James Edward Barton (November 1, 1890 – February 19, 1962) was an American vaudevillian, stage performer, and a character actor in films and television.

Early life

Barton was born into a theatrical family, on November 1, 1890, in Gloucester City, New Jersey.

Career

Barton began performing in

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 ...

s and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

houses throughout the country in 1898.James Barton at StreetSwing.com
/ref> His years of experience working with

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

performers led to his becoming one of the first jazz dancers in America.James Barton at DanceUniverse.com
After working with

repertory A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

companies in the South and Midwest, he made his Broadway debut in the musical

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

''The Passing Show of 1919'' in a role originally intended for

Ed Wynn Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He began his career in vaudeville in 1903 and was known for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show ...

. He frequently was the highlight in otherwise-mediocre productions, and a critic for the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'' noted, "Whenever the book failed him, he shuffled into one or more of his eccentric dances." He commonly worked in blackface at the time. Barton's other theatre credits include '' Sweet and Low'' in 1930, '' Tobacco Road'' in 1933, '' Bright Lights of 1944'' (which ran for only four performances), '' The Iceman Cometh'' in 1946, and '' Paint Your Wagon'' in 1951. While appearing on Broadway, Barton also achieved the highest pinnacle of status in vaudeville, headlining at the Palace Theater on Broadway not once but ''eight'' times, from March 1928 through April 1932. Barton's film career was also concurrent to his stage performances. It began in the silent era, in 1923, and he appeared in a number of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

short subjects in 1929. On television he appeared in '' The Ford Television Theatre'', ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vi ...

'', '' Studio One'', '' The Kaiser Aluminum Hour'', ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

'', '' Kraft Television Theatre'', ''

The Rifleman ''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television series starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...

'', ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...

'', '' Adventures in Paradise'', '' Naked City'', and ''

Frontier Circus ''Frontier Circus'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series about a traveling circus roaming the American West in the 1880s. Filmed by Revue Productions, the program originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1961, until Sep ...

''.

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

considered James Barton to be one of his ten favorite performers of all time, alongside names such as Al Jolson,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, Judy Garland, and

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

.David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace, ''The Book of Lists'', 1977, p. 118 Sammy Cahn has stated he considered Barton to be the greatest entertainer ("If there was a decathlon for performing ... James Barton would win, going away."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeZ_EYQPzRg&feature=em-subs_digest Interview with Brian Linehan, 1975), and cherished the St. Genesius medal he was given by Barton's widow above his Academy Awards.

Death

Barton died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at Nassau Hospital in

Mineola, New York Mineola is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the county seat of Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 20,800 at the time of the 2020 United Stat ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, on February 19, 1962.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
James Barton on Answers.comJames Barton Papers, 1890s-1990s
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, James 1890 births 1962 deaths American male stage actors American male film actors American male dancers American vaudeville performers American male television actors 20th-century American male actors People from Gloucester City, New Jersey Eccentric dancers 20th-century American dancers Actors from Camden County, New Jersey Male actors from New Jersey