August 6, 2015 elvagreen123

A BIT OF REHASH AND SOMETHING NEW

Hello there, today I am going to do a short re-cap of this gentleman’s (my father, Eddie Green) story so far, for those who have just tuned in, or may have forgotten my previous posts, or maybe it’s just for myself while I wrap my head around the fact that I must get back into posting mode, from book writing mode.

This month, if Eddie had still been alive he would be 124 years old on August 16th. Even though I am way past grown, I still sometimes wish Eddie hadn’t died in 1950. I mean, people do live a long time. I know there was a French lady who lived until she was 124, and Jiroemon Kimura became the oldest man in history on December 28, 2012, at the age of 115. So, Eddie could have lived until 2015, if Life’s plan had been my plan.

Eddie was born in 1891 in East Baltimore in a poor neighborhood. He left home when he was nine, became a “Boy Magician” to support himself, and by the age of eighteen, in 1909 he married his first wife.

svf_b_streets_biddle_alley

By 1917, Eddie was living at 1405 Ten Pin Alley and was working at the Standard Theater as a magician, with a little bit of comedy thrown in, and he was also performing handy man chores.

That June, Eddie signed up with the draft board for WWI, I don’t know where he may have been stationed or if he stayed at home because by now he and his wife had a child, my step-sister.

This is a tiny picture of a 2-page draft card,, but notice that a corner has been torn off, which is how the Government kept track of the Black men that were signed up. The document says:

Name:Edward Green

City:Baltimore

State:Maryland

Birthplace:Maryland,United States of America

Birth Date:16 Aug 1891

Race:African (Black)

Draft Board: 05

By the year 1921, Eddie had dropped his magic act and had gone into comedy on the Vaudeville and Burlesque stage.

By 1929 Eddie appears in the play “Hot Chocolates” along with Louis Armstrong, and “Fats” Waller, and Eddie also wrote the comedy sketches for “Hot Chocolates”, as listed on this album cover which you can see if you have really good eyesight.

1939, we find Eddie, as “KoKo”, singing “Tit Willow” in the Mike Todd adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Mikado”, “The Hot Mikado.”

On a tree by a river a little tom-tit
Sang “Willow, titwillow, titwillow”
And I said to him, “Dicky-bird, why do you sit
Singing ‘Willow, titwillow, titwillow'”
“Is it weakness of intellect, birdie?” I cried
“Or a rather tough worm in your little inside”
With a shake of his poor little head, he replied
“Oh, willow, titwillow, titwillow!”

Eddie is “KoKo”, the little guy with the tall white hat. He was the Lord High Executioner. Isn’t he cute?

And now we are at the place I left off with my last post (does that make sense?).

By now, late 1939, Eddie is on his third wife, they are living on 138th Street in New York, and at the beginning of 1940, Eddie wrote, directed, produced and starred in his third film “Comes Midnight”, which, per some reviews, was his best film yet.

There are some funny stories about the making of this movie, which I will go into in my next post.

I cannot emphasize enough how much pleasure I am getting from researching my father’s life for a book and for this blog. I encourage you to consider delving into the history of someone in your family, because what I have found is that I am learning so much more about the people who came before me, who worked hard day and night to foster progress in this country and in this world. And, I continue to be blown away by new people who come into my life via this blog and who provide me with additional information. Just people who share the same interests. My father’s hobby was ham radio. He would talk to people all over the world and I am beginning to be able to understand his enjoyment of simply connecting with people.

Ok, gotta go. Thank you, for stopping by.

July 29, 2015 elvagreen123

EDDIE GREEN, MOVIE MOGUL IN PALISADES, NEW JERSEY 1939-40

Hi. Welcome back to my on-going story about my book-writing adventure. I have thrown out this, and added in that, and I remembered to place (photo) where photos should be instead of the photos themselves. To some people I have spoken with, this part of book-writing seems tedious, but I love it.

The poster I have placed on this post “What Goes Up”, is from Eddie’s second picture, which he wrote, directed, starred in and produced though his Sepia Art Pictures Company.

“What Goes Up” starred Babe Mathews, Dick Campbell, Ho// ney Boy Johnson, Sydney Easton and Carol Pertlow.

Babe Matthews was a singer, dancer and actress who was very popular in the 1930s. She also appeared in “Paradise In Harlem”, written by Frank L. Wilson. There is a Youtube video of Babe Mathews, but I have not been able to find any pictures.

