Scott and Whaley were an African American

comedy duo A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

who played in British

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

s from 1909, settled in England, and remained popular for over thirty years. They were Harry Clifford Scott (18 November 1879 – 22 June 1947) and Edward Peter Whaley (22 September 1877 – 13 November 1960). They were the first black performers to take the leading roles in a British film, and usually performed in character as Pussyfoot and Cuthbert.

Careers

Eddie Whaley was born in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, but fled the family for whom he had become a

houseboy A houseboy (alternatively spelled as ''houseboi'') was a term which referred to a typically male domestic worker or personal assistant who performed cleaning and other forms of personal chores. The term has a record of being used in the British ...

after his parents died, travelled to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and sang on the streets.Stephen Bourne, ''Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television'', Bloomsbury, 2005, pp.2-4, Harry Scott was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. "Entertainers of African descent at the Tivoli Theatre, Hull", ''Africans in Yorkshire''
Retrieved 28 March 2021 They met in 1905 and joined together as a comedy

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...

, working in the northern United States in touring shows including the Dark Town Swells. In 1909, they travelled to England, originally intending to stay for no more than eight weeks,Michael Kilgarriff, ''Grace, Beauty and Banjos: Peculiar Lives and Strange Times of Music Hall and Variety Artistes'', Oberon Books, 1998, , pp.136-137 and made their first appearance in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. They remained in the country, and premiered in London the following year. They performed cross-talking comedy, together with songs and dances, and rapidly became popular, remaining so for the next thirty years. Whaley was the smartly-dressed straight man, and Scott the clown. Scott – but not Whaley – applied

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 ...

make-up, with exaggerated white lips and contorted facial expressions, and performed as a stereotype of an ignorant rural simpleton.Suyin Haynes, "Transatlantic stardom: African American trailblazers in British film", ''BFI'', 30 November 2016
Retrieved 29 March 2021Michael Pickering, ''Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain'', Routledge, 2017, pp.197-203, In their act, they engaged "in an incessant to-and-fro stream of badinage, put-downs and punning humour", and "demonstrated some of the stereotypical conceptions of blacks... such as a happy-go-lucky gregariousness, a good-humoured argumentativeness which could spill over into threats of physical aggression, a propensity to be light-fingered, an incorrigible fondness for drinking, smoking and shooting dice.. and an entrenched aversion to work." They also incorporated surreal touches "which prefigured aspects of postwar comedy." Additionally, Whaley sang and Scott played

jazz piano Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

. It was claimed that they were the first performers to introduce

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

to Britain, and on one occasion a conductor described their music as impossible to play, so that Scott played it himself. Scott and Whaley both became British citizens. From 1929, they appeared on

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

as their characters Pussyfoot (Scott) and Cuthbert (Whaley), sometimes billed as the Celebrated Koloured Komedy Kings. They featured in the popular show ''

Kentucky Minstrels The Kentucky Minstrels were a team formed under the leadership of Duncan Bruce to study a scheme during World War II to cover the River Thames with soot in order to conceal it from German Bombers.{{cite book, last=Pawle, first=Gerald, title=The Se ...

'' between 1933 and 1946, and appeared in other programmes. Search, "Scott and Whaley", ''Radio Times'', BBC Genome
Retrieved 28 March 2021 Their scripts were written by Con West, but according to

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

"their tangle-talk was often the result of inept script-reading."

, ''The Golden Age of Radio'', B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, , p.63 They also continued as Pussyfoot and Cuthbert in live theatre performances, and toured Europe and Australia. They performed in the 1934 film ''

'', becoming the first black performers to star in a British film, and reprised their roles in the 1938 film ''

Take Off That Hat A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...

''. In 1941, their partnership was explored in a special radio programme on "these two famous coloured comedians who make you laugh and once had to hobo because they hadn't a penny in the world.... a story of courage, pathos, comedy, and tears." The pair split up in 1946, the year before Scott's death in London at the age of 67. Whaley briefly teamed up with another comedian, Chris Gill. Whaley had lived in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

from the late 1930s, where he owned a hotel used by many visiting black entertainers. He died there in 1960, aged 83, and is remembered in the name of a Brighton bus. His son, Eddie Whaley Jr., performed on stage with his father as "Little Whaley", and, as a seven-year-old child, in the 1947 film ''

Black Narcissus ''Black Narcissus'' is a 1947 British Psychological fiction, psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and starring Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Sabu Dastagir, S ...

''. After military service in the United States, he took up a career as a performer in Britain, becoming a member of the

Deep River Boys The Deep River Boys were an American gospel music group active from the mid-1930s and into the 1980s. The group performed spirituals, gospel, and R&B. Members The original group consisted of Harry Douglass (baritone), Vernon Gardner (first teno ...

in the late 1950s, before returning to live in the U.S.. ""Joseph Anthony" traced", ''Powell-Pressburger.org''
Retrieved 28 March 2021

References

External links

Scott and Whaley performing in 1933
(introduced by Leonard Henry), ''British Pathe'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott and Whaley English comedy duos English male comedians American comedy duos Music hall performers American expatriates in England