"Since there were no songs for Australia, New Zealand and Currie's home country – Canada – he wrote 3 songs over a weekend to cover those countries, and named the LP Three Voices Go Places, still advertised on the internet in 2018. While it started off being broadcast in black and white, the show was one of the very first to be shown in colour on BBC2 in 1967. Several famous personalities guested on the show, while others started their careers there. Comedian Lenny Henry was one such star, being the first black performer to appear, in 1975. In July"
"The Black and White Minstrel Show The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British light entertainment show that ran on BBC television. Beginning in 1958, it was a weekly light entertainment and variety show which presented traditional American minstrel and country songs, as well as show tunes and music hall numbers, and with lavish costumes. It was also a popular stage show. The show was accused of racism and ethnic stereotyping by black civil rights groups in the UK, such as the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination, due to its use of blackface. This racial controversy led to the programme's"
"because of the style of music becoming dated and partly because of an increase in racial awareness. It was axed by the BBC after several unsuccessful attempts to change the format. Mitchell was awarded the OBE in 1975. The minstrel show in black face continued to be performed on stage (and was very popular) until 1989. George Mitchell (musician) George Mitchell, (27 February 1917 – 27 August 2002) was a Scottish musician, best known for having devised the long-running ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"". He was born in Falkirk, Scotland. Mitchell's grandfather was well-known Scottish choir master John Laing,"
"The end result was a number that parodied ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"" by having the male performers in blackface while the females (excluding Mrs. Slocombe) were not. The Black and White Minstrel Show The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British light entertainment show that ran on BBC television. Beginning in 1958, it was a weekly light entertainment and variety show which presented traditional American minstrel and country songs, as well as show tunes and music hall numbers, and with lavish costumes. It was also a popular stage show. The show was accused of racism and ethnic"
"eventual cancellation from television in 1978, although a stage version ran for ten years after the show's cancellation at Victoria Palace Theatre, London. This was followed by tours of Australia and New Zealand. ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"" was created by BBC producer George Inns working with George Mitchell. It began as a one-off special in 1957 called ""The 1957 Television Minstrels"" featuring the male Mitchell Minstrels (Mitchell was the musical director) and the female Television Toppers dancers. The show was first broadcast on the BBC on 14 June 1958. It was popular and soon developed into a regular"
"Earl Cameron (actor) Earlston J. Cameron, CBE (born 8 August 1917), known as Earl Cameron, is a British actor, born in Bermuda and a long-time resident in England. Along with Cy Grant, he is known as one of the first black actors to break the ""colour bar"" in the United Kingdom. With his appearance in 1951's ""Pool of London"", Cameron became one of the first black actors to take up a starring role in a British film after Paul Robeson, Nina Mae McKinney and Elisabeth Welch in the 1930s. According to ""Screenonline"", ""Earl Cameron brought a breath of fresh air"
"George Mitchell (musician) George Mitchell, (27 February 1917 – 27 August 2002) was a Scottish musician, best known for having devised the long-running ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"". He was born in Falkirk, Scotland. Mitchell's grandfather was well-known Scottish choir master John Laing, and both of his parents were amateur singers. He was educated at Southgate County School in North London. Mitchell was an accountant before his World War II military service. During the war, he served with the Royal Army Pay Corps at Finsbury Circus. This posting enabled him to organise choirs within the armed forces and put"
"Loma St. Clair, with whom he had four children. Later, Boulter married West End musical star Anna Dawson. The couple retired to New Zealand. John's daughters, Phillipa (Phil) Boulter and Francesca (Frankie) Boulter, are both singers and members of the synthpop group DATA. Boulter appeared as the male lead - ""Freddie Flowerdew"" - in the musical production of """"Ask Dad"""" in the ""Jeeves and Wooster"" episode, """"Introduction on Broadway."""" John Boulter John Boulter is a British tenor best known for his appearances as a soloist in the BBC's long-running variety series ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"". Along with bass"
"in 1952. They had one daughter. In 1954, Francis joined the George Mitchell Singers, and was one of the first soloists to appear in ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"" when it made its television debut in 1958. Francis generally appeared at the beginning of the show to announce, ""It's the Black and White Minstrel Show"", in character as Al Jolson. Together with Tony Mercer and John Boulter, he fronted the troupe in most of the shows until it was taken off the air in 1978. He also appeared in most of their stage shows. He died 27 November 2003"