Dick Campbel, a successful performer in his own right, as a theater producer and director, helped launch the careers of several black theater artists, including Ossie Davis. He was also a co-founder of the Negro People’s Theatre in 1935.

Honey Boy Johnson was an actor who also acted in his own short “At the Mike”.

Sydney Easton was an actor, songwriter, composer and author who also appeared in “Paradise in Harlem.”

Carol Pertlow was a Sepia Art Pictures discovery, who had actually been crowned “Miss Sepia New Jersey” at New York’s Rockland Palace.

Eddie’s films were made at a studio lot in Palisades, New Jersey, while his office was in New York. While trying to gather information on the studio lot, I learned all about Fort Lee, New Jersey. Before Hollywood became the movie making capitol, there was Fort Lee.

In the early days of the American movie industry, the Fort Lee–Coytesville area became New Jersey’s busiest production center. The first permanent film studio built there was the Champion Film Company. Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, in the New York City Metropolitan Area, situated atop the Hudson Palisades.

So, I got caught up in searching for “Sepia Art Pictures Company” in Fort Lee. What I have found was that today, on-line, I could not find any information about Black-owned film companies in 1939, until I decided to query Oscar Micheaux.

I discovered that in 2008, Fort Lee High School celebrated black history month by showcasing the history of black filmmakers and the borough’s (Fort Lee) extensive role in independent film, and that the borough council were in the works to construct a Fort Lee style “Walk of Fame” celebrating figures like Alice Guy-Blache, the first female filmmaker and Oscar Micheaux, the first major African-American filmmaker, both of whom worked extensively in Fort Lee.

Eddie came along maybe ten years after Oscar’s last full length movie, and since I know his movie studio lot was in Fort Lee (aka Palisades), I am pretty sure Eddie walked in Oscar’s footsteps. Of course, by the time Eddie got to Palisades, the big studios had moved on to Hollywood.

I found the script for Eddie’s second movie where he has a joke about being late to the set and he is speeding through the Holland Tunnel and gets pulled over by a cop: The cop says “Didn’t you see me standing in the middle of the street? And Eddie says “Yea, I saw you and said to myself, that man is going to get runned over standing out there!”

Money, or the lack thereof, was a big problem for blacks in the movie making business in the early 1900’s. If you were not a Sennett or a Selznick or affiliated with someone like them. you had a hard row to hoe in trying to make an inroad into the business. But Eddie was making a pretty good effort at realizing his dream.

Eddie was an independent. When he worked in his craft on stage, on the radio and on early television, he worked with Whites and Blacks, but when he was making his own movies, he insisted on using only black people in every aspect of getting the movie made, in part so that more Black people could have jobs, and he believed that in order to make movies that appealed to Black people, who better to do it. At his studio, Eddie had positions for scenario writers, photographers, lighting technicians and costume designers.

Eddie believed that Black people’s movie-making efforts were judged by Hollywood standards, the customary yardstick, which were high, and so, he always made sure he had young actors with fresh and interesting talent.

Thanks for visiting and hanging in with me. Oh, and so far I have a 46,781 word manuscript, hoping for 50,000, we’ll see.

Thanks, Joe Malvasio 2008 Fort Lee School Project

July 20, 2015 elvagreen123

GENERATIONS – GRANNY AND TANISHA

Granny and Tanisha #generations — Granny and Tanisha
#generations

Hi there.

My niece, Tanisha, posted a picture of herself and her Granny on a social website the other day and when I saw it, it struck a chord in my soul. Tanisha’s hashtags were “generations”, “genes” and “spongecurls”, obviously referring to the similarities in the two pictures.

What struck me the most about this post was the fact that Nish had put up a picture that absolutely speaks to one of the points I am trying to make in writing a biography of my father, Eddie Green.

As some of you know, I have been sharing stories on this blog about my father who was a star of stage, radio and screen in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s, but had basically become absent from the entertainment memory. And had become a distant memory in the familial sense. The biography I am writing is to bring Eddie and his numerous achievements back into the light. To remind those who have come after him what can and has been accomplished by a black man when times were tough during racial segregation, world financial troubles and war, and to remind his descendants, such as my grandson, from whence they come.

I am talking black people here because we (I and mine) happen to be black (with a little bit of this and that thrown in, but that’s for another story), but the idea of remembering those who came before us and continuing to acknowledge and celebrate them is something that can be done by anybody, anywhere.

