foreign
welcome to this day in Jack Benny I'm
John Henderson we're continuing the
audiobook of Jack Benny and the Golden
Age of American radio comedy this
chapter is once again about Eddie
Rochester Anderson and when I talked to
Eddie Rochester Anderson Jr I asked him
if people actually called his father
Rochester in real life now that's a hard
question let's say he would answer to
both it was either or and he wouldn't
correct you he wouldn't say like if you
call him Rochester he wouldn't say no
just call me uh Eddie my mother of
course it would be Eddie wouldn't be the
stroll stuff but still even around the
house the neighborhood and stuff like
that who knew my father on a personal
basis it was still hey Rochester
he was still there not any yeah yeah so
yeah this is chapter five of the book by
Catherine H Fuller Seeley what I learned
in this chapter was it was certainly not
easy being Rochester and Eddie Anderson
in a time of rapidly changing attitudes
toward race and he did a marvelous job
of of surviving and creating a great
character here's the chapter
[Music]
chapter 5 Rochester and the Revenge of
Uncle Tom in the 1940s and 1950s
by 1941 after four years on the radio
with Jack Benny playing the sly comic
servant Rochester and three films at
Paramount in which he and Benny
practically co-starred Eddie Anderson
had achieved unprecedented levels of
popularity in mainstream American Media
and broke a new ground for interracial
acceptance
hopes in the African-American Community
were high that Anderson's success was
the harbinger of a new era of increased
opportunities and recognition for black
performers despite the occasional lapses
into stereotypical Minstrel show type
Behavior with which Benny's radio
writers still saddled Rochester Anderson
used his unique voice wit intelligence
and great sense of comic timing to
transform the role of valet Butler
housekeeper and chauffeur into a complex
very human character
with the start of World War II and the
government's efforts to promote racial
tolerance and greater inclusion of
African Americans in the labor force and
Military Anderson's professional
prospects expanded further as he served
as a useful spokesman for those ideals
he was now a big star with a
multifaceted career that spanned movies
radio Musical shows that toured the
country and recordings of novelty songs
with every indication that it would only
continue to grow Anderson was offered a
major role in an all-black cast film at
MGM and minor but prominent roles in
other Hollywood films massive crossover
success almost coalesced for Anderson
but then unanticipated events and
complex cultural change conspired to
Heap as much criticism as praise upon
his head
accusations that Rochester was an Uncle
Tom Rose from black Critics on the one
hand and objections to his egalitarian
relationships with whites erupted from
White racists on the other to be
acceptable to whites Anderson like other
veteran black performers who tried so
hard to carve out careers in movies and
radio such as Hattie McDaniel Ethel
Waters Louise beavers and Clarence Muse
had to make many compromises with which
liberal critics were increasingly
dissatisfied Benny and his writers
further moderated Rochester's
disreputable habits during the War years
but unfortunately again and again the
limitations of their ability to
permanently change their own racial
attitudes when writing scripts set off
uproars within the black community
in his history of African-American
culture in Los Angeles in the 1940s R.J
Smith describes the ambivalence that
blacklisters experienced when they heard
Rochester on the radio every appearance
on the Benny show was likely to
simultaneously further and undermine
stereotypes much of the racialized humor
on the program was old and stereotypical
black audiences judged but there was
nevertheless something new in
Rochester's relationship with Jack
Rochester called his employer the more
informal boss rather than sir Jack was
far more often the butt of the jokes
than Rochester Rochester could give
voice to criticisms of Jack mock him and
make numerous complaints about his
never-ending duties and lack of pay yet
he was never punished Rochester more
than the other servant characters in
broadcasting in film was authentically
black even if this only meant carousing
through Los Angeles's Central Avenue and
Harlem Rochester had a life outside of
working for the boss it was this license
to speak openly that made Rochester a
hero on Central Avenue Smith concludes
this chapter Chronicles the difficulties
Anderson faced in the 1940s when often
simultaneous eruptions of white racism
on the one hand and black criticism on
the other made his career more
challenging than ever to negotiate
even while Anderson prospered in the
Rochester role and created superb comic
reparte with Benny cracks in the utopian
vision of interracial stardom appeared
and compromises on all sides came hand
in hand with success
Anderson was the most prominent and
highest paid black performer on Prime
Time network radio but too often he
still had to make jokes about crap
shooting and enact Minstrel show
behaviors he landed a role in a
prestigious film 20th century Fox's
Tales of Manhattan but then faced
backlash from a new generation of black
critics who disdainfully charged him
with being an Uncle Tom Anderson's
leading part in the MGM film cabin in
the sky was a hopeful sign of increased
media stardom for black performers but
race riots in the summer of 1943 placed
a damper on movie theater managers
desires to Showcase them Southern
backlash against his appearances in
mixed race films made Hollywood film
producers even more skittish of working
with him
in the post-war period Anderson faced
mounting a probation from critics who
decried the prevalence of accommodating
in buffoonish servant roles in the media
and lumped Rochester among them
on Benny's radio show as the writers
placed Jack and domestic situations and
Adventures outside the radio Studio he
was brought into even closer contact
with Rochester and their relationship
became as historian Joseph boskin noted
extraordinary in its depth and
sensitivity and something far beyond the
typical employer employee Association
nevertheless in 1950 Anderson would face
outrage in the black community over the
broadcast of a Benny radio episode Awash
and creaky old examples of Rochester's
Harlem debauchery and frustration in
trying to start a radio program of his
own
Anderson's precarious perch between
black and white worlds
articles about Anderson in both the
black and white press in the early 1940s
dwelt on his economic and social success
they emphasized his lavish spending on
cigars clothes a large house cars a boat
and racehorses one of which burnt cork
he entered in the Kentucky Derby the
tenor of articles in the black press was
prideful in these public displays of
wealth in the white press stories
portrayed more ambivalence that he might
be appearing to act above his station
reporter Earl Morris argued in a
Pittsburgh Courier story that it was
politically purposeful for Anderson to
ostentatiously wear good clothes and
drive Fine Cars through his efforts
whites might now better tolerate black
people's economic success and increased
participation in consumer culture he has
subtly injected racial propaganda been a
sort of Goodwill Ambassador for his
minority
the price of Fame in mainstream white
American culture for an African-American
actor was enduring the many humiliations
imposed on him intentionally and
unintentionally by insensitive writers
in 1943 Anderson was one of the rare
black celebrities to be the subject of a
feature article in the Saturday evening
post one of America's most widely read
magazines author Flora balmir
patronizingly looked down her nose
sniffing that the suit Eddie wore was
rumpled and that his pretentious 12-room
Mansion located near Central Avenue was
an exact copy of Benny's House in
Beverly Hills a feature article on
Anderson in the fan magazine Radio
Mirror described him as the eye rolling
eight ball both black and white
newspapers also downplayed Anderson's
talent and instead emphasized the debt
that he owed to Benny for his Fame an
Atlanta Daily World article by Ruby
Berkeley Goodwin maintained Rochester
through the generosity of Jack Benny was
lifted from obscurity to stardom I don
mean that Rochester can't stand on his
own feet as a comedian he can but not in
another 50 years will you find a man
like Benny who will act as a stooge for
Rochester I have nothing but the highest
praise for Jack Benny he doesn't talk
americanism he lives it
the black press emphasized the friendly
egalitarian nature of Anderson's
relationship with Jack Benny in radio
films and in real life and Rochester's
ability to critique his employer's
actions with an attitude of equality
that no other black character in film or
radio was allowed to express Jack Benny
and Rochester are what in the old days
of Vaudeville would have been called a
team asserted the New Amsterdam news in
1943. the relationship between Rochester
and Benny is both classic deriving from
Carlisle and Democratic in the American
sense although Benny is no hero to his
ballot neither is he a villain and if
Rochester the gentleman's gentleman
isn't much of a help neither is he a
very serious hindrance so in effect the
arrangement is a nice cozy one in which
the distinction between master and
servant is practically non-existent the
article concluded the professional
relationship between Benny and Rochester
