List of entertainers who performed in blackface

This is a list of entertainers known to have performed in blackface makeup, whether in a minstrel show, as satire or historical depiction of such roles, or in a portrayal of a character using makeup as a racial disguise, for whatever reason.

A–C Roy Acuff, country music singer, performed in blackface in 1930s-40s traveling medicine shows Scarlet Adams Anne of Denmark, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, in The Masque of Blackness Ant and Dec, in old Saturday Night Takeaway sketches Fred Armisen, impersonating U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live in 2008 and 2009Is Blackface Ever OK? - Newsweek Clarence Ashley, 1910s-1940s singer and blackface comedian in traveling medicine showsSweet, Frank W. A History of the Minstrel Show, p25. Fred Astaire, in Swing Time (1936)Behind the Camera (4/30) and in Easter Parade (1948) Gene Autry Dan Aykroyd, in Trading Places (1983)Evans’ Release – Ethan Skolnick's Season Ticket – Sun-Sentinel David Baddiel, while portraying Jason Lee on a 1995 episode of Fantasy Football LeagueBlackface still dominates pop culture - but feigning ignorance is no longer an excuse Rita Baga Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, while performing for World Championship Wrestling Fay Bainter, as Topsy in a 1933 production of Uncle Tom's Cabin Milt G. Barlow, 19th-century American minstrelRice, Edward Le Roy - Monarchs of Minstrelsy from ‘Daddy Rice’ to Date (1911) Ethel Barrymore, in the 1930 play Scarlet Sister Mary Billy Barty, in Roman Scandals (1933) and Rabbit Test (1978) Milton Berle in film Always Leave 'Em Laughing (1949) Jack Black, in Be Kind Rewind (2008) Sergei Bondarchuk, in Othello (1956) John Boulter, lead singer of the long-running Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC Zach Braff, in the Scrubs episodes "My Friend the Doctor" and "My Chopped Liver" Frank Brower, 1840s-1860s minstrel performer David Byrne, in a promotional video for Stop Making Sense (1984) George Burns Butterbeans and Susie John Byner, in season 3, episode 1 of Soap Eddie Cantor, 1912-1927 performances in vaudeville and Ziegfeld Follies Luke Carroll, an Aboriginal Australian actor, wore blackface in a dream sequence featured in the movie Stone Bros. Judy Carne, in a 1969 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-InFeil, Ken. Graham Chapman Dave Chappelle, in a 2006 episode of Chappelle's Show George Christy, born George Harrington but became a star with Christy's Minstrels in the 1840s J. A. Coburn Charles Correll Bing Crosby, in Dream House (1932), Mississippi (1935), Road to Singapore (1940), Holiday Inn (1942), Dixie (1943), and Here Come the Waves (1944) Billy Crystal, in the "Negro Leagues" skit on Saturday Night Live in 1984 and whenever impersonating Sammy Davis Jr., including at the 84th Academy Awards.

D–G Roger Daltrey in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Living Legend". Ted Danson, at a 1993 Friars Club roast of his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg Tommy Davidson in the 2000 film Bamboozled Marion Davies in Going Hollywood (1933) Shane Dawson, YouTuber, actor, and comedian Neil Diamond in The Jazz Singer Thomas Dilward, 1850s-1870s dwarf minstrel performer George Washington Dixon, 1820s-1830s stage performer Lew Dockstader, 1870s-1900s minstrel performer Roma Downey in an episode of the television series Touched By An Angel entitled “Black Like Monica”, the character is turned black to better empathize with a community dealing with racial tensions. Robert Downey Jr. in the 2008 film Tropic Thunder Drake, during a 2007 photo shoot with photographer David Leyes, with one of the photos being used as the cover of Pusha-T's diss track, The Story of Adidon Jimmy Durante Issi Dye, singer and Al Jolson impersonator Harry Enfield, impersonating Nelson Mandela in the television show Harry & Paul, and playing Norbert Smith playing Nelson Mandela in Norbert Smith: A Life. The Ethiopian Serenaders, a Boston minstrel troupe who performed at the White House in 1844 and then toured Britain. Jimmy Fallon, impersonating Chris Rock on Saturday Night Live Benny Fine of the Fine Brothers, in a two-parter Degrassi parody by Shane Dawson where he plays the character of Connor DeLaurier Edwin ForrestWatkins p. 83 Dai Francis, lead singer of the long-running Black and White Minstrel Show on the BBC Leigh Francis The Frogs, in the artwork for their album Racially Yours and in their stage attire for the accompanying tour. Judy Garland in Babes in Arms George Givot, in the play The Constant Sinner (1931) Freeman Gosden Billy Gould (1869–1950) Savion Glover in the 2000 film Bamboozled