What we have today is directly linked to what the generation before us did. Any progress we have made is due to the generations before us. Rap, electric cars, Black movie directors, space flight, smartphones; in order for these to have been available for us, someone had to start the ball rolling.

Because our past generations have passed on, as Granny has, or whether they may just be getting to the place we call “old age”, ought not mean they are forgotten.

Thanks Nish, for helping me put my thoughts into words.

And thank you so much for stopping by.

July 8, 2015 elvagreen123

I AM WRITING FOR POSITIVITY

Hi there!! The above picture is me working on the proofing and editing of the first draft of the book about my father, Eddie Green, Star of Stage, Screen and Radio from the 1920s through 1950.

It’s hard work! And very time consuming! And in the process of verifying information, I keep finding new information that just must go in the book!

For instance, I found my father’s 1917 WWI registration card and on the card where it says “Race”, Eddie wrote in “African”. So I started reading about Africa and how Blacks first came to America and what happened after they got here, and I wound up on a site discussing Billie Holiday and her singing of the song “Strange Fruit.” So I looked up “Strange Fruit” and found the story of the man who wrote the song.

Mr. Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903-October 30, 1986), was a writer, teacher and song-writer. Mr. Meeropol wrote this song after seeing a photo of the hanging of a black man because the photo affected him so profoundly, in regards to the inhumanity of racism. Billie Holliday received the song through another source and recorded the song and Mr. Meerepool became well-known through this song.

Mr. Meerepol was a man of compassion. He cared about people. He was at the house of W. E. B. DuBois one evening and he met the orphaned sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mr. Meerepol and his wife got to know the boys and began to care for them and eventually adopted the boys. Mr. Meeropol passed away due to complications of pneumonia at a Jewish Nursing Home in Massachusettes when he was 83 years old.

Mr. Meerepol was the type of person I would like to know. His thought process is what attracts me and somehow ties in with what I have been trying to incorporate into my posts. That even though there are awful things that happen in the life, there are people who genuinely care about others, no matter what their “color”. It’s people working together.

Ok, then I was thinking about all the help I have had since I began my book project from people who don’t know me from Adam. I have received legal help, help with radio scripts, cd’s, free books. I talk with people in the U.K. I have been feeling really grateful for the help I have received. And just wishing the race question could be a little simpler.

So then I start thinking about what to put in my post today. My last post dealt with Eddie’s first movie in 1939, so I decided to write about the fact that Eddie, while working in the “Hot Mikado”, and contemplating his next movie, was also in charge of “The Miss Sepia Beauty Contest” at the 1939 Worlds Fair. But when I went on-line to get information, I could find nothing about Miss Sepia or Eddie at the World’s Fair.

5814421775_46ea0e10b6_b — The Perisphere NYWF 1939-40

However, at the New York Public Library there is archived information about:

All correspondence, speeches, exhibition material, pass and address lists, and financial records relating to the planning and presentation of “Negro Week” at the New York World’s Fair, 1940, became the property of the growing Schomburg Collection in New York.

“Negro Week” consisted of festivals, exhibitions, song and dance recitals, choral and symphonic music, concerts, religious services, guest speakers and a children’s program. Noted events during the week included a dramatic sketch of the “Life of Booker T. Washington” performed by the Rose McClendon Players and performances by the Karamu Dancers, Eubie Blake, W. C. Handy, James P. Johnson, Cecil Mack and Philippa Schuyler. There were speeches by W.E.B. DuBois and L. D. Reddick relating to various aspects of black contributions to American culture.

There was also a beauty contest. The Pittsburgh Courier printed “South Carolina Beauty Wins
“Miss Sepia America Crown”, with a picture and this blurb under the picture: ” Helen Lewis, wins first prize honors in nation-wide beauty contest in New York. The second photo presents “Miss (Sepia) America” and her running mates. “New York is a great place,” Helen agrees in final photo, as she goes on sight-seeing tour with Eddie Green, master-mind behind contest.”

Back in the day, news about Black endeavors only made it into Black newspapers. Things have changed. We, people, make the changes together.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

NPR music, E. Blair npr.org 2012

Pittsburgh Courier, 1940

June 28, 2015 elvagreen123

CAMERAS, LIGHTS……..

