Edward LeRoy Rice (August 24, 1871 – December 1, 1938) was an American performer in and producer of

minstrel shows 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 ...

. He was the leading authority on the history of minstrel shows. He also bought and sold theatrical memorabilia.

Biography

He was born in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

, on August 24, 1871, as the second son of William Henry Rice (1844–1907), a minstrel performer. He first performed on stage in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

, on July 18, 1890. He married Emma Rodenberger in

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, on November 30, 1899. Starting in 1907, he wrote a column, "Man in the Bleachers", which ran in the ''

New York Evening World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jos ...

'' for five weeks. His book ''Monarchs of Minstrelsy'' was published in 1911. He wrote a syndicated column for Press Publishing called "Anecdotes of Old-Time Actors, by 1913. He died on December 1, 1938, in Manhattan. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in

Woodside, New York Woodside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside, and on the east by Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and East ...

. His archive is housed at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

Quote

*"Let me begin by saying that I am not a "Monarch of Minstrelsy," not even ... I can remember, as a youngster even before my school days began, my father asking me if I wanted to be a minstrel."

External links

Edward Le Roy Rice performers at the Whitehouse
at

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Edward Le Roy 1871 births 1938 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American male actors 19th-century American male writers 19th-century people from New York (state) 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 20th-century people from New York (state) American comedy musicians American male journalists American male stage actors Blackface minstrel managers and producers Blackface minstrel performers Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Businesspeople from Manhattan Journalists from New York City Male actors from Manhattan Writers from Manhattan