is a landmark in the history of the
entertainment world and a tribute to
Benny's astutinous
Benny's radio show even occasionally
acknowledged how Central Rochester was
to the program's popularity such as on
the April 2nd 1944 program when Jack was
being interviewed for a story by
Hollywood gossip columnist Luella
Parsons the rest of the cast used
Rochester's popularity as a way to
puncture Jack's overblown sense of his
own Talent
Luella how long have you been in radio
jack 13 years Louella and of those 13
years how long would you say you've been
a star Jack seven years Louella and how
long has Rochester been with you Mary
breaks in archley seven years Jack yes
he's a wonderful Butler Phil he's pretty
good on the radio too Jack once in a
while I let him take a line when I'm
short an actor
despite utopian hopes in the black
community that Jack Benny was a race
relations hero as Benny was honored with
Awards in 1941 for promoting interracial
understanding and expanding
opportunities for black performers it
was nevertheless still easy for him and
his writers to slip into Old attitudes
puzzling out Rochester's place in
white-dominated society in a way that
would provoke laughter from Studio
audiences and mainstream radio listeners
Benny and his writers thoughtlessly
Incorporated older racialized humor into
the program that struck ambivalent notes
about the idea of interracial progress
the writers occasionally Incorporated
blackface jokes into the show even in
these scripted situations Rochester was
able to resist having to perform
blackface routines and to argue that
Minstrel C was no longer acceptable to
him or the black community
on the February 11 1940 program Jack and
the radio cast took a long automobile
trip in the Old Maxwell traveling from
San Francisco to Yosemite for a skiing
vacation while Rochester was driving
them along Jack required him to sing to
provide some entertainment because the
car lacked a radio Rochester complained
to Mary Rochester at eight o'clock he
wants me to imitate Amos and Andy Jack
well Rochester I can't do that blackface
stuff Jack you can try you don't have to
be perfect
on the March 29 1942 program Jack led
the cast in putting on an abbreviated
version of an old-fashioned Minstrel
Show the cast joked about the burnt cork
they would be wearing and Rochester
joked that he spent his makeup allowance
on a bottle of gin with a cork in it
unexplained raucous laughter erupted
from the studio audience when Anderson
came to the microphone it could be that
either he wore a costume or signaled by
a gesture that he thought the
performances absurd Rochester did not
have to take part in the ritualized
minstrel humor but was given a
standalone feature role singing somebody
else not me a comic ballad made famous
by Ziegfeld Follies Entertainer Bert
Williams in one of the final references
to blackface on the Benny radio show on
the February 27 1944 program Jack and
the cast talked about seeing Al Jolson
down on his knees participating in a
dice game
Jack compared joelson to Rochester
remarking that they were just alike
Rochester retorted but after it rains
I'm still Rochester such lapses of
racial sensitivity would continue to
sporadically erupt on the Benny show in
the coming years bringing increasingly
strident complaints from black critics
his reputation in Hollywood having risen
after his success in the three Paramount
films Anderson was offered several
visible if small film roles that blurred
the boundaries between His Radio
character and his identity as a media
star
he appeared as the chauffeur in topper
returns Hal roach Studio 1941 with Joan
Blondell and Roland young and was
pictured in the poster and Lobby card
advertising he played a dancer in the
Mary Martin Don Amici backstage comedy
kissed the boys goodbye Paramount 1941.
in the variety show film star spangled
Rhythm Paramount 1942 he danced and sang
in the Zoot Suit specialty number
through his popularity on the Benny
radio show Eddie Anderson also received
invitations to make guest appearances on
other broadcasting Comics programs
nearly all his roles limited him to the
character of Rochester however he
appeared on Fred Allen's program in 1940
interviewed as Rochester on the people
you are unlikely to meet segment and
Alan egged him on to tell secrets about
Benny's cheapness he was on the Eddie
Cantor program on June 24 1942. in an
episode noted by The Defenders Harold
Jovian is among the best of the year
his guest appearance on Duffy's Tavern
in January 1943 was highly anticipated
in the black press as a rare occasion
for Rochester to trade quips with Eddie
Greene's character of the black waiter
who was the only sane employee of that
crazy establishment
in early 1942 Anderson landed a plum
role a park playing alongside Paul
Robeson and Ethel Waters in a film
production that featured a dozen
prominent Hollywood actors 20th century
Fox's Tales of Manhattan the Anthology
film's plot concerned an actress tuxedo
jacket supposedly cursed which fell into
the hands of four different owners in
the final sequence the tattered coat was
tossed out of an airplane by gangsters
it landed in the southern sharecroppers
field impoverished naive and deeply
religious Farmers Paul Robeson and Ethel
Waters along with other laborers played
by members of the Hall Johnson Choir
took the coat to their preacher Eddie
Anderson and they found its Pockets
stuffed with fifty thousand dollars cash
they collectively decided to use the
Heaven Sent gift to purchase their
Farmland the black characters were very
stereotypically drawn but the film was
touted during its production as being
quite prestigious and it premiered to
admiring reviews
when the film began playing a preview
engagement in Los Angeles however on
August 7 1942 a group of 10 young black
journalists led by Los Angeles Sentinel
publisher Leon H Washington Jr and Los
Angeles Tribune editor almina Davis
picketed outside Lowe's State Theater
they marched with banners that shamed
Robeson Anderson and the other black
actress for appearing in the film and
claimed the closing scene was fraught
with Uncle tomism the defender reported
that members of the picketing committee
stated the move against the picture was
part of a general movement to discourage
the making of pictures which obviously
hold the Negro character up to ridicule
and burlesque a front page essay by
Young California Eagle editor John
kenlock published the same week as the
picketing railed against the prevalence
of Uncle Tom characters in mainstream
White media
whole phase slang term for whites and
people like that enjoy to consider Uncle
Tom with their eyes slightly Misty with
crocodile tears and assorted cracks
about the inhumanity of mankind during
the lamentable period of slavery he is
the kind of person who is always playing
Jack Benny to some pecks Rochester he
probably disseminates more affirmatives
in one afternoon than the whole Motion
Picture industry in the course of six
months which is saying a great deal
indeed Once Upon a Time Uncle Tom was an
ancient character with little
intelligence except an uncanny insight
into what the boss man wanted him to do
say or think at any given time the type
of Joe who might utter you show is one
good white man and kick me some more
please sir and show LAX ubuto kinlock
broadly charged all black performers who
worked in Hollywood films in Los Angeles
nightclubs with enacting the new version
of streamlined Uncle Thomas
the Hollywood black establishment was
horrified at this public eruption of an
intra-group conflict and criticism
rumors spread around town to film
producers and Studio Executives that it
was the actors themselves who had done
the picketing Eddie Anderson secretly
gathered a group of the top black
performers together to draft a statement
distancing themselves from the protest
Uncle Tom charges continued to spread in
the black press however a letter to the
editor of the defender from a Chicago
Reader queried in early September why
must Rochester Sunshine Sammy and a few
more of our male negro actors continue
to play right into the white man's hands
don't these fellows realize that the
parts they play are doing serious harm
to their race their roles are used to
depict the negro's lack of initiative
both mental and physical
Walter White National Secretary of the
NAACP in February 1942 made a
well-publicized trip to Hollywood to
meet with Studio Executives but not the
established black actors to advocate for
more dignified representations of blacks
on screen white recommended the
employment of new serious actors like
his Protege Lena horn who would Forge
New ground by refusing to play roles as
servants and comic clowns white issued
statements from the New York NAACP
offices supporting the tales protests
Anderson and the other members of the
black acting Community were frustrated
at White's neglect of their input and
advice the veterans claimed that these
agitators from outside the acting
Community the militant members of the
black press and the NAACP leadership
were not supporting them but trying to
undermine their efforts and replace them
with other actors the veteran actors
worried that if they stood up and loudly
protested their careers would be
affected so they were reluctant to say
negative things in public about the
studio system in September 1942 the
black performers released a further
elaboration of their response to the
tale's picketing making public some of
their behind-the-scenes efforts over the
years to improve conditions for blacks
in the film industry