When trying to write a book and posts for a blog, I forget there are other things to attend to. Like grocery shopping, washing, visiting friends, calling people, eating three meals a day (ha!). So every now and then I have to do these things. When I get back to my laptop, it takes a while for my brain to settle back into the writing process (where was I?, what did I do with my highlighter?), so I waste a few minutes getting back in the groove of writing, and I was wondering today how in the world my father could do everything he did as a comedian, businessman, a director and a writer? Then I remembered, he had a wife. I just have me.

Which brings me to an article I found written in 1940, about Eddie, after he had begun his movie making career. This was a full page article discussing Eddie as a comedian (funny), and as a business man (sensible). It begins: “Everybody knows Eddie Green as Koko in the “Hot Mikado”, or as the chief characters in his skit on Christopher Columbus and on Jonah and the Whale, (which he did on the Rudy Valley radio show), but there is another Eddie Green who is akin to these characters, but who is also very different. That is Eddie Green Himself.”

The article goes on to discuss Eddie’s comedic talent, the fact that he owns and operates two barbecue restaurants in New York,

“Eddie Green’s Bar-Bee-Q 2149 8th (near 116) Specializing in Southern Bar-Bee-Q.
Always Open. Finest South’n hospitality. E. Green, Host.”

and that he is a writer and producer of “what many people believe are the finest films being released about our people.” This paper was the Baltimore Afro American. The article includes this quote from Eddie:

“The first thing I try for is naturalness. I write my own stories, building them around some incident that has been interesting, but not offensive.”

The article mentions, that although Eddie had already released three films, he had no picture scheduled that summer because he was concentrating on a beauty contest at the World’s Fair.

Towards the end of the article, they talk about Eddie’s typical day. He is up at 8 and off to the office. At lunch he has coffee with Mrs. Green, at home, or she comes to the office. If he is broadcasting, he goes to rehearsal, if not, he goes back to his office until dinner, then he goes home to eat. He likes ham and cabbage which he taught Mrs. Green to cook. He tinkers with his ham radio, then at 10:00p.m. he goes to check on his restaurants till about 12:00, then goes back home. Mrs. Green, (the wife before my mom), was an entertainer, but decided to become a stay-at-home wife. I assume that she did all the shopping, and washing, and cleaning, so Eddie had only to concentrate on his career path, he didn’t have to worry about thing falling apart at home.

In 1939, Eddie began a new venture and opened his own motion picture company:

movie company formed
in harlem
NEW YORK, Aug. 24 With familiar theatrical figure Eddie Green as guiding light, a new motion picture company was formed this week, the “Sepia Arts Pictures Company.” Los Angeles California Eagle, August 24, 1939

Eddie’s first film was:

In my ongoing research I have actually seen my father’s original script for this movie. Remarkable! Though the script lists the cast members, it is difficult to tell which person was in which movie. Anywho, “Dress Rehearsal” would have a long run, at theaters and on television, as noted below:

NEW YORK, Dec. 21.—History was made here Saturday
afternoon, Dec. 16, when the National Broadcasting Company picked the Sepia-Art Pictures Company’s featurette,”Dress Rehearsal,” featuring Eddie Green, to broadcast over their television station here in New York City. Not only is “Dress Rehearsal” the ” first ” Negro motion picture ever to be broadcast by television, Mr. Green breaks a precedent by staring in the first film of its kind ever to be sent over the air. Pittsburgh Courier 12/23/39

AND, at the

Vogue 1905 Columbia
Edw. G. Robinson, “Destroyer”
Eddie Green, “Dress Rehearsal” Dec 9, 1943

I do not have the rights yet, if ever, to post much information regarding scripts, but I did get a piece of a skit: Eddie (who is the Director, the Writer and the Star of this featurette) is late getting to the set, so he is speeding and gets stopped by a policeman. The policeman asks Eddie where he is coming from, Eddie says New Jersey, the policeman says “how did you ever get through the Harlem Tunnel? Eddie says, “there’s a hole on both ends!” Ba Dump Bump!

I hope that those reading these posts find inspiration for pursuing their own goals even though they may seem unattainable. No matter the time period or the climate. More action coming up! Thanks for stopping by.

June 14, 2015 elvagreen123

HANGING OUT AT THE WORLD’S FAIR

Hello. In the on-going saga of my research into my father’s life, as far as the book is concerned, I have completed my first draft. So emotional…..I had to come to the end. I cried for three days after I finished. Going so thoroughly into Eddie’s life was almost like being there. Of course, I still need to edit, add-on, delete, clean up the manuscript. And I need to add the TOC and a Bibliography, etc. But it is really happening!

