List Of Entertainers Who Performed In Blackface

This is a list of entertainers known to have performed in blackface makeup, whether in a minstrel show, as satire or historical depiction of such roles, or in a portrayal of a character using makeup as a racial disguise, for whatever reason.

A–C

* Roy Acuff, country music singer, performed in blackface in 1930s-40s traveling medicine shows
* Scarlet Adams
* Anne of Denmark, Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, in '' The Masque of Blackness''
* Ant and Dec, in old Saturday Night Takeaway sketches
* Fred Armisen, impersonating U.S. President Barack Obama on ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2008 and 2009
* Clarence Ashley, 1910s-1940s singer and blackface comedian in traveling medicine showsSweet, Frank W. ''A History of the Minstrel Show''
p25

* Fred Astaire, in ''Swing Time'' (1936) and in ''Easter Parade'' (1948)
*Gene Autry
* Dan Aykroyd, in ''Trading Places'' (1983)
* David Baddiel, while portraying Jason Lee on a 1995 episode of '' Fantasy Football League''
* Rita Baga
* Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, while performing for World Championship Wrestling
* Fay Bainter, as Topsy in a 1933 production of ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''
* Milt G. Barlow, 19th-century American minstrel
* Ethel Barrymore, in the 1930 play '' Scarlet Sister Mary''
* Billy Barty, in '' Roman Scandals'' (1933) and ''Rabbit Test'' (1978)
* Jack Black, in '' Be Kind Rewind'' (2008)
* Sergei Bondarchuk, in ''Othello'' (1956)
* John Boulter, lead singer of the long-running '' Black and White Minstrel Show'' on the BBC
* Zach Braff, in the '' Scrubs'' episodes "My Friend the Doctor" and "My Chopped Liver"
* Frank Brower, 1840s-1860s minstrel performer
*David Byrne, in a promotional video for '' Stop Making Sense'' (1984)
* George Burns
* Butterbeans and Susie
* John Byner, in season 3, episode 1 of ''Soap''
* Eddie Cantor, 1912-1927 performances in vaudeville and ''Ziegfeld Follies''
* Luke Carroll, an Aboriginal Australian actor, wore blackface in a dream sequence featured in the movie '' Stone Bros.''
* Judy Carne, in a 1969 episode of ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''Feil, Ken.
* CatboyKami, Online alias of Tor Gustafsson Brookes. Far-right troll who performs in blackface and an afro wig while brandishing a gun
*Graham Chapman
* Dave Chappelle, in a 2006 episode of ''Chappelle's Show''
* George Christy, born George Harrington but became a star with Christy's Minstrels in the 1840s
* J. A. Coburn
* Charles Correll
* Bing Crosby,Smith, Rj,
Pardon the Expression
(book review), ''Los Angeles Magazine'', August 2001 in '' Dream House'' (1932), ''Mississippi'' (1935), ''Road to Singapore'' (1940), ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), ''Dixie'' (1943), and '' Here Come the Waves'' (1944)
* Billy Crystal, in the "Negro Leagues" skit on ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1984 and whenever impersonating Sammy Davis Jr., including at the 84th Academy Awards.

D–G

*Roger Daltrey in the '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' episode "Living Legend".
*Ted Danson, at a 1993 Friars Club roast of his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg
*Tommy Davidson in the 2000 film ''Bamboozled''
* Marion Davies in '' Going Hollywood'' (1933)
* Sammy Davis, Jr. in ''Ocean's Eleven'' (1960)
* Shane Dawson, YouTuber, actor, and comedian
* Neil Diamond in ''The Jazz Singer''
* Thomas Dilward, 1850s-1870s dwarf minstrel performer
* George Washington Dixon, 1820s-1830s stage performer
* Lew Dockstader, 1870s-1900s minstrel performer
* Roma Downey in an episode of the television series ''Touched By An Angel'' entitled “Black Like Monica”, the character is turned black to better empathize with a community dealing with racial tensions.
*Robert Downey Jr. in the 2008 film ''Tropic Thunder''
*Drake, on the cover of Pusha-T's single "The Story of Adidon"
*Jimmy Durante
* Issi Dye, singer and Al Jolson impersonator
*Harry Enfield, impersonating Nelson Mandela in the television show '' Harry & Paul''.
*The Ethiopian Serenaders were a Boston troupe which performed at the White House in 1844 and then toured Britain.
*Jimmy Fallon, impersonating Chris Rock on ''Saturday Night Live''
* Edwin ForrestWatkins p. 83
* Dai Francis, lead singer of the long-running '' Black and White Minstrel Show'' on the BBC
* Leigh Francis
* The Frogs in the artwork for their album '' Racially Yours'' and in their stage attire for the accompanying tour.
* Judy Garland in ''Babes in Arms''
* George Givot, in the play '' The Constant Sinner'' (1931)
* Freeman Gosden
* Billy Gould (1869-1950)
* Savion Glover in the 2000 film ''Bamboozled''