colored actors themselves without the
aid of Outsiders have broken down former
practices of segregated dressing rooms
Studio cafes washrooms and restrooms and
accompanying signs that were once common
such as four colored men or four Colored
Women a large Square black screen used
by camera Crews formerly called the
n-word is now called the gobo
their statement detailed several of the
most painful instances of racial
insensitivity in film Productions that
they had been able to thwart in recent
years Clarence Mew is objected to the
NAT turner-like leader of a slave
rebellion in Paramount's so read The
Rose 1935 humbly repenting and kissing
the Hem of His mistress's dress director
King Vidor said all right Clarence you
rewrite that sequence yourself tonight
and we'll shoot it tomorrow and it was
done while Margaret Sullivan the star
got balled out for objecting take
Imitation of Life 1934 which catapulted
Louise beavers to fame although she was
then an unknown she told the Universal
Studio officials during a story
conference that her people hated the
n-word which ran freely all through the
screen story out it came and the word
black was substituted by director John
Stahl and then believe it or not their
eyes having been opened they cut a whole
sequence that depicted a near lynching
when Piola pretending to be white
accused a young colored man of of
attempting to flirt with her just as
they have strung him up she breaks down
with remorse and screams don't do it I'm
a n-word too
the actor's catalog of Film Production
Horrors climaxed with an incident
involving the pair that readers might
have been least likely to expect
Anderson on the set at 20th Century Fox
where he was shooting the film the
meanest man in the world with Jack Benny
there was a scene where Rochester was to
be hidden in a wood pile then he was to
call Rochester come out of that wood
pile being the famous comedian Anderson
quietly explained that the inference of
the old saying n-word in the wood pile
would bring a laugh for the whites but
indignation from colored movie fans yes
he's right Eddie's right said Jack Benny
to the director better take it out
the veteran actors claim that their
efforts have been going on long before
Walter White began agitating for better
representation of blacks and Hollywood
films the group claimed to be glad for
his assistance but more ambivalent about
his lack of support for the actors who
were already in the business the black
actors who had footholds in Hollywood
were upset at being criticized for
taking the rules they claimed they would
gladly play Parts as Bank presidents but
until Hollywood screenwriting and
casting changed or a black Consortium
could establish an alternative Film
Studio the actors were going to have to
play the roles that existed or see all
black characters disappear from American
films Walter White did finally
acknowledge some of the actors concerns
as he retold Anderson's wood pile
anecdote in one of his newspaper columns
nevertheless the NAACP executive would
continue to rail against the black
community's acquiescence to the status
quo in Hollywood
meanwhile Anderson also had to negotiate
his role as an entertainment industry
spokesman for the U.S war effort to the
African-American public there was
widespread dissatisfaction in the black
community over the irony of being asked
to fight Fascism and racial oppression
overseas when they were treated as
second-class Citizens in their own
country to win over a skeptical black
population and smooth tense race
relations with whites the government's
office of War information used black
celebrities to make persuasive pitches
to support the war effort like other
stars Anderson was regularly asked to
volunteer to give radio speeches and
make personal appearances at war bond
sales rallies on March 30th 1941
Anderson took part in his special
broadcast put on by the National Urban
League to encourage racial fairness and
hiring practices in defense industry
jobs in the Negro and National Defense
broadcast over the CBS network
his speech which he presented as if
Rochester was giving a practice run of
it privately to the boss was geared to
persuade doubtful whites of their
paternalistic responsibility to deal
fairly with the black community
it seems to me that Mr and Mrs America
have been so busy in this great program
of National Defense that they sort of
overlooked one of their children one who
has always been a great fighter loyal
conscientious and willing to do his bit
at all times it seems that this child is
having a little trouble convincing the
principals and teachers of this great
defense program that he should be in
there too and that he could come with
flying colors if only given a chance to
he knows that he is a Negro and glad to
be but first of all he is an American so
let him be an American they have
scientists inventors philosophers
machinists mechanics and that's
something like me at the house a Mr
Benny in fact they have almost every
other skill that is known to man I
realize the whole thing is just an
oversight and I know that Mr and Mrs
America have been so busy that they
kinda overlooked the one son that they
can put up against the wheel and rest
assured that nobody can tell him
anything else but push so Mr and Mrs
America give this child of yours a
chance to make you just as proud of him
today as you've always been in the past
Anderson's popularity with white
audiences made him a non-threatening
spokesman for black rights historian
Barbara Savage notes by presenting his
message in an entertaining way he might
have caught the ears of listeners who
might otherwise tune out serious policy
discussions response to the Anderson
program in newspapers Across the Nation
was very positive
during the war Anderson remained active
in support for soldiers and Home Front
activities he appeared with Benny in
special comic segments of Command
Performance recorded by the Armed Forces
Radio Service afrs to entertain troops
around the globe he was also a frequent
guest star on the afrs program Jubilee
which featured skits and musical
performances by black actors singers and
orchestras
Anderson joined the steering committee
of the Negro division of the Hollywood
Victory committee organized and led by
Hattie McDaniel to provide
entertainments for black soldiers in
January 1944 he gave a show at Tuskegee
Army Airfield Anderson also invested in
a parachute production factory in
Southern California which would be
staffed by 40 black workers
1943 cabin in the sky race riots and
Butterfly McQueen
in early 1943 Eddie Anderson signed a
lucrative deal to appear in five
upcoming films earning twenty five
thousand dollars for each one he was
offered his largest role yet in the MGM
blackcast musical cabin in the sky
adapted from the Broadway musical which
two years before had featured Ethel
Waters Dooley Wilson and Catherine
Dunham Eddie took the lead male role of
Little Joe while Ethel Waters repeated
her role of petunia and newcomer Lena
horn played temptress Georgia Brown
Horn's film career was blossoming as she
was also appearing in the 20th Century
Fox Black cast musical Stormy Weather
co-starring Bill Robinson which would be
released two months after the April 1943
release of cabin in the sky Louis
Armstrong Rex Ingram Butterfly McQueen
and other prominent actors also had
small roles in the film
the plot a retelling of the Faust Legend
opens with loose living Little Joe
getting shot over unpaid gambling debts
his devout wife petunia prays for his
soul an angel and devil visit Little Joe
and give him one more chance the
sensuous floozy Georgia Brown is sent up
to seduce him but petunias fervent
entreaties to the Lord ultimately win
the day
cabin in the sky like Stormy Weather
presented mixed messages and attempting
to answer critics calls for better
representations of blacks in film it
symbolized an increased black visibility
in Hollywood film but it was also filled
with obvious stereotypes reviews of
cabin connected the film to the wartime
government edict to attract more black
workers to war production jobs to the
unprecedented push to feature black
performers in major film roles to serve
as models of racial acceptance MGM
placed large advertisements for the film
in both white and black press predicting
wide success for it across the nation
but the film seemed more like a
religious tinged folk tale fantasy than
a drama with any connections to the
realities and challenges of contemporary
black life
appraisals of cabin in the sky and the
black press were mixed some reviews
emphasized the benefits to interracial
understanding pride in the visibility of
the black actors and praise for their
performances Los Angeles Tribune critic
Phil Carter approved of Stormy Weather
but disliked cabin claiming its ideology
was certainly as bad or worse than the
worst examples of Uncle tomism of 20
years of screendom Defender critic Rob
Roy expressed frustration that Lena
Horne flaunted the exposure of her
undergarments while singing in the film
wishing that black actors could be
allowed to act and be costumed in a more
dignified fashion he accused the film
studios of playing down to Southern
white expectations
the race riots that erupted in Los
Angeles and Detroit in June 1943 and
which spread across the nation to Mobile
Alabama Beaumont Texas Harlem and other
places through the hot summer weeks were
due to racial tensions boiling over into
violence and not directly connected to
release of these black cast Motion
Pictures tens of thousands of Latinos