In this blog, after showing you Eddie’s television debut in my last post, and after having already mentioned that Eddie opened a restaurant in Harlem in 1937, I am now at 1939.

“The Hot Mikado” was a 1939 musical theatre adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado”, with an African-American cast. Mike Todd originally produced it after the Federal Theatre Project turned down his offer to manage the WPA production of “The Swing Mikado” (another all-black adaptation of “The Mikado”). In this production, Eddie played, Koko, the High Executioner (formerly a tailor).

The musical was first produced at the Broadhurst Theatre from March 23, 1939 to June 3, 1939, running for 85 performances. The original cast included Bill “Bojangles” Robinson as The Mikado; Frances Brock as Pitti-Sing; Rosa Brown as Katisha; Maurice Ellis as Pooh-Bah; Eddie Green as Ko-Ko; Rosetta LeNoire as Peep-Bo; James A. Lilliard as Pish-Tush; Bob Parrish as Nanki-Poo; Gwendolyn Reyde as Yum-Yum; Freddie Robinson as Messenger Boy; and Vincent Shields as Red Cap.

The musical was then produced at the 1939–1940 New York World’s Fair for two seasons and was reportedly one of the most popular attractions at the fair.

The video below, which I found on-line and which is extremely rare, is a silent filming of portions of the performance at the World’s Fair. Eddie enters first as Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, and then you see him standing next to Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the “Mikado”. Eddie appears in a few more places in the film. As Ko-ko, Eddie performed a number of songs, including “Titwillow”, though this was not caught in the film.

“Titwillow” occurs in a scene with the love interest, Katisha. “Katisha wonders why death refuses to come and bring peace to her broken heart (she sings “Alone and Yet Alive), and Ko-Ko springs into action, telling her that he’ll die on the spot if she doesn’t accept his love. Katisha claims no one has ever died of a broken heart, so Ko-Ko responds with the tragic tale of TitWillow, a little bird who wasted away due to blighted affection.”

My mom, Norma, told me about Eddie singing this song in a play, but never did I think I would actually see a portion of this play with my own eyes. Picturing Eddie singing “Titwillow”, is not easy to do, but according to the Brooklyn Eagle on July 9, 1939: “Anyway, he gets a hilarious twist into Ko-Ko that Messrs. G. and S. never thought of, and when he swings “Titwillow” usually comes close to stopping the show.”

Eddie was living in Harlem, by now with wife number three, or four, and he already had a grown daughter. He had met my mother, through friends in Hollywood as he travelled a lot by then from New York, to L. A., but his home at the time was 138th Street in New York. After the “Hot Mikado” Eddie would begin making his own films.

I love sharing this information. It may be too old-timey for a younger generation, but keeping the achievements of those who came before us alive, allows the younger generation a chance to see from whence they have come and, also, to see how far they can go, especially with the knowledge, technology, and, yes, opportunities available today.

Hey, comments are welcome, keep comin’ back, and thanks, for stopping by.

Wikipedia

June 6, 2015June 6, 2015 elvagreen123

THERE ARE BIG DEALS IN LIFE

Hi there. In recounting my father’s (Eddie Green) life in the entertainment business on this blog, I have also been writing a biography of my father. Eddie died in 1950 and I am now in the year 1949 when he began to experience his medical problems. So, I am almost finished with my first draft, minus add-ons and proofreading. I have deliberately let this blog lag behind the book so no one will get the whole story before the book comes out. I have to leave something for which folks will clamor. Or, not.

Eddie Green-Getty Image — My father, Eddie Green

I have shared in my “Hookups” post about a radio show that Eddie was on in 1935, “Uncle Charlies Tent Show” starring Charles Winninger, and about Eddie being on the Rudy Vallee show, and about Eddie appearing in and writing comedy sketches for “Hot Chocolates” in 1929, with the music of Fats Waller and Andy Razaf, and Louis Armstrong. And today I would like to share a bit of my father with you, as he appeared on the first public broadcast demonstration of television. Woo Hoo!

First, however, I am going to post some information about Mr. George Wiltshire. George Wiltshire was my father’s “straight man” in an act Eddie had going in 1936. I needed to do some background searching on George before writing about him, so yesterday I looked him up and while doing so I became aware of the fact that there are a lot of people who have had successful careers in show business of whom we no longer hear.

