of black people in American film and especially singled out Stepin Fetchit for criticism After the show aired Perry unsuccessfully sued CBS and the documentary s producers for defamation of character 6 Music composition EditIn late November 1963 Perry collaborated with Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr and Esther Gordy Edwards in composing May What He Lived for Live a song intended to honor the memory of President John F Kennedy in the wake of his assassination Perry was credited under the pseudonym W A Bisson The song was recorded in December 1963 by Liz Lands who in 1968 performed the work at the funeral of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr 19 Death EditPerry suffered a stroke in 1976 4 ending his acting career he then moved into the Motion Picture amp Television Country House and Hospital 4 He died on November 19 1985 from pneumonia and heart failure at the age of 83 20 He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles following a Catholic funeral Mass 21 Legacy EditPerry spawned imitators such as Willie Best Sleep n Eat and Mantan Moreland the scared wide eyed manservant of Charlie Chan Perry had actually played a manservant in the Charlie Chan series before Moreland in 1935 s Charlie Chan in Egypt 22 Perry appeared in one 1930 Our Gang short subject A Tough Winter at the end of the 1929 30 season Perry signed a contract to star with the gang in nine films for the 1930 31 season and be part of the Our Gang series but for some unknown reason the contract fell through and the gang continued without Perry Previous to Perry entering films the Our Gang shorts had employed several black child actors including Allen Hoskins Jannie Hoskins Ernest Morrison and Eugene Jackson In the sound Our Gang era black actors Matthew Beard and Billie Thomas were featured The black performers personas in Our Gang shorts were the polar opposites of Perry s persona 23 24 25 26 In the 2005 book Stepin Fetchit The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry 27 28 African American critic Mel Watkins 29 30 31 argued that the character of Stepin Fetchit was not truly lazy or simple minded 32 but instead a prankster who deliberately tricked his White employers so that they would do the work instead of him This technique which developed during American slavery was referred to as putting on old massa and it was a kind of con art with which Black audiences of the time would have been familiar 6 33 34 Awards and honors Edit Fetchit has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame In 1976 despite popular aversion to his character the Hollywood chapter of the NAACP awarded Perry a special NAACP Image Award Two years later he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Personal life EditIn 1929 Perry married Dorothy Stevenson She gave birth to their son Jemajo on September 12 1930 5 In 1931 Dorothy filed for divorce stating that Perry had broken her nose jaw and arm with his fists and a broomstick 35 A few weeks after their divorce was granted Dorothy told a reporter she hoped someone would just beat the devil out of him as he had done to her 35 When Dorothy contracted tuberculosis in 1933 Perry moved her to Arizona for treatment She died in September 1934 35 Perry reportedly married Winifred Johnson in 1937 but no record of their union has been found 36 On May 21 1938 Winifred gave birth to a son Donald Martin Perry 37 Their relationship ended soon after Donald s birth According to Winifred s brother Stretch Johnson their father intervened after Perry knocked Winifred down the stairs and broke her nose 35 In 1941 Perry was arrested after Winifred filed a suit for child support When he was released from jail he told reporters Winnie and I were never married It was all a publicity stunt I want you and everybody else to know that that is not my baby Winnie knows the baby isn t mine but she s trying to be smart 36 Winifred admitted that they were not legally married but she insisted Perry was her son s father The court ruled in her favor and ordered Perry to pay 12 a week almost 220 in 2020 dollars for the child s support Donald later took his stepfather s surname Lambright a Perry married Bernice Sims on October 15 1951 Although they separated by the mid 1950s they remained married for the rest of their lives Bernice died on January 9 1985 35 For most of his life Perry was a devout Catholic but he allegedly became a member of the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s following