and African Americans had migrated to
booming overcrowded industrial cities in
the north Midwest south and west coast
in Los Angeles groups of young draftees
inebriated and bored while on weekend
leave encountered young Latino and black
males wearing the extremely non-military
fashion of zoot suits Soldiers and
Sailors accosted the young men clashes
between young whites blacks and Latinos
expanded into riots in Detroit and other
cities as whites resented the blacks and
immigrants who'd moved there to take War
jobs and the new migrants were
frustrated with the racism and poor
working in living conditions they
continue to face in three days of
violence in Detroit 34 people were
killed more than 400 injured and
property valued at two million dollars
was destroyed
in the midst of the race riots from
varieties entertainment-focused point of
view the expense of all black musicals
and interracial films that were being
shown in urban centers were inevitably
linked to the violence the riots were
occurring downtown in entertainment
districts and the big movie theaters
were flash points for violence or so
writers and variety feared in June and
July variety's front page contained
reports of the downtown damages and
widespread closure of theaters baseball
parks and other entertainment centers
and paired them with reassuring stories
that cabin in the sky was drawing
extraordinary business in the fifth week
of its engagement at the Criterion
theater on Broadway yet on June 30th
varieties headlines also warned
Hollywood holding up picks releases in
which whites Negroes mix fueling the
fears of skittish film exhibitors and
movie producers that these films were
too controversial to play
many pictures with colored performers
are being withdrawn from current release
due to the race riots in various parts
of the country variety noted those films
in which Negroes are shown mixing with
whites are being pulled especially in
southern territories scenes showing
whites and blacks on the dance floor in
Stage Door Canteen are to be deleted
through the South and other spots where
feeling is running High likely also the
Ethel Waters footage in that picture may
be severely trimmed for Dixie screenings
two weeks later variety reported that
the film exhibition situation for these
films had turned even Grimmer with local
sensors across the South hacking scenes
indiscriminately newsreel footage of
black troops in battle Cab Calloway's
performance in sensations of 1945 and
Lena hornstein's in Broadway Rhythm were
being excised in Memphis and other
Southern cities
the Chicago Defender substantiated some
of the distressing stories about how the
Fallout from race riots and conservative
Southern resistance was impacting the
box office success of these films think
race riots hurt negro films proclaimed
one worried Observer loss of millions of
hours in Manpower in Detroit during the
recent race riot will be nothing
compared to the loss suffered by the
motion picture industry is the startling
information that has come from reliable
sources mgm's cabin in the sky was
hailed as a sure Money Maker for
theaters waiting their turn to play it
and encouraged by cabin success 20th
century Fox's Stormy Weather was being
eagerly awaited but this feeling has
changed and there is fear that it will
affect others on the market as well as
several in production
in early August a front-page story in
the defender told of an angry mob of
white townspeople in the small Central
Tennessee town of Mount Pleasant who
forced a theater manager to Halt the
showing of cabin in a segregated theater
that had been filled with white and
black patrons even though the exhibitor
had checked with the police department
before booking the film local
interracial labor Strife was cited by
the theater manager as a contributing
factor to the disturbance reaction from
prejudiced white Southerners had also
been more severe than the film companies
had anticipated the skittish Hollywood
Studios began to pull back on their
commitments to Showcase black performers
the myth of the southern box office was
alive and well operating through fears
and rumors the studios were allergic to
political controversies that would keep
audiences away from the box office and
local theater managers were always
anxious to compromise on the side of Jim
Crow to keep racist elements of their
audiences at Bay
Jack Benny returned to the air in
September 1943 after his summer Hiatus
from broadcasting during which time he
traveled across North Africa performing
for soldiers with a small Uso troop he
faced difficult challenges with his
radio program his two writers for the
previous seven years Bill Morrow and Ed
beloin had left the program the show's
narrative and ratings continued to drift
downward into mediocrity in order to
inject some new energy into the program
Benny's new writers tapped into
Anderson's tremendous success on the
Benny radio program and in film to
attempt to further expand
African-American roles on the program
their ideas however did not blossom into
a character with nearly as much comic
potential or human interest as Rochester
possessed
32 year old stage and film actress
Butterfly McQueen was introduced on
October 31st the fourth program of The
Fall season playing a new character
butterfly who was introduced as
Rochester's niece on this first
appearance Rochester brought her to the
broadcast of the Benny radio program to
sit in the audience with him and laugh
loudly at Benny's lame jokes McQueen
used the high-pitched voice she had made
famous in her role as prissy in Gone
With the Wind on the Benny Program the
writers made her character similar to
prissy young naive and not very smart
butterfly asked stupid questions and
prattled on about her boyfriend Jerome
in the Army who kept misbehaving and
running afoul of the military police
she did not reappear on the Benny
Program until late November when Mary
solicited Rochester's advice on who she
could hire to be her maid and he
suggested that he could get butterfly to
work for her
Butterfly McQueen appeared on the Benny
show in the role as Mary's personal
servant in every episode during December
1943. she was on three times in January
performing her duties in Epley and
telling more tales about Jerome's
exploits then her spots tapered off to
every other week in February and March
having made 14 appearances McQueen quit
the Benny Program in late May two weeks
before the end of the season McQueen's
exit apparently was a surprise to Benny
who had rarely had an actor willingly
walk away from the gravy train of
association with his prominent program
in a legal document ending her contract
Benny maintained that the role had
significantly boosted her career he
enjoined her from taking any similar
part you were unwilling to continue to
portray the role of a domestic servant
of my radio program although I have been
an am desirous that you continue in that
role you will refrain from portraying a
domestic servant on the radio for one
year
McQueen was diplomatic in talking of her
time on the Benny show one saying only
that she didn't care for it they seemed
to like only very broad comedy I don't
mind playing made Parts occasionally she
told a reporter from Ebony magazine in
1946 but I feel that I would be
disgracing my race by always accepting
Parts as a menial to be not only laughed
at but looked down upon
McQueen perhaps had the last laugh for
she was able to land several other radio
acting jobs that were better than
handkerchief rolls as she referred to
those servant Parts she briefly appeared
on the dinosaur program and then she
portrayed Thelma the adaptated president
of Danny K's fan club on K's comedy
variety show McQueen's part on this
program was fulsomely praised by both
variety which gave case program a
special award for racial Amity and the
black press because the narrative never
delineated whether the character was
Black or White in a 1976 Washington Post
interview the queen claimed that she
left Benny's show because she had been
promised that her character would be
Rochester's girlfriend and therefore she
was disappointed to end up merely as
Mary Livingston's made
1945 Anderson's roles criticized from
all sides
during the war Benny and his writers
continued to struggle with the problem
of how to create radio shows that would
appeal to the military servicemen
attending their live shows while the NBC
network broadcast the shows to home
audiences who might not appreciate the
jokes that resonated with soldiers
Sailors and Airmen when it came to
crafting dialogue for Rochester away
from the domestic setting of Jack's
house it too often seemed easiest for
the writers to send Rochester on a spree
from Rochester's earliest days on the
Benny Program the cast's trips to New
York had presented radio scriptwriters
with the opportunity to have Rochester
drink Corrals womanize and gamble with
abandon in his favorite Harlem gin
joints Rochester's excesses were also
ripe fodder for humor at Camp shows
Benny and His Radio writers also assumed
that the excitement starved men at
military bases where they performed
would want to hear Randy's stories of
Rochester's lausch Behavior
but what Benny and his staff did not
anticipate were the changing
sensibilities of media and social
critics in the black community who
demanded more than ever to have black
characters in radio and films act like
admirable citizens with positive racial
representations comic material that was
relatively acceptable on Benny's program
in 1938 was increasingly deemed
offensive in 1945.
