Johnny Hudgins (May 5, 1896 – 1990) was a

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 ...

performer. He sometimes performed in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

. Hudgins was nicknamed the Wah-Wah Man ( wah-wah) and was known for his

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

performances accompanied by accomplished trumpeters. He was friends with fellow vaudevillian

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

who he performed with in the show ''

Chocolate Dandies ''The Chocolate Dandies'' is a Broadway musical in two acts that opened September 1, 1924, at the New Colonial Theatre and ran for 96 performances – finishing November 22, 1924. Initial production The 1924 debut of ''The Chocolate Dandies' ...

''. He was also in the show ''

Lucky Sambo ''Lucky Sambo'' was a 1925 musical comedy staged on Broadway. It originally toured as ''Aces and Queens'' in 1923 and 1924. It was by Porter Grainger and Freddy Johnson. It played at the Colonial Theatre (New York City). Time magazine described it ...

''. He used burnt cork to blacken his face and performed with exaggerated white lips in many of his performances. His performances drew rave reviews and imitators. Hudgins sought to copyright his performance art. Hudgins performed with

Florence Mills Florence Mills (born Florence Winfrey; January 25, 1896 – November 1, 1927), billed as the "Queen of Happiness", was an American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian. Life and career Florence Mills (Florence Winfrey) was born a daughter of for ...

and was accompanied by trumpeters including

Doc Cheatham Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham (June 13, 1905 – June 2, 1997), was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He is also the Grandfather of musician Theo Croker. Early life Doc Cheatham was born in Nashvi ...

Johnny Dunn Johnny Dunn (February 19, 1897 – August 20, 1937) was an American traditional jazz trumpeter and vaudeville performer, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He is probably best known for his work during the 1920s with musicians such as Perry ...

, Joe Smith (trumpeter),

Louis Metcalf Louis Metcalf (February 28, 1905 - October 27, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter who played for a short time with Duke Ellington. Early life Metcalf was born in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. As a youth he first trained on the drums ...

and

Rex Stewart Rex William Stewart Jr. (February 22, 1907 – September 7, 1967) was an American jazz cornetist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Career As a boy he studied piano and violin; most of his career was spent on cornet. Stewart drop ...

. Hudgins was born in

Baltimore 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 ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Career

Hudgins performed in Harlem's clubs, toured America, and toured Europe where he was referred to as a "colored"

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

. He also performed with his wife Mildred Martien and

Fredi Washington Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African-American descent. She was one of the first black American ...

. Martien was lifelong friends with

. Hudgins featured in films including a

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

film of Hudgins performing to " Renoir Charleston" in

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

's '' Charleston Parade'' with

Catherine Hessling Catherine Hessling (born Andrée Madeleine Heuschling; 22 June 1900 – 28 September 1979) was a French actress and the first wife of film director Jean Renoir. Hessling appeared in 15, mostly silent, films before retiring from the acting prof ...

and in the film'' A Night in Dixie''. He was photographed by Edward Elcha.

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

has a collection of his papers.

Filmography

*'' Charleston Parade'', ''Sur un air de charleston'', (1927) with

* '' A Night in Dixie'' (1926)

References

External links

Pathé film of Hudgins performing
*

'
Renoir Charleston
with

and Johnny Hudgins (1927)
Hudgins at 2:55 mark
from '' A Night in Dixie'' (1926) *
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Johnny Hudgins papers, 1927-1988
1896 births 1990 deaths Vaudeville performers Male actors from Baltimore {{US-actor-stub