What a handsome man. George Wiltshire was born in 1900. I read that he was an actor, known for Killer Diller (1948), Midnight Menace (1946) and Hi-De-Ho (1947), that he first appeared in the 1930 Broadway revue play “Hot Rhythm” at the Times Square Theatre, that he made his first film appearance in the 1938 all-black film “Keep Punching” and, more recently, that he had appeared in a couple of episodes of “Sanford and Son” in 1976, as Elroy Pitt, a sidekick of Hutch (Arnold Johnson), and a friend of “Fred” (Redd Foxx). Imagine that, one person who was alive in 1976, besides my mom and my Godfather, who knew Eddie. I found an article that spotlighted George in 1939 as having been one of the leading straight men and as the only “straight man” still carrying on. George died in 1976 in California. What I found in only one place was this:

EDDIE GREEN AMD GEORGE WILTSHIRE
ON TELEVISION TRYOUT BROADCAST
NEW YORK CITY, July —Eddie Green., popular stage, radio and screen comedian, and George Wiltshire, well-known “straight-man,” are the two men of color chosen to lend their bit to the first test television broadcast by the Radio Corporation of America. The program was specially broadcast to a select group of listeners and watchers. The program, announced by Milton Cross, also featured Ed Wynn, Graham MacNamarra, Henry Hull and the Pickens Sisters.

July 7 – At David Sarnoff’s request for an experiment of RCA’s electronic television technology, NBC’s first attempt at actual programming is a 30-minute variety show featuring speeches, dance ensembles, monologues, vocal numbers, and film clips. It is shown to 225 of RCA’s licensees on 22 centimeter screens.

The film can actually be found online as “First Television Broadcast NBC/RCA July 7, 1936 Part 2 of 2.” Eddie and George’s act is at the very beginning of Part 2. Trust me, I was a bit shocked at first at the way they looked, but there they were in 1936, on television, because these two men were who the people wanted to see. As far as I have been able to ascertain, Eddie Green and George Wiltshire were the first two black men to appear on television. Be aware, the film may begin in the middle on my site, so you might have to run it back to the very beginning which is where you will hear Milton Cross make the introduction, Eddie and George are the first act to appear, then the Rockettes, etc. If you would like to see an explanation of this broadcast with David Sarnoff go to “First Television Broadcast NBC/RCA July 7, 1936 Part 1 of 2.”

I did not type the whole act, but simply as clarification, I have typed in a portion of Eddie’s “Grandfather Joke”, the last joke of the skit, because the sound portion of the film is not very good. This was one of Eddie’s stock in trade jokes that his audiences got a kick out of. This particular joke was about how fast his grandfather can cook a meal in his restaurant (I typed a mini version):

(Eddie) “75 people were coming from L. A. to New York and they only had 10 minutes for lunch. (George) There were 75 people and they only had 10 minutes for lunch? (Eddie) That’s right. (George) I bet it scared him (grandpa) to death. (Eddie) It didn’t even scare the waiter. Grandpa was back in the kitchen smokin’ a pipe. The waiter just walked over to the kitchen door and yelled “HAM AND EGGS FOR SEVENTY-FIVE”. (George) And what did grandpa say? (Eddie) TAKE ‘EM AWAY BEFORE I BURN THEM!

Ha ha, so funny. I didn’t even get the joke for about two weeks, probably because I was so busy focusing on the white lips. I got over it, though. I love seeing my father on stage, especially since I was only three years old when Eddie died. I have come to realize that Eddie put in the work necessary to get where he eventually got. I actually found the script for the joke in the library last month. I did not put the film up on the internet, but I thank those who did. I thank Mr. Wiltshire’s people, if there are any left out there, for the chance to bring him a bit of recognition. And I certainly thank those of you who have stopped by and are hanging in here with me.

historyomestolife

Pittsburgh Courier July 16, 1936

New York Age, November 18, 1938

May 30, 2015May 31, 2015 elvagreen123

A Hodgepodge of Family and Historical Information

EDDIE GREEN OPENS
HARLEM RESTAURANT August 7, 1937

Eddie Green, star of the radio.
stage and screen, has entered another
field with the opening of his
swanky and cozy Bar-Bee-Q shop on
Seventh avenue near 126th street In
the heart of the section frequented
by sportsmen, actors and artists of all
kinds. In the short space that it has
been opened, this food emporium has
become a rendezvous for celebrities of
the theatrical world.