H–L

* Bill Hader, while impresonating Al Pacino acting as Dr. Conrad Murray in a biopic on a skit for ''Saturday Night Live''
* Sam Hague
* Masatoshi Hamada, dressed in blackface as Eddie Murphy from the film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' for the 2017 New Year's Eve special of ''Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!''
* Jon Hamm on an episode of ''30 Rock''
* Goldie Hawn, in a 1969 episode of ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''
* Bob Height
* Al HermanAnthony Slide, "Al Herman", ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2012, p.238
* Charles Hicks
* Ernest Hogan
* C. Thomas Howell in the 1986 movie '' Soul Man''
* William A. Huntley Starting 1860. Moved to whiteface in mid-1880s.
* Dick Powell performed in blackface while singing Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy" in Hard to Get (1938)
* George Jessel
* Al Jolson
* Louis Jordan
* Buster Keaton, in vaudeville in the short film '' Neighbors'' (1920), possibly with satiric intent: he alternates in and out of blackface, receiving a very different reaction from a policeman;Callahan, Dan,
Buster Keaton
, on ''Senses of Cinema''. Retrieved 11 July 2005. also in '' The Playhouse'' (1921) and ''College'' (1927)
* Billy Kersands, 1880s-1900s minstrel performer
* Jimmy Kimmel, impersonating Karl Malone and Oprah Winfrey on ''The Man Show''
* Jane Krakowski twice on 30 Rock
* Wallace King, 1880s minstrel performer
* Joey Lawrence, in season 4, episode 11 of ''Gimme a Break!'', an episode criticizing blackface
* Jennie Lee, in the 1915 film ''The Birth of a Nation''
* Francis Leon, 1870s-80s minstrel performer
* Eddie Leonard, 1890s-1930s minstrel performer, "last of the great minstrels"
* Paul Levesque
* Chris Lilley as Jonah Takalua and S.mouse
* Walter Long, in the 1915 film ''The Birth of a Nation''
*Sophia Loren in ''Aida'' (1953)
* Peter Lorre, in the play ''Weisse Fracht''
* Matt Lucas, multiple characters in '' Little Britain'', Precious Little in '' Come Fly with Me''
* Sam Lucas, 1870s minstrel performer

M–R

* Robert Mandan, in season 3, episode 1 of ''Soap''
* Jenna Marbles, impersonating Nicki Minaj in a later removed 2011 Youtube video
* Pigmeat Markham, performer in 1920s-1950s traveling shows, as well as ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' and ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''
* Rob McElhenney on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', portraying the character of Mac, a white man portraying the character Roger Murtaugh from the ''Lethal Weapon'' franchise in a fanmade home movie
* Joni Mitchell appeared as black dandy "Art Nouveau" at a party, then on the cover of '' Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'' in 1977 and on numerous occasions throughout the 1980s (see Joni Mitchell blackface controversy)
* Emmett Miller, an important influence on early country stars like Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills
* F. E. Miller, Flournoy E. Miller
* Irvin C. Miller
* David Mitchell (comedian), David Mitchell, in season 1, episode 1 of ''That Mitchell and Webb Look''
* Clayton McMichen
* Bill Monroe
* Two Black Crows, Moran and Mack
* Herbert Wassell Nadal (1873-1957)
*Cornelius J. O'Brien (1869-1954)
*Laurence Olivier in ''Othello (1965 British film), Othello'' (1965)
* Kaitlin Olson on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', portraying the character of Deandra Reynolds, a white woman portraying a black character in a fanmade home movie based on the ''Lethal Weapon'' franchise
* Richard Pelham
* Arthur Peterson (actor), Arthur Petersen, in season 3, episode 1 of ''Soap''
* Larry Parks, in the 1946 film ''The Jolson Story''
* Thomas D. Rice
* Jimmie Rodgers
* Mickey Rooney in ''Babes in Arms'' (1939)
* Benny Rubin

