Eddie Green (August 16, 1896 – September 19, 1950) was an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

best known for his vocal work in the

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

s ''

Amos 'n' Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show ...

'', and ''

Duffy's Tavern ''Duffy's Tavern'' is an American radio situation comedy that ran for a decade on several networks ( CBS, 1941–42; NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast. The program often featured ...

''.

Early life and career

Eddie Green was born on August 16, 1896 in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Before age eight he had already gained a reputation in local show business circles by performing as a "boy magician" in Baltimore area churches. As he grew into his teen years he started to gain employment in local concert halls as a magician before breaking into the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

circuit, where he made nine dollars a week. Early in his vaudeville career, Green began to branch out from magic and work in

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.

acts. For eleven years, Green worked with the legendary vaudeville company headed by Billy Minsky,

Minsky's Burlesque Minsky's Burlesque refers to the brand of American burlesque presented by four sons of Louis and Ethel Minsky: Abraham 'Abe' Bennett Minsky (1880–1949), Michael William 'Billy' Minsky (1887–1932), Herbert Kay Minsky (1891–1959), and Morton ...

Move to Broadway and film

Green left Minsky in the late 1920s and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1929. His first major role was in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of ''

Hot Chocolates ''Hot Chocolates'' is a musical revue with music by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks and book by Andy Razaf. It was originally titled ''Tan Town Topics'' in hopes it would be picked up by Broadway. Performed at the Hudson Theater in New York City, it ...

'', a black musical review where he performed with the likes of

James Baskett James Franklin Baskett (February 16, 1904 – July 9, 1948) was an American actor who portrayed Uncle Remus, singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in the 1946 Disney feature film '' Song of the South''. In recognition of his portrayal of Remus, h ...

and Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. Green would also go on to perform in ''

Blackberries of 1932 The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

'' (for which he wrote the book), '' A Woman's A Fool to be Clever'', and '' The Hot Mikado''. As the age of the "talking pictures" began, Green participated in creating what would later be known as the "race pictures". Green was involved in many film productions namely; ''

Mr. Adams Bomb ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...

'', ''

Laff Jamboree Laff (legal name: Laff Media, LLC) is an American digital multicast television network headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network specializes in comedy programmi ...

'', and ''

Mantan Messes Up Mantan Messes Up is a film produced in 1946 in the United States. It stars Mantan Moreland. Sam Newfield directed. The film was produced by Lucky Star Production Company. It was advertised as having an "All Colored Cast". The Museum of the Moving ...

''. Through his film career he got noticed by famous radio personality

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type. Early life Hubert Prior Vall ...

who convinced him to move to radio.

Songs

Green wrote many songs, the best known being "

A Good Man Is Hard to Find ''A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories'' (published in the United Kingdom as ''The Artificial Nigger and Other Tales'') is a collection of short stories by American author Flannery O'Connor. The collection was first published in 1955. The ...

Work in radio

Vallée featured Green heavily on his radio programs ''

The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour ''The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'' (also known as ''The Rudy Vallée Show'', ''The Fleischmann Yeast Hour'', and ''The Fleischmann Hour'') was a pioneering musical variety radio program broadcast on NBC from 1929 to 1936, when it became ''The Roya ...

'', ''

The Royal Gelatin Hour ''The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'' (also known as ''The Rudy Vallée Show'', ''The Fleischmann Yeast Hour'', and ''The Fleischmann Hour'') was a pioneering musical variety radio program broadcast on NBC from 1929 to 1936, when it became ''The Roya ...

'', and ''

Sealtest Dairy Sealtest Dairy is a Good Humor-Breyers brand for dairy products. Formerly a division of National Dairy Products Corporation (precursor to Kraft Foods) of Delaware, it produced milk, cream, ice cream, and lemonade. The Sealtest brand was also late ...

'' Show. He also worked during the 1930s and 1940s with his old friend Louis Armstrong in his variety series where he would perform sketches with

Gee Gee James Regina Theodora James, better known as Gee Gee James (born 1902 or 1903, died 1971), was an African American radio and theater actress and singer most notable in the 1930s and '40s. James was racially typecast as a domestic worker. Career Afte ...

. Some other major radio programs Green appeared on were ''

Maxwell House Show Boat ''Maxwell House Show Boat'' was the top radio show in the United States from 1933 to 1935. The program was sponsored by Maxwell House coffee, and it aired on NBC Radio Thursday nights, 9 pm. The first show was broadcast in 1931. ''Maxwell House ...

'', '' The Philco Radio Hall of Fame'', and ''

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

''. However, Green did not gain his highest acclaim until he began to work with ''Amos 'n' Andy'' and ''Duffy's Tavern'', the latter of which also became a hit movie. Through his work with

Ed Gardner Ed Gardner (born Edward Poggenberg; June 29, 1901 – August 17, 1963) was an American comic actor, writer and director, best remembered as the creator and star of the radio's popular ''Duffy's Tavern'' comedy series. Early years Gardner w ...

he became one of the most influential black artists in radio. Eddie Green died of a heart ailment on September 19, 1950 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Eddie 1896 births 1950 deaths African-American composers African-American film directors African-American male actors African-American male composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians