Richard Ward "Dick" Pelham (February 13, 1815 – October 1876), born Richard Ward Pell, was an American

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

performer. He was born in New York City. Pelham regularly did blackface acts in the early 1840s both solo and as part of a duo or trio. His early performances were in the mould of

Thomas D. Rice Thomas Dartmouth Rice (May 20, 1808 – September 19, 1860) was an American performer and playwright who performed in blackface and used African American vernacular speech, song and dance to become one of the most popular minstrel show entertai ...

; he did song-and-dance versions of " Gumbo Chaff" and " Oh Pshaw!", among others. His brother, Gilbert Pelham, paired with him for part of his early career. The song " Massa Is a Stingy Man" became their trademark tune. Pelham was also a renowned dancer; by 1845, he was ranked so highly that William Henry Lane did an impression of him. In 1843, Pelham became one of the founding members of the

Virginia Minstrels The Virginia Minstrels or Virginia Serenaders was a group of 19th-century American entertainers who helped invent the entertainment form known as the minstrel show. Led by Dan Emmett, the original lineup consisted of Emmett, Billy Whitlock, ...

, the first group to present a full

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...

during a performance at the New York

Bowery Amphitheatre The Bowery Amphitheatre was a building in the Bowery neighborhood of New York City. It was located at 37 and 39 Bowery, across the street from the Bowery Theatre. Under a number of different names and managers, the structure served as a circus, ...

on February 6, 1843. Through April 1843, he played

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

as the Virginia Minstrels toured New York City and Boston. Pelham's style was something new for the time; in addition to traditional techniques, he played it like a drum. Pelham and Frank Brower, who played the

bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

, were the first minstrel endmen, and greatly influenced the stereotype. Pelham's stage demeanor involved "looks and movements comic beyond conception. He seemed animated by a savage energy; and he handling of his instrument. . . nearly wrung him off his seat. His white eyes rolled in a curious frenzy . . . and his hiccupping chuckles were unsurpassable." Pelham's signature non-musical bit was his "A Brief Battering at the Blues", a comic monologue and prototypical

stump speech A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office. Typically a candidate who schedules many appearances prepares a short standardized stump speech that is repeated verbatim to each audience, before opening ...

. On April 21, 1843, when the group broke up. Pelham decided to settle in England. He briefly helped reform the Virginia Minstrels in the spring of 1844 when he met up with Brower and Joel Sweeney in Liverpool. The trio convinced Dan Emmett to rejoin, and the new ensemble played the

Theatre Royal, Dublin Over the centuries, there have been five theatres in Dublin called the Theatre Royal. In the history of the theatre in Great Britain and Ireland, the designation "Theatre Royal", or "Royal Theatre", once meant that a theatre had been granted a ...

, from April 24 to May 7 . They toured through June, then broke up again. Over the next few decades, Pelham continued to perform, only now with British minstrel troupes.

Pablo Fanque Pablo Fanque (born William Darby; 30 March 1810 – 4 May 1871) was a British Equestrianism, equestrian performer and Circus, circus proprietor, becoming the first recorded Black circus owner in Britain. His circus was popular in Victorian Brit ...

, one of Victorian England's most celebrated circus proprietors (later immortalized in

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"), helped popularize a Pelham sketch in England through performances at his circus in the 1860s. One of the most popular routines at Pablo's circus at

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

in 1868 was Pelham's "Wha's Your Ticket?" in which an actor portrays "the character of a Negro engaged to collect tickets at a bal masque with express instructions to allow no one to pass without, but who by his blundering allows all to enter without that requisite." The sketch was described in 1859 as a "new afterpiece expressly imported from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

by permission of R.W. Pelham Esq." The sketch was still being performed in England as a "laughable American sketch" as late as 1888. The huge success of a recent British tour by the African-American Master Juba may have adversely affected Pelham's career there as his performance suffered in comparison. His final performance was on August 19, 1856. Richard Pelham eventually married an English actress. He died in or near LiverpoolBirths, Marriages and Deaths (United Kingdom) Oct-Dec 1876: PELHAM, Richard Ward...60...Liverpool: ref 8b. 97 in October 1876.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Brodsky Lawrence, Vera (1988). ''Strong on Music: The New York Music Scene in the Days of George Templeton Strong''. Volume I: Resonances, 1839 – 1849. The University of Chicago Press. * Nathan, Hans (1962). ''Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Stark, Seymour (2001). ''Men in Blackface: True Stories of the Minstrel Show''. Xilibris Corporation. * Wilmeth, Don B., and Miller, Tice L., eds. (1996). ''Cambridge Guide to American Theatre''. New York: Cambridge University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelham, Richard American male dancers American male comedians 19th-century American male singers 19th-century American singers American male stage actors Blackface minstrel performers Blackface minstrel songwriters Male actors from New York City 1815 births 1876 deaths American percussionists 19th-century American male actors Comedians from New York City