after four shows broadcast from in and
around New York City where Rochester
raucously partied in Harlem the Benny
cast was back on the road their February
11th broadcast was made from the Naval
Air Station in Glenview Illinois halfway
through the episode Rochester called
Benny on the telephone from Saint Joseph
Missouri where he'd journeyed ahead of
the rest of the cast to prepare for the
next week's program
hello Mr Benny this is Rochester
Anderson said to typically enthusiastic
Applause from the military audience
Rochester explained that he had stopped
to purchase a pack of gum at the train
station and weighed himself and when he
went to purchase his ticket he was
exactly six cents short
Jack well it's your own fault for
spending money like that what did you do
then Rochester well I got on the train
anyway and if it hadn't been for the
extreme kindness of some Sailors I
wouldn't have had enough money for my
fare Jack why did they lend it to you
Rochester no they faded me Jack
Rochester Rochester do you mean that you
started a craps game with some Sailors
Rochester oh no boss no I didn't start
it you see there were seven Sailors
standing around in a circle discussing
Einstein's theory of relativity Jack
uh-huh Rochester then someone dropped a
pair of dice and Einstein went AWOL Jack
but Rochester you didn't have to get in
the game
Rochester I know but one of the boys
said shoot and even I couldn't refuse
that call to battle stations
the audience primed to hear Benny and
his cast make jokes geared to the
male-dominated crowd of sailors and
Airmen laughed heartily at this humor
and most white listeners at home Across
the Nation may have thought it was a
relatively typical behavior for
Rochester nevertheless it was a type he
had exhibited less frequently of late
black listeners and critics however were
very upset by the references to gambling
and carousing and more than ever before
they protested it publicly a year before
a Chicago Defender commentator had
complained it's too bad that Rochester
comedian on Jack Benny's program has had
to resort to Uncle Tom tactics to stay
on that program this columnist could not
in the least appreciate his crap
shooting skit on Sunday's program
now however that same critic sharply
criticized the Benny Program and
Anderson in particular for his
willingness to participate in humor that
the critic found degrading
we are sick and tired of Eddie Rochester
Anderson making a fool out of negroes by
portraying the part of a crap shooter on
his weekly radio program with Jack Benny
it seems Rochester would have common
sense enough to tell his scriptwriters
that crap shooting and similar
buffoonery are not typical of the better
class of negro citizens who are more
concerned with winning the war than
listening to clown tactics which he uses
just to please white audiences if you
disapprove of his crap shooting skits
write to Carl Stanton 247 Park Ave NYC
who handles the advertisements for Lucky
Strike cigarettes
prominent radio writer Norman Corwin
encouraged black listeners to
collectively raise their voices against
such stereotypical representations
negro entertainers should be educated
pressure should be brought to bear
against Rochester phone the studio write
letters publish editorials make your
protests known it avails nothing to
resent quietly go after everything that
is caricature bad taste incorrect even
at the risk of being excessive in
criticism
Corwin argued that most radio and film
directors and writers created such
offensive scenes as the one on Benny's
program out of unthinking inherited
ignorance and not virulent racism and so
they could be educated Corwin's critique
like others blurred the lines between
discussed with the way the Rochester
character was written and disdain for
how Anderson portrayed him which must
have been painful for Anderson to read
the Pittsburgh Courier concurred with
the critiques and headlined an article
Negroes object to Rochester's crap
shooting on the Jack Benny show
The Continuous week after week
involvement of Eddie Rochester Anderson
Ace comedian on the Jack Benny Radio
Show in a crap shooting episode has
stirred up a storm of protest amongst
negro listeners of the program on the
west coast the matter has become the
foremost topic of conversation by
persons in all walks of life from the
man on the street to Milady in the
drawing room General opinion is that
Anderson is too funny an actor and
comedian to have read such outmoded and
stereotyped lines to draw laughs
Anderson was not without his supporters
in the black community they claimed he
was being unfairly saddled with blame
for reading comic dialogue he did not
write about stereotypical faults that
have been attributed to other groups his
Old Stage review director Earl dancer
remarked in the California Eagle I'm
inclined to disagree with those critics
who label Rochester and Uncle Tom other
than his expression of boss I think his
brand of Comedy is on par with Abbott
and Costello Bob Hope or any other
dispenser of good clean Fun Some Way
somehow Rochester always comes out on
top and all verbal bouts with Jack Benny
a Chicago area reader wrote Into The
Defender I for one don't feel that
Rochester is making a fool out of
negroes when I know there are as many
white people who shoot craps as Negroes
there are certain neighborhoods where
white fellows shoot craps out on the
sidewalk you read articles in the daily
papers and hear jokes on the radio
concerning white people shooting craps I
heard a white Soldier being interviewed
on the radio one evening when he was
asked how he spent his spare time he
answered shooting craps
the reader judged Amos and Andy to be
far more problematic characters than
Rochester because all profits from that
show went to whites whereas Eddie
Anderson at least earned a big paycheck
for his comic efforts no matter how
questionable
Anderson himself had rarely spoken
publicly about the challenges he faced
portraying a black servant on a white
situation comedy radio program during
this East Coast trip however perhaps
responding to the critical outcry about
the Benny episodes or approached because
of the controversy Anderson granted an
interview to Phil Carter of the
Baltimore Afro-American in February
1945. Carter pressed the actor for his
opinions on what a black performer's
responsibility should be in crafting
positive racial representations
Anderson's answered remained as
non-committal as possible Carter wrote
that he stressed the point that an
Entertainer should keep out of politics
and must always appeal to all the people
the comic explained the Narrow Path he
threaded between the expectations of
different sections of his audience and
how loath he was to step out of line or
address contentious issues
people take our broadcasts seriously
sometimes they complain that Jack Benny
doesn't pay his singers enough or that
he shouldn't make some of his performers
mow the Benny lawn some think I'm really
his valid some of them write that he
shouldn't let me take such a bantering
attitude others are surprised when I
don't hold his coat or dust him off when
we are out together
Carter noted that as Jack Benny's valid
in the Rochester character he has an
offhanded independent bantering attitude
toward his boss I asked him continued
Carter What would happen if a real valid
acted like that it might not be so funny
Anderson answered but still the actor
maintained that I don't portray an
insolent character just funny
Carter questioned Anderson's commitment
to improving representations of blacks
and entertainment he argued that the
comedy routines that Anderson performed
live on stage during his summer tours
especially in Black theaters in Harlem
Chicago and across the South contained
an even heavier dose of jokes about
razors wild trips to Harlem Dice and
other stereotypes then were heard on
Rochester's radio sprees
on the radio it appears that this is
toned down by Benny Carter wrote in
concluding the interview Anderson
reiterated to the reporter that his
audiences should not expect him to be a
race man first and a comedian second I
am in this business because I'm a
comedian reporters in the Pittsburgh
Courier archley responded to Anderson's
refusal to be more proactively involved
in cultural change
the drill comedian was credited with
having stated in an interview which
appeared in an Eastern publication
recently that he was first last and
always a comedian given to humor and not
solving the race problem interested
observers here however point out that
consciously or unconsciously negro
actors and actresses of radio stage and
Screen are ambassadors of either good or
bad will for the entire race this
because of the dictates of American Life
which thus far are still given to
judging the entire Race by the actions
of the few
after criticism from the black community
Benny and his writers in a subsequent
show would usually provide some way to
Showcase Eddie Anderson play up
Rochester's importance to the program or
bring on prominent African-American
performers whose close personal
relationship to Rochester would be
highlighted thus it might not be merely
a coincidence that soon after the Benny
cast returned to Los Angeles after the
long trip the March 11 1945 program's
theme revolved around Jack relating the
tale of how he had supposedly met
Rochester and brought him into the radio
program family in the story Jack was
driving his Old Maxwell car in 1936 in
New York City when he crashed into a
taxi cab that was driven by Rochester
who was employed by Amos and Andy's
fresh air taxi company Rochester
discussed Benny's offer to settle the
matter with his Employers in the
kingfish then they all trooped over to
Benny's hotel to try and Wrangle a large
damage payment when Benny bulked at even
a 50 charge aim and Andy settled for
turning over Rochester to Jack's
employment although audiences at the
time May well have enjoyed the rare
appearance of Amos and Andy Gosden and
Corel on Benny's show listening to it
today the characters interact
uncomfortably the dialogue has not aged
well and the Dickering for Rochester's
Services seems belittling
some observers in the black community
saw this episode featuring Rochester to
be Benny's attempt to make amends with
critics the Chicago Defenders columnist
old nosy extended an olive branch over