The above is a quote from the New York Age newspaper, August 7, 1937.

In the Brooklyn Eagle, 1939 it says: Eddie “Is one of Harlem’s busiest citizens. Outside of theater and radio work, owns and operates two barbeque emporiums. Serves nothing but spareribs. Says Paul Whiteman is his best customer at the one on 7th Avenue.

Eddie came from East Baltimore’s alley house area where he was born in 1891, and worked himself up to owning two restaurants in Harlem.

I watched the funeral for B. B. King today and the Rev. Herron Wilson, said, in his eulogy, talking about life and death and conduct, “It’s not where you come from, it’s where you’re headed.” So far, Eddie is headed in a good direction.

Eddie, at this time, was married to a lady by the name of Constance from Newark, New Jersey, happily married according to the newspaper. He hadn’t met my mother, yet.

I decided to insert her into this post since they would meet soon, and because mom was pursuing her own career in the entertainment field at about this same time.

Found this particular article today, just by chance, so I thought I could put it here as a bit of background on my mom’s home life. In 1933, when my mom was ten years old, she found out that the man who she thought was her father, was not. In those days, everybody’s business got in the papers, I guess just like today. This is what happened with my mom’s mother, Sinclaire and her husband, Alfonso Murdock:

WHITE MAN NAMED CORRESPONDENT
IN SENSATIONAL DIVORCE SUIT
Californian Accused Wife of Remaining Away From
Home On Pretext of Caring For Sick Friends

LOS ANGELES, CaL, June 8.—(ANP)—Declaring that
his wife had remained away from home weeks at a time residing
in San Bernardino, Cal., Alfonso Murdock, pioneer
and widely known in social circles, was granted a divorce
Wednesday by Judge Harry F. Sewell, from Sinclaire White
Murdock.

Mr. Murdook testified that his
wife would come home only to get
fresh clothes and return to San
Bernardino. He said that he
thought at first that his wife was
caring for a sick friend and did
not learn different until he went
there and made the discovery that
his wife was attending different
places in company with Joe Amato,
white.

This was the prelude to me learning who my mother’s biological father was. In fact, my mother was not 100% certain before she died and I have only verified who Amato was within the last few years. That he was indeed white, an Italian gentleman that her mother had been seeing on the side for years and that he was my mother’s father. Sinclaire eventually took the name Amato for herself and my mom. At ten years of age my mother wasn’t quite sure what had transpired, except that Murdock was gone and never wanted to see them again and Joe became a permanent fixture. And she had to change her last name from Murdock to Amato.

Sinclaire, my grandmother, was a “pillar” of the church. She taught violin and piano. She taught my mother. Here is an article from the Los Angeles California Eagle:

Music loving Southlanders
crowded to capacity the auditorium of the Zion Hill Church
when Professor William T. Wilkins.
director of the well-known
Wilkin’s Piano Academy presented his show.
With the appearance of Professor Wilkins on
the stage there came a deafening
round of applause … he was
ably assisted by Mme. Sinclair White Amato, violin virtuoso,
whose several violin pupils were
also a part of the splendid programme . . . too many numbers
to mention each one in detail; but
many received an unusual
amount of applause. I refer to the violin playing of little Norma
Anne Amato . . . .
In 1937 Eddie was in the news in New York, and mom was beginning to be mentioned in the news in Los Angeles. Mom was 14. Eddie was 46. They would not meet for another three years.

My mom was also in pursuit of a career on the stage as an opera singer and as she got older she began to sing and play the piano at weddings at a place called the Wilfandel Club in the Historic West Adams District, while in serious operatic study.

And here we have an extra bit of Black History-because of course I had to look up the Wilfandel Club and I found that the architect was Mr. Paul R. Williams.

Paul Revere Williams, (February 18, 1894 – January 23, 1980) was an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. He practiced largely in Southern California, and designed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Lon Chaney, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Frank Sinatra. He also designed many public and private buildings, such as The Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration and the Los Angeles County Courthouse and the First African Methodist Episcopalian (FAME) church in Los Angeles. Who knew? Mom did, she mentioned to me a few times how unfortunate it was that Paul Williams did not get the recognition he deserved for his works.

