The First Black Superstar: Bert Williams (1874-1922)
- jacquelinehamilton6
- May 9, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: May 11, 2021
Blackface is a part of American history that displayed racial lines that poke fun at African-Americans. Many White performers wore blackface like a sideshow attraction to act as if they were Black; blackface had even found its way into pop culture, famously found in D.W Griffith's 1915 The Birth Of A Nation. Most people believe that White performers only wore blackface, but some black actors painted over their dark skin to portray blackface. One of those actors who had to wear blackface to maintain a stable income and relevant to White audiences was Burt Williams. Born on November 12, 1874, Bert Willaims' Imdb bio notes, "One of the first black superstars of popular entertainment, Egbert Austin Williams, although born in the Bahamas, was raised largely in California. Nursing show business aspirations early on, he teamed with boyhood friend George Walker to form a highly successful vaudeville act, which continued until the ravages of syphilis brought about Walker's retirement and premature death in 1909. Two years later, Williams joined the Ziegfeld Follies and experienced perhaps his greatest fame as one of its' star comedians until his death. Although he played the (then) typical stereotype of the slow-witted, dialect-spouting black and had to wear burnt cork to disguise his true ethnicity, he still managed to project an elan and style that was all his own, gently mocking the various stereotypes even as he was playing them." Bert Williams had dreams of stardom from his childhood, but he gained success with dressing up in blackface. Although it may seem like Williams was accepting his roles as performing in blackface, he was making fun of wearing blackface because who can wear it better than an African-American performer like Bert Williams? Bert Williams was an entertainer, and to remain relevant and climb the ladder to success, Willaims had to perform in a degrading costume. Like most of the entertainers on my blog, Bert Williams was not only an actor; he was also a musician, using the same source, "His recordings on American Columbia records were best-sellers in their time. An intelligent, articulate man privately, he was bitterly disappointed in a society that could applaud him onstage yet still treat him like a second-class citizen off stage. "Bert Williams was the first Black Superstar, but for the wrong reasons, he became famous, he could pack a theater with a large audience, but he was still Black no matter how much money he had and how many entertainment places he could fill up with a crowd. Bert Williams had a career that took off and made him a star, but when the claps end and the makeup comes off of his face, he was still Black; he could not escape racism in America. Bert Williams' story is like the starlet Hattie McDaniel, best known for her role as "Mammy" in Victor Fleming's 1939 box office hit Gone With The Wind; Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American woman to win an Oscar. On the night of the Oscars, Hattie McDaniel could not even attend because where the ceremony was being held had restrictions against Blacks. To add insult to injury, after her death, her request to be buried alongside many of her peers in Hollywood Cemetery was denied because she was Black. Bert Willams and Hattie McDaniel are just a few celebrities who had to face racism when they were significant stars. They could degrade themselves with roles to keep their white audiences hooked, but in America, they are no more than dirt on the floor due to their skin color.Brent Campbell's Black Past. Org biography goes into depth about the many firsts that Bert Willaims has had and the many setbacks of being a Black man with fame in America. Campbell posits, "Throughout his career Williams achieved many firsts. In 1901, he became the first African American to become a best-selling recording artist. In 1902, he became an international star with his performance in the show In Dahomey, the first black musical to be performed on Broadway. Also, in 1910 Williams became the first black actor to be regularly featured in a Broadway revue when he joined the Ziegfeld Follies, and he eventually claimed top billing for the show." Then, "Despite Williams's superstar popularity, many people still refused to look past the color of his skin. As a comedian and songwriter, he was loved by both blacks and whites, yet he often faced racism in restaurants and hotels when he was not performing. Williams also was forced to perform in blackface makeup and he could not escape playing stereotypical characters in his performances." Who knew that Bert Williams had many firsts? Even though Bert Willams was a prominent performer of his time, racism still followed him, and it is a sad tale that he was beloved by Blacks and Whites but still seen as a Black man that threatens the hierocracy of White structure in America. The PBS.org website Broadway Stars: Bert Williams gives readers more detailed information about the achievements and setbacks that many of us did not know about Williams; in addition," Pioneer of the Stage. W. C. Fields, star of the silent screen, called Bert Williams "the funniest man I ever saw and the saddest." As a central figure on America's vaudeville circuit, Williams sang, danced, and pantomimed in clubs, cabarets, and theaters across the country. Williams was one of, if not the most, famous African-American performers in the 1900s. In an age when the "white vaudeville stage did not welcome black performers," Williams pioneered an essential role for black performers who had so profoundly shaped the genre. With unfortunate regularity, he was often the only African American on stage. In the 1900s Williams was the toast of the cities he toured, and in 1904 he played a command performance in England for King Edward VII." Bert Willams was on his own on many stages, having to demean himself to keep his following and have a more significant income coming in; many people might say that Williams sold his soul, but he had to survive when it comes down to it. Also," Many white vaudevillians refused to appear on the same bill with Williams, and others complained that his material, which he wrote himself, was better than theirs. Williams, like many black performers, faced discrimination from the hotels and restaurants in which he often performed. Hotels routinely refused to let Williams ride in the same elevators used by their white patrons. He once told a friend how much such seemingly petty discrimination hurt. "It wouldn't be so bad. … if I didn't hear the applause [from his performance] still ringing in my ears." Bert Wiliams was human first before anything; it is like being surrounded by people who wish you wrong because you are growing while they stay behind; he could not escape racism on stage and off. In the Youtube clip from 1986, Marlon Riggs' documentary Ethnic Notions included Cartlon Moss as Bert Williams. Carlton Moss best explains the discrimination that Willaims faced in his own words. Moss utters the words of Williams," This ain't my exact skin tone; it takes longer to take blackface off my skin than you can imagine. If you have seen photos of Bert Williams, you would know that he is African-American, and under all that makeup he wore in blackface, his skin was still black. Bert Williams had a hard time accepting that this entertainment caused him much pain and unanswered throughs and feelings. Moreover, Moss goes on to voice, "I can't even get a drink in my neighborhood pub, I am just hoping and praying nobody mistakes me for the doorman and tips me a quarter." Bert Willaims, the First Black Superstar, could not even get a drink in his local pub without having a white counterpart be willing to sign that he would be responsible for Williams' actions as a Black man. Bert Williams ended up dying on March 4, 1922, from heart disease and pneumonia. Bert Willaims blessed many stages with his performances, and even when he had to dress up in blackface, he was still an icon with many firsts. However, he could not escape the ugliest of racism that still plagues our nation today.
Sources Used: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930094/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm.
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