H–L Bill Hader, while impersonating Al Pacino acting as Dr. Conrad Murray in a biopic on a skit for Saturday Night Live Sam Hague Masatoshi Hamada, while impersonating Eddie Murphy from the film Beverly Hills Cop for the 2017 New Year's Eve special of Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! Jon Hamm on an episode of 30 Rock Goldie Hawn, in a 1969 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Bob Height Al HermanAnthony Slide, "Al Herman", The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, University Press of Mississippi, 2012, p.238 Charles Hicks Ernest Hogan C. Thomas Howell in the 1986 movie Soul Man William A. Huntley Starting 1860. Moved to whiteface in mid-1880s. Betty Hutton in The Perils of Pauline (1947) and Somebody Loves Me (1952) Dick Powell performed in blackface while singing Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy" in Hard to Get (1938) George Jessel Al Jolson Louis Jordan Buster Keaton, in vaudeville in the short film Neighbors (1920), possibly with satiric intent: he alternates in and out of blackface, receiving a very different reaction from a policeman;Callahan, Dan, "Buster Keaton", on Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 11 July 2005. also in The Playhouse (1921) and College (1927) Billy Kersands, 1880s-1900s minstrel performer Jimmy Kimmel, impersonating Karl Malone and Oprah Winfrey on The Man Show Jane Krakowski twice on 30 Rock Wallace King, 1880s minstrel performer Joey Lawrence, in season 4, episode 11 of Gimme a Break!, an episode criticizing blackface Jennie Lee, in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation Francis Leon, 1870s-80s minstrel performer Eddie Leonard, 1890s-1930s minstrel performer, "last of the great minstrels" Paul Levesque Chris Lilley as Jonah Takalua and S.mouse Walter Long, in the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation Sophia Loren in Aida (1953) Peter Lorre, in the play Weisse Fracht Matt Lucas, multiple characters in Little Britain, Precious Little in Come Fly with Me Sam Lucas, 1870s minstrel performer

M–R Robert Mandan, in season 3, episode 1 of Soap Jenna Marbles, in a now-deleted 2011 YouTube video where she impersonates Nicki Minaj Pigmeat Markham, performer in 1920s-1950s traveling shows, as well as The Ed Sullivan Show and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Rob McElhenney on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, portraying the character of Mac, a white man portraying the character Roger Murtaugh from the Lethal Weapon franchise in a fanmade home movie Joni Mitchell appeared as black dandy "Art Nouveau" at a party, then on the cover of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter in 1977 and on numerous occasions throughout the 1980s (see Joni Mitchell blackface controversy) Emmett Miller, an important influence on early country stars like Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills Flournoy E. Miller Irvin C. Miller David Mitchell, in season 1, episode 1 of That Mitchell and Webb Look Clayton McMichen Bill Monroe Moran and Mack Herbert Wassell Nadal (1873–1957) Cornelius J. O'Brien (1869–1954) Laurence Olivier in Othello (1965) Kaitlin Olson on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, portraying the character of Deandra Reynolds, a white woman portraying a black character in a fanmade home movie based on the Lethal Weapon franchise Pat Paulsen doing a deadpan condemnation of ethnic humor on The Merv Griffin Show, but it wasn't aired Richard Pelham Arthur Petersen, in season 3, episode 1 of Soap Larry Parks, in the 1946 film The Jolson Story Thomas D. Rice Jimmie Rodgers Mickey Rooney in Babes in Arms (1939) Benny Rubin