S–Z

* Harry Scott of the comedy duo Scott and Whaley, an African American act working in Britain.Michael Pickering, ''Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain''
Routledge, 2017, , pp.197-203
* Ramblin' Tommy Scott
* George Siegmann in character as Silas Lynch in ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915)
* Sarah Silverman, in episode "List of The Sarah Silverman Program episodes#Season 1 (2007), Face Wars" (2007) of ''The Sarah Silverman Program''
* Frank Sinatra, in the Major Bowes short ''The Big Minstrel'' (1935) and ''Ocean's Eleven'' (1960)
* Grace Slick, ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' (1968) and ''Teen Set'' magazine (1969)
* Bessie Smith
* Hobart Smith
* Mel Smith in season 2, episode 4, of Not the Nine O'Clock News (sketch "Gone With The Wind", April 1980)
* Howard Stern in a series of 1991 skits as Clarence Thomas and in a 1993 New Year's Eve special
* Bert Swor (1878-1943)\
* Magda Szubanski, in various sketches for the Australian TV series, ''Fast Forward (Australian TV series), Fast Forward,'' most notably as the housemaid in a parody of ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone With the Wind.''
* Shirley Temple in ''The Littlest Rebel''
* Frank Tinney, in vaudeville and Broadway musical comedies
* The Three Stooges
* Sophie Tucker
* Tracey Ullman, in a 1989 episode of ''The Tracey Ullman Show''
* Ben Vereen, as a part of the First inauguration of Ronald Reagan, 1981 inaugural celebrations for US President Ronald Reagan
* Glen Vernon Actor who performed in blackface in Hollywood Varieties (1950) with fellow actor Edward Ryan
* Vladimir Vysotsky, as Abram Gannibal in ''How Czar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor''
* Ted Waldman, comedy harmonica playerAnthony Slide, "Ted Waldman", ''The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville'', University Press of Mississippi, 2012, pp.531-532
* David Walliams, as a minstrel, and as character Desiree Devere in ''Little Britain''
* George Walker (vaudeville), George Walker
* Sean Waltman
* Robert Webb
* Betty White, in ''The Golden Girls''
* Billy Whitlock
* Gene Wilder in ''Silver Streak (film), Silver Streak''
* Barney Williams (actor), Barney WilliamsDerby, George, White, James Terry - ''The National Cyclopedia of American Biography'', Vol. 5, 1897, p. 440
* Bert Williams
* Hank Williams
* Slim Williams
* Bob Wills
* Tom Wilson (actor), Tom WilsonPrimarily a blackface performer
* Jane Withers in ''Can This Be Dixie?''
* Jo Anne Worley, in a 1969 episode of ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''

Fictional characters who were depicted in blackface

* Bugs Bunny, in the 1942 cartoon ''Fresh Hare''
* Mickey Mouse, in the 1933 cartoon ''Mickey's Mellerdrammer''
* Tom and Jerry (Van Beuren), Not to be confused with the Tom and Jerry, cat and mouse duo. appeared in blackface in 'Plane Dumb' (1932)
* American Dad!, Smith Family Stan Smith (American Dad!), Stan, Steve Smith (American Dad!), Steve, Hayley Smith (American Dad!), Hayley and Francine Smith appeared in blackface in 2007 List of American Dad! episodes, American Dad! episode 'An Apocalypse to Remember'
* Eric Cartman, Depicted in blackface in 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and in episodes of South Park
* Tom and Jerry, appeared in blackface in 'The Yankee Doodle Mouse' (1943) 'The Milky Waif' (1946) 'Mouse Cleaning' (1948) and 'Casanova Cat' (1951)
* List of Dandy comic strips, Dirty Dick, Used blackface in a recreation of The Black and White Minstrel Show in the 1972 The Dandy Annual, Dandy Annual
* Sylvester the Cat, appeared in blackface in 'I Taw a Putty Tat' (1948)
* Lyons Tea (Ireland), Lyons Tea Minstrels mascots of Lyons Tea. Discontinued sometime in the 1990s
* Drawn together characters, Ling-Ling, In List of Drawn Together episodes, Foxxy Vs. The Board Of Education (2005)

See also

* Examples of yellowface

External links

Kake Walk at UVM digital collection, Center for Digital Initiatives, University of Vermont Libraries

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Entertainers who performed in blackface
Blackface minstrel performers
Lists of actors, Blackface