"Cy Grant Cyril Ewart Lionel Grant (8 November 1919 – 13 February 2010) was a Guyanese actor, musician, writer and poet. In the 1950s, he became the first black person to be featured regularly on television in the United Kingdom, mostly due to his appearances on the BBC current affairs show ""Tonight"". Following service in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Grant worked as an actor and singer, before establishing the Drum Arts Centre in London in the 1970s. In the 1980s, he was appointed director of Concord Multicultural Festivals. A published poet and author of several"
"John Boulter John Boulter is a British tenor best known for his appearances as a soloist in the BBC's long-running variety series ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"". Along with bass Tony Mercer and baritone Dai Francis, Boulter was one of the show's three front men. Boulter was born in Gillingham, Kent, and was educated at Gillingham Grammar School and later at Number One School of Technical Training in the Royal Air Force. From there he entered the Royal Academy of Music where he won Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals for his singing, and was awarded an Associateship of the"
"minstrel show and became a form in its own right. Blackface was an important performance tradition in the American theater for roughly 100 years beginning around 1830. It quickly became popular elsewhere, particularly so in Britain, where the tradition lasted longer than in the U.S., occurring on primetime TV, most famously in ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"", which ended in 1978, and in ""Are You Being Served?""s Christmas specials in 1976 and finally in 1981. In both the United States and Britain, blackface was most commonly used in the minstrel performance tradition, which it both predated and outlasted. Early"
"Foundation, whose aims include helping to provide opportunities and incentives for disadvantaged youths starting out on an entertainment career. The Foundation administers Rudolph Walker's inter-School Drama Award (RWiSDA), competed for by schools across London. In addition, Rudolph Walker's Role Model Award (RWRMA) is presented to outstanding students who have contributed something special like demonstrating positive leadership, a good influence to their peers and others, and a role model within the school. Rudolph Walker Rudolph Malcolm Walker, OBE (born 28 September 1939), is a Trinidadian actor, best known for his roles on British television. He was the first black actor to"
"Lane. Pepper and Mark Lubbock were recruited by the BBC in 1933, both being noted as ""established composers of light music"", and Pepper became a presenter in the early days of BBC Television, which had begun in 1932. In 1933 he presented a revue called ""Looking In"" with John Watt as co-presenter. Meanwhile, BBC Radio had a much greater audience, and there he produced and presented ""The Kentucky Minstrels"", a blackface minstrel series broadcast from 1933, which was a forerunner of ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"". According to Maurice Gorham, Pepper was ""a great character, born and brought up"
"George Washington Dixon George Washington Dixon (1801? – March 2, 1861) was an American singer, stage actor, and newspaper editor. He rose to prominence as a blackface performer (possibly the first American to do so) after performing ""Coal Black Rose"", ""Zip Coon"", and similar songs. He later turned to a career in journalism, during which he earned the enmity of members of the upper class for his frequent allegations against them. At age 15, Dixon joined the circus, where he quickly established himself as a singer. In 1829, he began performing ""Coal Black Rose"" in blackface; this and similar songs"
"45-minute show on Saturday evening prime time television, featuring a sing-along format with both solo and minstrel pieces (often with extended segueing), some country and western and music derived from other foreign folk cultures. The male Minstrels performed in blackface; the female dancers and other supporting artists did not. The show included ""comedy interludes"" performed by Leslie Crowther, George Chisholm and Stan Stennett. It was initially produced by George Inns with George Mitchell. The Minstrels' main soloists were baritone Dai Francis, tenor John Boulter, and bass Tony Mercer. During the nine years that the show was broadcast in black and"
"Thomas Dilward Thomas Dilward (1840–1902), also known by the stage name Japanese Tommy, was an African-American dwarf who performed in the blackface minstrel show. He was also sometimes billed as ""The African 'Tom Thumb'"" and the ""African Dwarf Tommy"". Dilwared is one of only two known Blacks to have performed with white minstrel companies before the American Civil War (the other being William Henry Lane). Dilward's size, between 23 and 36 inches in height, made him a ""curious attraction"" and allowed him to take to the stage with whites at a time when almost no black men did; in addition,"
"The British had a reputation in America for not being as apt at portraying caricatured black roles or performing comedy bits. In response, Sam Hague's British Minstrels stressed their musical abilities and their refined costumes and sets. Only the endmen wore blackface, and the troupe did no base comedy. George Primrose and William H. West adopted Hague's idea and sparked a new trend in minstrelsy. The twice-married Hague died January 7, 1901 at home in Liverpool, leaving a wife and adopted daughter. Sam Hague Sam Hague (1828 – 7 January 1901) was a British blackface minstrel dancer and troupe owner."