the crap shooting complaints of five
weeks earlier the reporter complimented
Anderson and Benny on now offering a
much more congenial depiction of
Rochester we tip our topper to Rochester
and this week place our stamp of
approval on the recent broadcasts of the
Jack Benny show starring Rochester and
others last Sunday's program was one of
the best in Jack Benny's long list of
Stellar entertainment and Rochester
didn't have to shoot craps and ridicule
his race in order to get a laugh instead
bolstered by the fine humor and
Showmanship of Amos and Andy the
broadcast was such rip-roaring fun the
studio had to space in much greater time
than usual for the Applause and laughter
of the studio audience keep up the good
work Rochester and Jack Benny and you'll
both retain your reputations as Ace
comedians of the air
film ban on the one hand Uncle Tom
charges on the other
no sooner had Anderson gotten past the
fuhrer in the black community over
Rochester's radio misbehavior when
another publicity disaster struck coming
from the opposite direction in
Anderson's latest film a remake of the
40 year old comedy Brewster's Millions
United Artists 1945 he had a featured
role as Jackson a servant in handyman
employed at the home of young military
veteran Monty Brewsters Dennis O'Keefe's
mother
Anderson received fourth billing with
his photo featured in all the
advertising he was the only minority
actor in the film and was shown in
collegial relationships with white
characters Anderson wore a suit spoke
with an educated vocabulary and worked
alongside the hero to help spend the
money to meet the terms of Brewster's
inheritance the film received average to
good reviews in the major newspapers the
Los Angeles Times reviewer rated it rich
in laughs and well played by its cast of
performers who seem to have caught the
comedy tempo
however in Memphis Tennessee reactionary
white leaders objected to the film
instead of cutting out a few offending
scenes as they had been doing to musical
performances by Lena horn and others in
films during the war now they escalated
to a complete rejection Brewster's
Millions was banned by the City Board of
Motion Picture sensors Lloyd T Binford
the chairman stated that he and his
board considered it inimical to the
friendly relations now existing here we
believe it presents too much familiarity
between the races it has Rochester Eddie
Anderson in an important role he has
much too familiar away about him and the
picture presents too much Social
equality and racial mixture
the Chicago Defender expressed outrage
at the Jim Crow Politics on its front
page excoriating the actions of Memphis
mayor boss Crump and Binford and led to
Anderson's defense as a hard-working
actor who had volunteered his time for
the war effort on the front page of
variety Lillian Smith author of the
best-selling novel Strange Fruit lashed
out at the timidity of Hollywood for not
standing up more firmly to racism
she declared the industry's lack of
Courage shown by its catering so easily
to Southern Prejudice is feeding racial
bias
another Jim Crow limitation Eddie
Anderson faced was his inability to be
able to accompany Jack Benny on Benny's
prominent Uso tours to perform for
soldiers in North Africa the Middle East
and Italy in summer 1943 and the South
Pacific in 1944. in May 1945 Anderson
volunteered to do Uso shows for the
summer but insisted that he wanted to
take along two white musicians from Phil
Harris's band his request was denied in
August actor Orson Wells who had become
increasingly active in working to
improve racial tolerance and civil
rights for black performers took a stand
against segregationist military
regulations Wells had recently been the
MC of an award ceremony for a group
called The interracial film and Radio
Guild which had honored Betty Davis
Eddie Anderson Lena horn and the Warner
Brothers Studio for their efforts to
promote interracial Harmony Wells chose
Jack Benny as the focus of his campaign
publishing an open letter to Benny
asking him to fight to have Anderson
included in his Uso tours Wells boldly
took Benny to task for creating the
damaging racial representations that he
and Anderson had propounded over seven
years on the radio program and urged
both Benny and Anderson to become much
more involved in political action for
civil rights
without meaning it at all you and Eddie
have been doing the Negro people a grave
wrong the gags about gin drinking and
crap shooting are unusually good gags
and Eddie makes them sound hilarious but
through the years they've helped
perpetuate a dangerous myth you and I
and Eddie know very well that Negroes
aren't chronically irresponsible Stooges
born to shine shoes and steel neck ties
but Rochester is one of your most
valuable comic properties and it's
Eddie's livelihood I'm not asking either
of you to give up Rochester I'm
suggesting that you put him to work in a
good cause you can undo all the harm
you've done innocently at home by very
deliberately taking him overseas sure
it's easy for me to sit here by my
typewriter and ask you and Eddie to
endure all the strain it's easy but you
and Eddie are the kind of men it's easy
to ask a lot of because you give a lot
without taking any bows here's a chance
to give more
African-American servicemen in the field
were also beginning to protest against
the representations that they
encountered in films and radio programs
rgis in South Pacific fiercely resent
Uncle Tom rolls wrote a correspondent
for the New Amsterdam news who
poignantly described the silent Exodus
of black soldiers from Camp theaters
when they encountered servants in
Hollywood films enacting stereotyped
Behavior Eddie Anderson was one of their
main targets as the most prominent black
performer on the air along with actress
Hattie McDaniel whose servant roles and
films were being severely criticized by
Soldiers and Sailors militant young
members of the black press now published
pointed accusations that earlier
journalists had dared not make so boldly
Rochester head's list of theater radio
players we can do without wrote a
columnist for the Baltimore
Afro-American unlike Anderson who
apparently made no public response to
any of these charges Hattie McDaniel
personally answered these negative
letters from black GIS and published
letters to the editor of various
Publications defending the humanity and
compassion she tried to bring to these
very limited film roles
even Dr Reddick director of the
Schomburg Center who in 1941 had honored
Anderson and Benny as leaders in
promoting interracial understanding now
four years later publicly proclaimed
that Rochester was a detrimental
character and buffoonish comic servant
a stereotype conception complete with
razor toting and gin drinking is the
matter in which radio treats the Negro
in 1946 media critics also voiced
increasing complaints about the use of
broadly stereotyped Jewish and other
ethnic figures in radio comedy along
with continued Reliance on Minstrel show
depictions of blacks
a group called The Writer's board in
promoting racial tolerance judged
Benny's show harshly Jack Benny gets a
done for his use of the dialect hot dog
salesman in his program Mr kitsel played
by Artie Auerbach this character tends
to hold up a nationality to ridicule
just as the Rochester stereotype makes
fun of negroes Jack Benny's loyal
supporters such as varieties Jack
Hellman were very defensive about the
charges
what's wrong with a clean
characterization that makes millions
laugh if you were to ask Eddie Anderson
Rochester or Amos and Andy with the
reaction of negroes to their delineation
has been they'd show you stacks of fan
mail from colored people praising their
Antics and even making Heroes of them
it's all fun good clean fun and never
have we heard an exception taken
the post-war era was a mixed bag of
personal success and continued
frustration on many fronts for Eddie
Anderson and other black performers who
tried to carve out careers in
broadcasting the veterans of the
Hollywood black acting Community were
finding even fewer film roles in radio
Hattie McDaniel played the role of
Beulah the housekeeper gauzden and Corel
used a somewhat larger number of black
actors to play supporting roles on Amos
and Andy in July 1948 NBC attempted to
create the first all-black cast Prime
Time network radio program a musical
variety show to serve as a summer
replacement for Dennis day's situation
comedy originally titling the program
the national Minstrel show NBC
programmers filled it with stereotypical
comedy routines performed by lucky
millinder and Moms Mabley pressure from
the NAACP and critics in the black press
convinced NBC to delay the broadcast and
change the show's name first to Modern
minstrels then swing time at the Savoy
although by August the program finally
had some promise with an appearance by
Rising Star Ella Fitzgerald the show
never found a sponsor and was canceled
after five weeks
Anderson remained the most prominent
black performer on the radio after
critical outbursts about Rochester's
stereotypical minstrel-like behavior
during the War years fewer over the
character died down at least public
complaints in African-American
Publications Benny and his writers
steered their scripts further away from
racialized humor for Rochester even as
they increasingly involved the Rochester
character into the situation comedy
the new 1946 magazine ebony published a
feature essay in its third issue on
black representation in network
broadcasting radio and race
radio is growing up in race relations
Uncle Tom is doing a fade out it
optimistically asserted while taking
Anderson to task for his unwillingness
to publicly support civil rights
measures the article still noted that
his radio character was becoming less
offensive to critics
biggest name in radio today among negro
performers is Rochester whose routines
with Jack Benny are heard by 25 million
Americans every Sunday night never
notable for his racial Consciousness
even Rochester has been mending his mic
manners and steers away from Razer and
dice cliches of late
other black newspapers kept their focus
on the new generation of younger
performers Dorothy Dandridge Lena horn
Nat King Cole and largely left Anderson
out of the spotlight
a one-two punch of trouble for Anderson
in Spring 1950.
