Bert Williams
Bert Williams
Bert Williamswas one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He was by far the best-selling black recording artist before 1920. In 1918, the New York Dramatic Mirror called Williams "one of the great comedians of the world."...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionStage Actor
Date of Birth12 November 1874
CityNassau, Bahamas
CountryUnited States of America
This lets operators roll out national or international systems that use the same authentication they already have in place.
A black face, run-down shoes and elbow-out make-up give me a place to hide. The real Bert Williams is crouched deep down inside the coon who sings the songs and tells the stories.
I have never been able to discover anything disgraceful in being a colored man. But I have often found it inconvenient - in America.
People sometimes ask me if I would not give anything to be white, I answer, in the words of the song, most emphatically, 'No.' How do I know what I might be if I were a white man? I might be a sand-hog, burrowing away and losing my health for $8 a day. I might be a street-car conductor at $12 or $15 a week. There is many a white man less fortunate and less well equipped than I am. In fact, I have never been able to discover that there was anything disgraceful in being a colored man. But I have often found it inconvenient - in America.
I named all my children after flowers. There's Lillie and Rose and my son, Artificial.
The man with the real sense of humor is the man who can put himself in the spectator's place and laugh at his own misfortune.
That's what the general gives me. That's what our budget can withstand.