Richard Ward "Dick" Pelham (February 13, 1815 – October 1876), born Richard Ward Pell, was an American

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 ...

performer. He was born in New York City. Pelham regularly did blackface acts in the early 1840s both solo and as part of a duo or trio. His early performances were in the mould of

Thomas D. Rice Thomas Dartmouth Rice (May 20, 1808 – September 19, 1860) was an American performer and playwright who performed in blackface and used African American vernacular speech, song and dance to become one of the most popular minstrel show ente ...

; he did song-and-dance versions of "

Gumbo Chaff "Gumbo Chaff", also spelled "Gombo Chaff", is an American song, first performed in the early 1830s. It was part of the repertoire of early blackface performers, including Thomas D. Rice and George Washington Dixon. The title character was one ...

" and " Oh Pshaw!", among others. His brother, Gilbert Pelham, paired with him for part of his early career. The song " Massa Is a Stingy Man" became their trademark tune. Pelham was also a renowned dancer; by 1845, he was ranked so highly that

William Henry Lane Master Juba (ca. 1825 – ca. 1852 or 1853) was an African-American dancer active in the 1840s. He was one of the first black performers in the United States to play onstage for white audiences and the only one of the era to tour with a white min ...

did an impression of him. In 1843, Pelham became one of the founding members of the Virginia Minstrels, the first group to present a full minstrel show during a performance at the New York

Bowery Amphitheatre The Bowery Amphitheatre was a building in the Bowery neighborhood of New York City. It was located at 37 and 39 Bowery, across the street from the Bowery Theatre. Under a number of different names and managers, the structure served as a circus, me ...

on February 6, 1843. Through April 1843, he played tambourine as the Virginia Minstrels toured New York City and Boston. Pelham's style was something new for the time; in addition to traditional techniques, he played it like a drum. Pelham and Frank Brower, who played the bones, were the first minstrel endmen, and greatly influenced the stereotype. Pelham's stage demeanor involved "looks and movements comic beyond conception. He seemed animated by a savage energy; and he handling of his instrument. . . nearly wrung him off his seat. His white eyes rolled in a curious frenzy . . . and his hiccupping chuckles were unsurpassable." Pelham's signature non-musical bit was his "A Brief Battering at the Blues", a comic monologue and prototypical

stump speech A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office. Typically a candidate who schedules many appearances prepares a short standardized stump speech that is repeated verbatim to each audience, before opening t ...

. On April 21, 1843, when the group broke up. Pelham decided to settle in England. He briefly helped reform the Virginia Minstrels in the spring of 1844 when he met up with Brower and Joel Sweeney in Liverpool. The trio convinced

Dan Emmett Daniel Decatur Emmett (October 29, 1815June 28, 1904) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie ...

to rejoin, and the new ensemble played the Theatre Royal, Dublin, from April 24 to May 7 . They toured through June, then broke up again. Over the next few decades, Pelham continued to perform, only now with British minstrel troupes. Pablo Fanque, one of Victorian England's most celebrated circus proprietors (later immortalized in The Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"), helped popularize a Pelham sketch in England through performances at his circus in the 1860s. One of the most popular routines at Pablo's circus at Bolton in 1868 was Pelham's "Wha's Your Ticket?" in which an actor portrays "the character of a Negro engaged to collect tickets at a bal masque with express instructions to allow no one to pass without, but who by his blundering allows all to enter without that requisite." The sketch was described in 1859 as a "new afterpiece expressly imported from New Orleans by permission of R.W. Pelham Esq." The sketch was still being performed in England as a "laughable American sketch" as late as 1888. The huge success of a recent British tour by the African-American Master Juba may have adversely affected Pelham's career there as his performance suffered in comparison. His final performance was on August 19, 1856. Richard Pelham eventually married an English actress. He died in or near LiverpoolBirths, Marriages and Deaths (United Kingdom) Oct-Dec 1876: PELHAM, Richard Ward...60...Liverpool: ref 8b. 97 in October 1876.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Lawrence, Vera Brodsky (1988). ''Strong on Music: The New York Music Scene in the Days of George Templeton Strong''. Volume I: Resonances, 1839 – 1849. The University of Chicago Press. * Nathan, Hans (1962). ''Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Stark, Seymour (2001). ''Men in Blackface: True Stories of the Minstrel Show''. Xilibris Corporation. * Wilmeth, Don B., and Miller, Tice L., eds. (1996). ''Cambridge Guide to American Theatre''. New York: Cambridge University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelham, Richard American male dancers American male comedians 19th-century American male singers American male stage actors Blackface minstrel performers Blackface minstrel songwriters Male actors from New York City 1815 births 1876 deaths American percussionists 19th-century American male actors Comedians from New York City