as 1950 began longtime members of
Benny's Radio cast including Eddie
Anderson were optimistic that they could
achieve wider broadcasting success
several years before Dennis day and Phil
Harris had fruitfully expanded their
careers through popular spin-off radio
comedy programs a day in the life of
Dennis day and the Phil Harris Alice Fay
show that brought them additional income
and professional prominence and they and
their talent agents were investigating
what they might do in TV Mel Blanc who
appeared regularly on the Benny show as
well as in small roles on 15 other radio
programs had been given his own
situation comedy program the Mel Blanc
show which ran on CBS network radio for
a season an advertising agency was
considering the creation of a radio
situation comedy featuring Mr kitsel
Rochester's popularity had many
wondering when Anderson would have his
own spin-off program
finally in early February 1950 an
advertising executive Adrian samish of
the dancer Fitzgerald and Sample Ad
Agency worked up ideas for a radio
program to feature Anderson
it was an unsettled time in network
radio however as financial support of
the largest sponsors was shifting to
television daytime radio is still quite
healthy however and its lower costs
meant that smaller sponsors could be
courted to invest in programs
new programs however had an uphill
battle to fight for support as sponsors
tended to gravitate to programs with
proven track records success of the
daytime comedy the Beulah show
emboldened the dancer Fitzgerald and
Sample agency to advance its plans
samish faced problems getting the
American Tobacco Company to allow the
use of the Rochester character in a
spin-off their delays apparently
scuttled a fascinating program idea that
samish pitched to the new potential
sponsor franco-american canned spaghetti
a subsidiary of Campbell's Soup a parody
of currently popular detective mystery
shows to be tentatively titled the five
o'clock shadow with the Lucky Strike
Maker's hesitations and limitations
samish ended up proposing to
franco-americ in a 15-minute daily
situation comedy to be called The
Adventures of Rochester
the program's narrative focused on
Rochester living in a small apartment
near Central Avenue in Los Angeles's
black District interacting with his
landlady and neighborhood characters
given the wit Ingenuity and intelligence
of the Rochester character that brought
such Verve to The Jack Benny Program
these sample episodes samish produced
her quite disappointing the show was a
pale imitation of Amos and Andy with
Rochester reduced to the role of
gullible naive stupid Amos all the other
characters took advantage of his
trusting good nature bamboozling and
humiliating him as if he was the
greenest rube just off the farm Eddie
Anderson found that he had very little
control over the character he had worked
so hard to create over 13 years
negotiations stalled and plans for
Anderson's program dissolved
in late January 1950 while this deal was
percolating Anderson hurried by train
with the rest of the Benny radio show
cast to broadcast two episodes of their
radio program from New York City writer
Milt josephsburg recalled a combination
of problems upsetting their scripting
routine the train trip cross country was
rough Benny and Mary Livingston both
caught colds and the writers were ill as
well while Benny's Radio Show episodes
in early 1950 had been some of the
sharpest and wittiest that the writers
had ever concocted this week left them
harried and out of ideas on Thursday the
troop was still scriptless with Sunday
looming ever closer josephburg said that
amid the turmoil and lack of creative
inspiration Jack's personal secretary
Bert Scott remembered a script that Jack
had done in New York almost exactly 10
years ago a copy of this script was dug
up updated and shoved in as an emergency
measure the script Scott had excavated
was originally broadcast on December 15
1940
the episode began with the standard
routine of dawn introducing Jack who
talked about his New York adventures and
the cheapness of his room at the Acme
Plaza Hotel
soon afterwards Jack complained to Mary
Dawn and Phil about Rochester's absence
and the fact that his brown suit was
missing Jack threatened to fire his
valid when he found him in the second
half Jack found a telephone number to
call in Harlem to attempt to locate
Rochester A man answered announcing the
Harlem social benevolent and spare ribs
every Thursday Club
he told Benny that Rochester had entered
the club on one knee and pulled everyone
into a craps game the fellow provided
Jack with a second number to call
Jack hello Mamie hello Mamie Brown the
sweetest gal in town talking
Jack Miss Brown this is Jack Benny Mamie
uh-oh Jack I'm trying to get in touch
with Rochester is he there
Mamie he was here
Jack oh well do you think he'll come
back Mamie in all modesty I can
guarantee that
Jack well when he returns will you
please tell him to call my hotel and you
can also tell him I'm stopping his
salary
Mamie oh that ain't going to bother him
he now owns the building that houses the
Harlem social benevolent and spare ribs
every Thursday Club
Jack oh yes I heard about that he wins
from everybody doesn't he
maybe yeah when I opened the door and he
came in on one knee I thought it was a
proposal
Mamie Brown provided Jack with a third
number where Rochester could be reached
and when Jack inquired if that was
another woman's residence she claimed if
so she would cut Jack's brown suit to
Ribbons finally Rochester himself
telephone jack and jack demanded that
Rochester not lie about the whereabouts
of the suit while Rochester prevaricated
Rochester also claimed he started on his
spree after being frightened by a black
cat outside Jack's Hotel Jack's side in
frustration this happens every time I
bring him to Harlem
we had hardly signed off the air when
the network switchboard lit up like a
computer gone berserk recalled
josephsburg the writer claimed that Jack
a gentle soul was amazed at the
unfavorable reaction he remembered that
when the material had been done 10 years
previously it had caused hardly a ripple
well no mention of this Contra Chomp was
made in any of the major newspapers or
in the entertainment trade press the
Chicago Defenders front page headline
blaird Jack Benny shows stirs Harlem's
ire the defender reported that a storm
of protest broke Sunday night over the
Jack Benny show on the Columbia
broadcasting system for the American
Tobacco Company as listeners blasted a
stereotype Rochester and Harlem sequence
the NAACP through acting secretary Roy
Wilkins wired a strong protest to CBS
and spokesman for the network told the
Chicago Defender that it was receiving
many telephone protests shortly after
the program Sunday night
wilkins's telegram asserted that
NAACP protests script material for
Rochester on Jack Benny Program February
5th all the old inaccurate and
derogatory stereotypes were pulled out
of the Hat by writers who used knifing
woman chasing drinking dice games and
stealing of wearing Apparel in skit most
writers for radio long ago learned these
situations are not typical of negro life
and are not likely to make friends and
influence people among them for products
sold by such means CBS Benny Rochester
and scriptwriters are old enough in this
knowledge to know better and do better
Benny his writers and the CBS network in
a probable attempt to make amends with
angry black critics and to stem the tide
of this protest that caught them so
unexpectedly off guard quickly invited
The prominent black musical group The
Ink Spots to make a guest appearance on
Benny's Next program February 12 1950.
they showed up to Benny's cheap
Manhattan hotel room to sing a parody of
their hit song if I didn't care
rejiggered to serve as the middle Lucky
Strike commercial in this episode
Rochester was a busy professional ballot
taking care of Benny's personal business
and commenting Riley on Benny's
cheapness he exhibited no more
roistering around Harlem
nevertheless angry responses from the
black community kept coming Furious
Defender columnist Lillian Scott fumed
that neither Benny Anderson sponsor nor
Network would take responsibility for
the offensive episode
round so fully packed so stereotyped and
stupid best describes the celebrated
Jack Benny show last Sunday over the
Columbia broadcasting system for the
American Tobacco Company Mr Benny they
call him a comedian didn't miss a single
one of the old Gables about Negros aided
and abetted by Eddie Rochester Anderson
who should have been named for Budapest
or Grant Cooley instead of that nice
upper New York State town
there was much Buck or should it be
Benny passing after the show The Lucky
Strike people said Benny was the sole
Arbiter of the entertainment portion of
the show and CBS allowed is how Monday
morning they hadn't enough protests to
issue any formal statement
personally we'd like to know just how
listeners felt all over the nation drop
us a penny postcard or letter Chicago
Defender 101 Park Avenue NYC 17 will ya
CBS didn't say anything because it took
for granted that not enough of us would
care enough to bother telling them
Scott claimed the sponsor slogan now
meant Lucky Strike means foul treatment
and suggested that black listeners
boycott the brand
Anderson planted a face-saving story
with a friendly Defender columnist who
wrote in the same February 18th issue
maybe you'd like to know that Eddie
Rochester Anderson whose lines on the
Jack Benny Program were criticized last
week objected to the script when he
first read it but time would not allow
its being changed
Benny too tried to mollify the
protesters after his return to Hollywood
on February 25th releasing a statement
published on the front page of the
Pittsburgh Courier expressing regrets
that his program had caused ill feeling
then he's publicity manager Irving fine
denied that the show's creators had
intended any harm and argued instead
that racial minority groups were
inclined to be too sensitive about comic
representations of ethnic characters
Rochester who is usually portrayed as a
hard-working ballot is entitled to shoot
some dice and take a drink once every 10
years fine claimed and acknowledged that
it was 10 years prior to the 1950
incident that Rochester had portrayed
similar characteristics on a New York
originated broadcast
most Negroes liked the portrayal said
fine maintaining that they protested not
against the portrayal but against the
general practice carried on in the radio
industry of presenting the Negro in same
type of roles without offering any other
regular presentations what would give
balance to or counteract the regular
stereotype portrayals
the same day the defender responded to
Benny's mild excuses and the still
roiling controversy with an editorial
when racial jokes aren't funny
many Negroes protested the recent Jack
Benny radio show which had a harlem
sequence that featured some crap
shooting low brow characters who have
been traditionally identified as typical