the footsteps of his close friends Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X even appearing in the 1977 movie Muhammad Ali the Greatest 41 Other sources have said he was a lifelong Catholic 16 Filmography EditThe Mysterious Stranger 1925 In Old Kentucky 1927 Highpockets The Devil s Skipper 1928 Slave s Husband Nameless Men 1928 The Tragedy of Youth 1928 Porter The Kid s Clever 1929 Negro Man The Ghost Talks 1929 Christopher Lee Hearts in Dixie 1929 Gummy Show Boat 1929 Joe Thru Different Eyes 1929 Janitor Innocents of Paris 1929 Bit Role uncredited Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 1929 Swifty Salute 1929 Smoke Screen Big Time 1929 Eli Cameo Kirby 1930 Croup The Big Fight 1930 Spot Swing High 1930 Sam La Fuerza del Querer 1930 Spot A Tough Winter 1930 Short Stepin The Prodigal 1931 Hokey Wild Horse 1931 Stepin The Galloping Ghost 1931 Baxter College Locker Room Attendant Neck and Neck 1931 The Hustler Carolina 1934 Scipio David Harum 1934 Sylvester Swifty Stand Up and Cheer 1934 Stepin Fetchit The World Moves On 1934 Dixie Judge Priest 1934 42 Jeff Poindexter Marie Galante 1934 Pacific Gardens Waiter uncredited Bachelor of Arts 1934 Bulga The Littlest Rebel 1935 Helldorado 1935 Ulysses The County Chairman 1935 Sass One More Spring 1935 Zoo Attendant Charlie Chan in Egypt 1935 Snowshoes Hot Tip 1935 Cook Steamboat Round the Bend 1935 Jonah The Virginia Judge 1935 Spasm Johnson 36 Hours to Kill 1936 Flash Dimples 1936 Cicero On the Avenue 1937 Herman Love Is News 1937 Penrod Fifty Roads to Town 1937 Percy Super Sleuth 1937 uncredited His Exciting Night 1938 Casper the Baker Butler Zenobia 1939 Zero Open the Door Richard 1945 Big Timers 1945 Short Porter Specialty Act Swingtime Jamboree 1946 I Ain t Gonna Open That Door 1947 Short Richard Miracle in Harlem 1948 43 Swifty the Handyman Harlem Follies of 1949 1950 Bend of the River 1952 Adam The Sun Shines Bright 1953 Jeff Poindexter Inquiring Nuns 1968 interviewee Cutter 1972 TV movie Shoeshine Man Muhammad Ali the Greatest 1974 Amazing Grace 1974 cameo appearance Cousin Lincoln Brother Can You Spare a Dime 1975 archival footage Won Ton Ton the Dog Who Saved Hollywood 1976 cameo appearance Dancing Butler final film role See also Edit Biography portal Film portal United States portalAmos n Andy Jar Jar Binks Blackface Buckwheat a character played by Billie Thomas in the 1930s U S short film series Our Gang Dudley Dickerson Billy Kersands Old Aunt Jemima Pickaninny Fred Toones Uncle TomNotes Edit On April 5 1969 Donald Lambright was traveling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike east of Harrisburg Pennsylvania when he went on a spree shooting Reportedly he injured sixteen and killed four including his wife with an M1 carbine and a 30 caliber Marlin 336 carbine before turning one of the rifles on himself 38 39 40 The 1969 Pennsylvania Turnpike shootings were officially ruled a murder suicide but the account of the circumstances upon which the ruling was based was questioned by Lambright s daughter and discussed at length in her 2005 self published book about Stepin Fetchit In a Los Angeles Times interview Lincoln Perry stated his belief that his son was set up Lambright s involvement with the Black Power movement at the peak of the COINTELPRO program was believed to be related to his death Perry never provided child support for Lambright and they only met two years before his son s violent death 15 References Edit Clark Champ 2005 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse p 41 ISBN 0 595 37125 6 Clark Champ 2005 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse p 87 ISBN 0 595 37125 6 Stepin Fetchit Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times 2007 01 18 Archived from the original on September 13 2012 Retrieved 2011 10 14 a b c d e f g h i Lamparski Richard 1982 Whatever Became Of Eighth Series New York Crown Publishers pp 106 7 ISBN 0 517 54855 0 a b Clark Champ 2005 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse p 2 ISBN 0 595 37125 6 a b c d e Roy Hurst March 6 2006 Stepin Fetchit Hollywood s First Black Film Star National Public Radio Retrieved 2007 07 30 United States Census Year 1910 Census Place Tampa Ward 5 Hillsborough Florida Roll T624 162 Page 14A Enumeration District 0054 FHL microfilm 1374175 Watkins Mel 2005 Stepin Fetchit The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry Pantheon Books pp 32 33 ISBN 0 375 42382 6 Snowden Carolynne 1900 1985 The Black Past Remembered and Reclaimed