Eddie Anderson played the part. He was the first African-American with a regular role on national radio. Anderson started in show business as part of an all African-American revue at age 14. Anderson's vocal cords were ruptured when he was a youngster selling newspapers in San Francisco. The newsboys believed those who were able to shout the loudest sold the most papers. The permanent damage done to his vocal cords left him with the gravel voice familiar to both radio listeners and television viewers over a course of more than twenty years.
The "Rochester" character retained many of the stereotypes (lazy, gambler, drinker), but they became a part of his character, disassociated from his race. Even though some of the humor was stereotypical, it was always done so that the racial element of the joke came from Anderson and no one else. When they get to Yosemite to go skiing, Jack says "Don't wander off now, you're not used to being in the woods, you'll get lost in all the snow." Rochester replies, "Who me?" Thus the racial element of the joke was provided by Anderson. In the same episode, Rochester complains that Jack wants him to make up for the lack of a radio in their car by singing. "And at 8:00 he wants me to do 'Amos and Andy'," said Anderson. He pauses at this point as the audience bursts into laughter, then continues: "and I ain't no good at that blackface stuff!"
Oh, ROCHester...
ReplyDeleteYassir, Mr. Benny!
Ha. That's right!
Delete
ReplyDeleteWonderful factoids from Wikipedia:
Eddie Anderson played the part. He was the first African-American with a regular role on national radio. Anderson started in show business as part of an all African-American revue at age 14.
Anderson's vocal cords were ruptured when he was a youngster selling newspapers in San Francisco. The newsboys believed those who were able to shout the loudest sold the most papers. The permanent damage done to his vocal cords left him with the gravel voice familiar to both radio listeners and television viewers over a course of more than twenty years.
The "Rochester" character retained many of the stereotypes (lazy, gambler, drinker), but they became a part of his character, disassociated from his race. Even though some of the humor was stereotypical, it was always done so that the racial element of the joke came from Anderson and no one else. When they get to Yosemite to go skiing, Jack says "Don't wander off now, you're not used to being in the woods, you'll get lost in all the snow." Rochester replies, "Who me?" Thus the racial element of the joke was provided by Anderson. In the same episode, Rochester complains that Jack wants him to make up for the lack of a radio in their car by singing. "And at 8:00 he wants me to do 'Amos and Andy'," said Anderson. He pauses at this point as the audience bursts into laughter, then continues: "and I ain't no good at that blackface stuff!"