Negroes to some whites such protests
seem unjustified and they insist that
Negroes are too sensitive too
thin-skinned about this race and colored
business they point out that jokes are
made about the Irish scotch and other
National and racial groups and no
offense is taken these whites do not
know what a negro experiences when he
tried so to get a job or get a promotion
in his position if they did they would
understand why those racial jokes and
clownish characterizations are not funny
there is nothing funny about being a
second-class citizen and being denied
opportunities for economic and cultural
advancement we believe that there is
plenty of material for humor that does
not involve perpetuating stereotypes
that impair our chances for getting out
of the much created by bigotry
Jack Benny certainly laid an egg to use
theater parlance with his recent
broadcast about Rochester's adventures
in Harlem claim the Los Angeles Sentinel
newspaper reports have it that Benny his
sponsors and CBS are all puzzled by the
outbreak of criticism and each of them
is protesting that no harm was meant
that's probably true just as it is true
that the man who kills his friend with
an unloaded gun is sorry for the result
the trouble is that the victim is still
dead in the shooting instance and that
Negroes have been cast in a bad and
unwarranted light by the Benny show
after being denied a radio program of
his own and being lambasted by black
media critics for the throwback New York
radio episode Anderson received one
small bit of positive publicity his
photograph in color on the cover of look
magazines May 9 1950 issue Benny and
Anderson were paired looking quizzically
in opposite directions of each other the
cover accompanied Leo rosen's article
Jack Benny the ultimate Fall Guy
the Atlanta Daily World in Los Angeles
Sentinel lauded it as a sign of positive
interracial public relations the world
noting Rochester radio Aid to Jack Benny
Graces the cover of the current issue of
look magazine which appeared on the
newsstands here this week this marks the
first time from the information
obtainable that a negro has appeared on
the cover of a multi-million circulation
magazine
this Accolade was overblown as Anderson
had been depicted on the cover of
Liberty magazine in 1942 with the
hatchet trying to dispatch a large
Thanksgiving turkey and Jackie Robinson
had appeared on the cover of time in
1947 and would be pictured on the cover
of Life albeit in black and white the
very same week as Anderson's cover
Rochester on television and his legacy
Eddie Anderson would continue to play a
key role in Benny's situation comedy
narrative on radio and television for
the better part of the next 15 years
Rochester was the first major cast
member introduced on the inaugural 1950
TV program showcased in a sketch that
featured him singing and dancing while
cleaning Benny's home and bantering with
Polly the parrot as Mary Livingston and
Phil Harris appeared on the show less
frequently Rochester became an even more
Central character in both the radio and
TV show's narratives Jack and Rochester
interacted at Jack's home more
frequently like household partners and
more than ever Rochester had the
dialogue lines that punctured the boss's
outsized ego media historian Donald
Bogle has characterized them as
television's original interracial Odd
Couple
Anderson appeared with Benny on nearly
all the 250 Benny radio episodes between
January 1949 when the program moved to
CBS through its last episodes in May
1955. television was a different matter
Anderson appeared in only half of
Benny's TV programs between fall 1950
and spring 1955. even the defender
noticed that Rochester was being used
significantly Less on TV than he had
been on radio in the next four years of
the show's sponsorship by Lucky Strike
however
1955-1959 Anderson was on much more
often about 80 percent of the shows in
the following three years fall 1959 to
Spring 1962 Anderson's nagging health
problems were probably a reason why he
was reduced to appearing on only half of
these shows and only in a quarter of the
TV programs between fall 1962 and spring
1965.
criticism surrounding black
representation on early 1950s television
centered on Amos and Andy and Beulah at
the time black media and social critics
were also concerned about the
inappropriateness and detrimental
qualities that the Rochester character
posed for beneficial representations of
black manhood to U.S media audiences
but for a number of reasons Rochester
and Eddie Anderson were not as targeted
as often for protests and calls for the
cancellation of Benny's show one factor
must have been Jack Benny's power as a
leading Entertainer it would ultimately
be his decision with the sponsor having
a big say too if Rochester would stay or
go a second reason would be the
importance and value of the Rochester
character to the Benny show on
television Rochester emerged as the most
prominent character who talked back to
Jack criticized his poor decisions and
cheapness with smart jokes and witty
retorts and who interacted with him most
regularly the longevity of Rochester's
relationship with Jack and the fact that
they were played by the same actors for
all those years also contributed to make
them a taken for granted part of the
media landscape Anderson's performance
as Rochester the amazing voice sense of
timing skeptical wit and charm that
Anderson brought to the role undercut
many of the dialogue times he was given
that resembled Uncle Tom stereotyping
the fact that he was just one part of an
ensemble cast and not the Title
Character also perhaps kept him from
being a lightning rod for criticism
largely the Rochester character
successfully negotiated the cultural and
political tensions of 1950s broadcasting
and popular culture Benny's
scriptwriters could nevertheless still
unthinkingly manage to create awkward
situations on the program such as when
Rochester's friend Roy appeared on radio
episodes one or two a year between 1949
and 1954. there was one in particular
where Roy had been assisting Rochester
in cleaning up the dishes at Benny's
home after a party January 18 1953 and
Benny jokingly bantered about how little
he intended to pay Roy when Benny
behaved this way to a worker who had not
been rude to him like the store clerks
or waitresses he encountered then it
suddenly was not the old joking
penurious relationship that Rochester
complained about but something meaner
when UCLA sociology graduate student
Estelle edmerson conducted interviews in
1953 for her thesis research examining
the difficulties faced by
African-American actors and network
broadcasting and the many limitations
placed on representation of black
characters on radio shows criticisms of
Eddie Anderson and the Rochester
character remained a significant issue
in an era of reduced activity for black
performers Anderson was still the most
prominent and best paid black star in
broadcasting with the longest tenure on
the airwaves
yet edmerson found Anderson to be as
frustrating to interview and as evasive
in his answers as had any previous
investigator had experienced
Eddie Rochester Anderson actor on the
Jack Benny show answering the question
relative to his problems as a negro in
radio said that he had had none
Rochester commented on the negro's
criticism of the Negro actors radio
presentations he evidently did not feel
that the criticisms had been a problem
for him even though his role as
Rochester had been severely criticized
by many negro groups and newspaper
columnists
I haven't seen anything objectionable I
don't see why certain characters are
called stereotypes there's no one
originating any new characters the Negro
characters being presented are not
labeling the Negro race any more than
Luigi is labeling the Italian people as
a whole the same goes for Beulah who was
not playing the part of thousands of
negroes but only the part of one person
Beulah they're not saying here is the
portrait of the Negro but here is Beulah
there were no objections when the part
was played by a white person
asked about Black's opportunities in
radio Anderson said I believe those who
have shown that they had something to
offer have been given an equal
opportunity
however black actor Frank Silvera
commented in some instances it may be
said that due to the few opportunities
negro performers tend to become
protective they seek to gain for
themselves and let the rest go hang they
shrink from protestation and find
justification for all of this in
proclaiming the industry a rat race or
Dog Eat Dog business
edmerson concluded generally a great
number of critics have contended that
the overbalance of stereotype portrayals
had been their main object of complaint
also most of the Negro artists
themselves including those who
participated in and were favorable
toward the stereotyped portrayals
accused the radio industry of presenting
a one-sided picture of the Negro the
criticism of Miss McDaniel Rochester Etc
usually stems from the fact that they
are domestics in the home subject to
orders whims and wishes of white people
in the racial tumult of the 1960s some
sources claim that there had never been
any anger within the black community
about the Benny and Rochester team a
1968 Chicago Tribune article claimed Not
only was Jack the only one to have a
negro on his program for years but the
relationship established between Jack
and Rochester was unique in that it
never stirred up criticism when Negroes
began their campaign to have Hollywood
eradicate the servant stereotype so
prevalent in movies
undoubtedly this was because with Jack
and Rochester there was more of a
partnership than an employer-employee
relationship Rochester in fact
frequently outsmarted Jack in situations
much to the Delight of audiences
everywhere
on the other hand playwright Amiri
Baraka would espouse a very different
solution to the Dilemma in his 1965 play
Jello that turned longing for equality
into seething murderous rage when his
Rochester character kills the other
radio program cast members
at the conclusion of his November 16
1968 television special the hippley
titled Jack Benny's bag Benny engaged
Eddie Anderson in a brief exchange
commenting on the changes occurring in
depictions of racial interaction to
suggest that the old master and servant
relationship was now a thing of the past
Jack Rochester the reason I brought you
out I want to tell you about a great
idea for a series we can do together
next year Rochester good good what is it
Jack we can be two tennis players who
are really spies working for the CIA
Rochester hold it hold it that was done
last season
Jack oh well then we can play two bounty
hunters in the post-civil war period
Rochester hold it that's being done this
season Jack oh well I have another idea
how about you coming back to work for me
as my valid Rochester
blue eyes we don't do that anymore
Jack oh that's right come on let's go
get a hamburger
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]