Blackpast org 13 December 2007 Retrieved June 1 2017 Ely Melvin Patrick The Adventures of Amos N Andy A Social History of an American Phenomenon Macmillan Free Press 1991 pp 100 101 Hall Mordaunt 1929 02 28 Hearts in Dixie 1929 New York Times Retrieved 2011 10 14 Hall Mordaunt 1929 04 18 Showboat 1929 New York Times Retrieved 2011 10 14 1634 1699 McCusker J J 1997 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States Addenda et Corrigenda PDF American Antiquarian Society 1700 1799 McCusker J J 1992 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States PDF American Antiquarian Society 1800 present Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Consumer Price Index estimate 1800 Retrieved April 16 2022 Nielsen Business Media Inc July 16 1949 16 Rides 17 Shows Listed At Anderson Billboard p 65 ISSN 0006 2510 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a author has generic name help a b SEILER MICHAEL 1985 11 20 Stepin Fetchit Noted Black Movie Comic of 30s Dies Los Angeles Times ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved 2017 03 08 a b Bird John 2006 Watkins Mel ed The Life and Times of Stepin Fetchit Studies in American Humor 14 139 144 ISSN 0095 280X JSTOR 42573708 Clark Champ 2005 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse pp 124 126 132 ISBN 0 595 37125 6 Andy Rooney CBS News September 21 2005 Archived from the original on October 18 2008 Retrieved October 28 2008 Maraniss David 2015 Once In A Great City A Detroit Story New York Simon amp Schuster pp 296 7 Comedian Stepin Fetchit 83 The Philadelphia Inquirer November 20 1985 p C 19 Mass to Be Said Friday for Actor Stepin Fetchit The Los Angeles Times November 21 1985 p A30 Retrieved 2013 05 04 Sennwald Andre 1935 06 24 Charlie Chan in Egypt 1935 The New York Times Retrieved 2011 10 14 Faraci Devin April 26 2014 The Annotated MAD MEN Farina Stymie And Buckwheat Birth Movies Death Retrieved June 1 2017 White Armond December 5 2005 Back in Blackface Slate com Retrieved June 1 2017 Stepin Fetchit Hollywood Star Walk Los Angeles Times projects latimes com Retrieved June 1 2017 Stepin Fetchit Hollywood Walk of Fame Walkoffame com Retrieved June 1 2017 Watkins Mel July 14 2010 Stepin Fetchit The Life amp Times of Lincoln Perry Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group ISBN 9780307547507 Retrieved June 1 2017 via Google Books Stepin Fetchit Npr org Vindy com STEPIN FETCHIT Biographer defends role of black film actor Vindy com Retrieved June 1 2017 Mel Watkins 62 explores progression of black humor Colgate University News colgate edu December 14 2010 Retrieved June 1 2017 Stevens Dana November 27 2005 Caricature Acting The New York Times Strausbaugh John December 7 2005 How a Black Entertainer s Shuffle Actually Blazed a Trail The New York Times Behind the Mask The New Yorker 5 December 2005 Retrieved June 1 2017 Retracing black actor s path from vaudeville to vilification seattletimes com December 5 2005 Retrieved June 1 2017 a b c d e Clark Champ 2005 01 01 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse ISBN 978 0 595 37125 9 a b Watkins Mel 2005 Stepin Fetchit The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry Pantheon ISBN 978 0 375 42382 6 Clark Champ 2005 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse p 60 ISBN 0 595 37125 6 Angry Young Man The New York Times April 6 1969 Pike killer felt violence only racial answer Pittsburgh Post Gazette April 7 1969 Pike killer not on drugs Pittsburgh Post Gazette April 10 1969 John W Ravage February 15 2007 LINCOLN THEODORE MONROE ANDREW STEPIN FETCHIT PERRY 1902 1985 Judge Priest 1934 Archive org Retrieved June 1 2017 Jack Goldberg June 1 2017 Miracle in Harlem Archive org Retrieved June 1 2017 Sources EditKatz Ephraim 1979 The Film Encyclopedia Thomas Y Crowell New York ISBN 0 690 01204 7 Watkins Mel 2005 Stepin Fetchit The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry Pantheon Books ISBN 0 375 42382 6 Clark Champ 2005 Shuffling to Ignominy The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit iUniverse ISBN 0 595 37125 6 External links EditStepin Fetchit at TCM Movie Database Stepin Fetchit at AllMovie Stepin Fetchit at the Internet Broadway Database Stepin Fetchit at IMDb Stepin Fetchit at Virtual History Stepin Fetchit discography at Discogs Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stepin Fetchit amp oldid 1152768940, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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