S–Z Harry Scott of the comedy duo Scott and Whaley, an African American act working in Britain.Michael Pickering, Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain, Routledge, 2017, , pp.197-203 Ramblin' Tommy ScottHillbilly-Music.com George Siegmann in character as Silas Lynch in The Birth of a Nation (1915) Sarah Silverman, in episode "Face Wars" (2007) of The Sarah Silverman Program Frank Sinatra, in the Major Bowes short The Big Minstrel (1935) and Ocean's Eleven (1960) Grace Slick, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1968) and Teen Set magazine (1969) Bessie Smith Hobart Smith Mel Smith in season 2, episode 4, of Not the Nine O'Clock News (sketch "Gone With The Wind", April 1980) Howard Stern in a series of 1991 skits as Clarence Thomas and in a 1993 New Year's Eve special Bert Swor (1878–1943) Magda Szubanski, in various sketches for the Australian TV series, Fast Forward, most notably as the housemaid in a parody of Gone With the Wind. Shirley Temple in The Littlest Rebel Frank Tinney, in vaudeville and Broadway musical comediesFrank Tinney. The New York Times, 29 November 1940, p.26 The Three Stooges Lily Tomlin, as R&B singer Pervis Hawkins on CBS special and Saturday Night Live. Sophie Tucker Tracey Ullman, in a 1989 episode of The Tracey Ullman Show Ben Vereen, as a part of the 1981 inaugural celebrations for US President Ronald Reagan Glen Vernon Actor who performed in blackface in Hollywood Varieties (1950) with fellow actor Edward Ryan Vladimir Vysotsky, as Abram Gannibal in How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor Ted Waldman, comedy harmonica playerAnthony Slide, "Ted Waldman", The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, University Press of Mississippi, 2012, pp.531-532 David Walliams, as a minstrel, and as character Desiree Devere in Little Britain George Walker Sean Waltman Robert Webb Betty White, in The Golden Girls Billy Whitlock Gene Wilder in Silver Streak Barney WilliamsDerby, George, White, James Terry - The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 5, 1897, p. 440 Bert Williams Hank Williams Slim Williams Bob Wills Tom WilsonPrimarily a blackface performer Jane Withers in Can This Be Dixie? Jo Anne Worley, in a 1969 episode of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Fictional characters who were depicted in blackface Bugs Bunny, in the 1942 cartoon Fresh Hare Mickey Mouse, in the 1933 cartoon Mickey's Mellerdrammer Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren), Not to be confused with the cat and mouse duo. appeared in blackface in 'Plane Dumb' (1932) Smith Family Stan, Steve, Hayley and Francine Smith appeared in blackface in 2007 American Dad! episode 'An Apocalypse to Remember' Eric Cartman, Depicted in blackface in 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and in episodes of South Park Chris Griffin in the Family Guy episode of Halloween on Spooner Street (2010) Tom and Jerry, appeared in blackface in 'The Yankee Doodle Mouse' (1943) 'The Milky Waif' (1946) 'Mouse Cleaning' (1948) and 'Casanova Cat' (1951) Dirty Dick, Used blackface in a recreation of The Black and White Minstrel Show in the 1972 Dandy Annual Sylvester the Cat, appeared in blackface in 'I Taw a Putty Tat' (1948) Lyons Tea Minstrels mascots of Lyons Tea. Discontinued sometime in the 1990s Ling-Ling, In "Foxxy Vs. The Board Of Education" (2005)

See also Examples of yellowface

External links Kake Walk at UVM digital collection, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries

References