"planned as a test series of six programmes, ""Black Londoners"" became, in 1978, the first black daily radio show in British history, with prominent guests from the worlds of politics, sport, literature and the arts, including Muhammad Ali, Alex Haley and the Mighty Sparrow. Born on the island of Grenada in the Eastern Caribbean, Pascall was the eldest son in a family of 10. He travelled to Britain as a 22-year-old in 1959, having represented his country as a musician the previous year in the Bee Wee Ballet Dance Troupe at the inauguration of the Federation of the West Indies."
"to London by 1846m and remained a major fixture in London until at least the 1880s. By the end of the civil war, minstrel groups had appeared featuring actual black performers. Though their styles were no more similar to actual slave practices than those of the white minstrels, these groups billed themselves as more ""authentic"" and grew popular. Since many of the performers were light-skinned, black performers still rubbed their faces in cork, and entertained in blackface. This practice peaked in about 1872, having produced such stars as banjoist Horace Weston and comedian Billy Kersand. A component of minstrel shows,"
"develop preconceived notions about the characteristics of black men. Colorism was and still is very much evident in the media. An example of this is shown in the minstrel shows that were popular during and after slavery. Minstrel shows were a very popular form of theater that involved white and black people in black face portraying black people while doing demeaning things. The actors painted their faces with black paint to and over lined their lips with bright red lipstick to exaggerate and make fun of black people. When minstrel shows died out and television became popular, black actors were"
"Stepin Fetchit 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 descent, considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career. His highest profile was during the 1930s when in films and on stage, his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as ""the Laziest Man in the World"". Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, becoming the first black actor to earn a million dollars. He was also the first black actor"
"white, the blackface makeup was actually red, as black did not film as well. Prior to the creation of the Television Minstrels Show in 1957 the Television Toppers were already very popular, and The BBC Television Toppers first performed in 1953 which was aired on television for the first time February 1953. Originally the Television Toppers were dancers who performed weekly on a television show every Saturday night alongside different celebrities each week, such as Judy Garland. They also performed at Royal Command Performances. They were newspaper entertainment mini celebrities, and headlined as earning £1,000 a year in 1953. The"
"""Mr. Tambo"" and ""Mr. Bones"" on the ends. He died in New York City from cerebral edema in 1868. George Christy George N. Christy (born George Harrington) (November 6, 1827 – May 12, 1868) was one of the leading blackface performers during the early years of the blackface minstrel show in the 1840s. Born in Palmyra, New York, his career began as a star performer with his stepfather E. P. Christy's troupe Christy's Minstrels; in two and a half years with them he earned $19,680, a fortune for those times. Jim Comer credits him with inventing ""the line"", the structured"
"part of their act. The minstrels, an act that got its start in the 1830s before vaudeville and burlesque, typically participated in an overtly racist style of performance known as blackfacing in which the singers and dancers would paint their faces with black cosmetics that mocked African Americans. Cooper essentially performed in minstrel shows but was not a minstrel himself and introduced a performance style that contrasted blackfacing. After touring with Richards and Pringles Georgia Minstrels, he became known as “the Black Napoleon of ventriloquism.” He then joined Rusco and Holland's Big Minstrel Festival at the end of 1901. In"
"Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Cole (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. He recorded over one hundred songs that became hits on the pop charts. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Cole also acted in films and on television and performed on Broadway. He was the first black man to host an American television series. Nathaniel Adams Cole was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17, 1919. He had three brothers: Eddie (1910–1970), Ike (1927–2001), and Freddy (b. 1931), and a"
"and Leon's Minstrels. Beginning in the 1860s, he appeared with a number of black minstrel troupes. Modern writers, such as Mel Watkins, cite Dilward as possibly being one of the first black entertainers to present some element of authentic black dance on the white American stage. He would also have had opportunity to present some degree of black comedy and song, but he probably did not stray far from the traditional, white-defined material. Dilward was around three feet tall. He quickly developed talents to entertain people because this was the most promising plan to support himself. He could sing, dance,"
"journalist interested in black entertainment and the first to write a journal about the African-American race in 1891. In 1898, Chappelle organised his first traveling show, the Imperial Colored Minstrels (or Famous Imperial Minstrels), which featured comedian Arthur ""Happy"" Howe and toured successfully around the South. Chappelle also opened a pool hall in the commercial district of Jacksonville. Remodeled as the Excelsior Hall, it became the first black-owned theater in the South, reportedly seating 500 people. In 1899, following a dispute with the white landlord of the Excelsior Hall, J. E. T. Bowden, who was also the Mayor of Jacksonville,"
"Robert Luff Robert Charles William Luff, CBE (7 July 1914 – 18 February 2009) was a British theatrical agent and producer. He was most notable for producing the stage version of ""The Black and White Minstrel Show"" and being the former agent of Lenny Henry, the Tiller Girls and Beryl Reid. He successfully owned theatres and hotels in Scarborough, Bournemouth, Morecambe and Eastbourne. The son of an engineer, Luff was born in Bedford, and educated at Bedford Modern School. Whilst there he learnt to play the drums and later formed his own dance band, briefly known as Robert Luff and"
"Donald Gray Donald Gray (born Elred Owermann Tidbury, 3 March 1914 – 7 April 1978) was a South African actor, well known for his starring role in the British TV series ""Mark Saber"", for providing the voices of Colonel White, Captain Black and the Mysterons in ""Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons"", and for being the reason that Donald Marshall Gray changed his name to Charles Gray when he became an actor. Perhaps not coincidentally, in some spin-off media Colonel White's real name is stated to be Charles Grey. Gray was born in Cape Province, South Africa. In 1933, film company"
"British stage where it last prospered featured many other, mostly ethnically-based, comic stereotypes: conniving, venal Jews; drunken brawling Irishmen with blarney at the ready; oily Italians; stodgy Germans; and gullible rural rubes. 1830s and early 1840s blackface performers performed solo or as duos, with the occasional trio; the traveling troupes that would later characterize blackface minstrelsy arose only with the minstrel show. In New York City in 1843, Dan Emmett and his Virginia Minstrels broke blackface minstrelsy loose from its novelty act and ""entr'acte"" status and performed the first full-blown minstrel show: an evening's entertainment composed entirely of blackface performance."
"for her comedy dance routines. Violet also appeared in several motion pictures in the 1930s and '40s. Milt G. Barlow Milt G. Barlow (June 29, 1843 – September 27, 1904) was an American blackface comedian and actor popular in minstrel and vaudeville shows over the latter half of the 19th century. Milton G. Barlow was born on June 29, 1843, at Lexington, Kentucky. He was the son of James Madison and Elizabeth Susan (née Barlow) Barlow. He was probably raised in the household of an uncle in Harrison County, Kentucky, after his parents divorced and his father, a silversmith, relocated"
"White Minstrel Show"", was to open at the Victoria Palace Theatre. While the three lead singers, Tony Mercer, John Boulter and Dai Francis, would be in the theatrical version of the show and also in the BBC TV version, both the chorus singers and dancers would be different groups in the theatre and on BBC TV. Since George Mitchell was completely tied up with the television version, he hired Harry Currie to be the chorus master to prepare the Victoria Palace minstrel singers. While this was in preparation, Mitchell informed Currie that a second company would be prepared for the"