The thing about this research I am doing is that I can in almost every instance link Eddie up with all the folks I mention. And I found an article that does just that in this instance also:

At the 68th Anniversary celebration of the Los Angeles California Eagle , on April 3, 1947, Paul R. Williams was the main speaker and Eddie Green, of “Duffy’s Tavern”, was the emcee for a sparkling floor show featuring Mabel Fairbanks, ice-skating star, the Basin Street Boys, and Phil Moore, singer and composer.

In 2010 when my mom died, she lived on Adams and St. Andrews Place, within walking distance from the Winfandel Club’s building, which still stands.

Thank you so much for dropping by.

May 20, 2015 elvagreen123

STAYING FOCUSED ON THE GOOD STUFF

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, written by Eddie Green and popularized by the singer Bessie Smith in 1927.

Hi there! I missed out. I wanted to watch “Bessie” with Queen Latifah on HBO, May 16th, but my landlady cancelled our cable, boo hoo. I received a comment today about “Bessie”, so of course I had to see if I could find it on the net. For this post, however, I decided to post a video of Bessie Smith singing the song my father wrote way back in 1917.

There were also a few other people who recorded the song, for instance:

A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND
By Eddie Green
Marion Harris – 1919
Wilbur C. Sweatman’s Jazz Orchestra – 1919
Viola McCoy – 1927
Eddie Condon & His Band – 1940
Butch Stone – 1942
Frank Sinatra – 1951
George Lewis – 1953
Big Maybelle – 1956
Brenda Lee – 1959
Also recorded by: Trinity; Di Anne Price; Bix Beiderbecke; Fats Waller; Rosemary Clooney; Les Brown;
Champion Jack Dupree; Barbra Streisand; Frances Faye; Hank Thompson; Lizzie Miles; Louis Prima;
Carol Channing; Nancy Wilson; Ralph Sutton; Juanita Hall; Kid Ory; Judith Durham; Dorothy Loudon;
Bob Wills, to name a few.

I should be finished with the first draft of my book about Eddie at the beginning of June. I have the feeling that this year will be a good time for this book to become available. To my knowledge, Eddie’s song has been performed in two recent movies, “Bessie” and “Blue Jasmin” (a Woody Allen movie). I love the fact that this song has endured and remained relevant all these years. Eddie died in 1950, so he was only aware of a few of these people performing the song. While he was alive he knew a few of the people on the above list, like Fats Waller and Frank Sinatra. Oh yeah, and Sophie Tucker, he knew Sophie, she used Eddie’s song as her “torch” song (if you are too young to remember Sophie Tucker, look her up, she was what they called a “real hot mama” back in the day.

My father continues to provide the inspiration that helps me stay focused on this book-writing process, as do those who read my posts and those who comment. Eddie has shown me that there are obstacles in life, Eddie had them as a Black man living his life in the early 20th century through 1950, but he never stopped moving forward, he went on to write 29 more songs, to perform on Broadway and radio, and even to write, produce and star in his own movies, as I have mentioned in previous posts and will elaborate on in future posts. I am experiencing a sense of optimism through tracing Eddie’s life and I hope I am able to pass this feeling on. Thanks so much for stopping by.

May 16, 2015 elvagreen123

FROM NEW YORK TO HOLLYWOOD

1939 Downtown District-Manhattan-Courtesy Google Images

I am deep into writing my book about my father, Eddie Green, and his life as a star of Stage, Screen and Radio, and how he has become literally wiped from most people’s memory, I believe, because he died in 1950, and when he died his works were put aside by those who knew him, and life moved on. Now, for me as an adult with a grandson, I am trying to document Eddie’s time on this earth because Eddie contributed much to society, despite the poverty of his family, and the segregation of his time. As I began to discover, through my research, what my father had accomplished, I was rather upset that even though Eddie worked with some of the greats of the 30s and 40s, he is not remembered as they are remembered. So I am trying to change that with my book.

Unfortunately, I wind up putting my posting aside. I know there is no one I need to apologize to for not posting more often, but I also know had I not started this blog, I may not have started actually writing my book. The research began some years ago, and, for someone who may be contemplating book-writing, research is on-going.

Over the past month I have discovered a Paramount Contract Eddie had in 1945, I have read scripts from some of his movies (I will get to those later), and I have found about fifteen original photos from the sets of Eddie’s movies. It’s fascinating and absolutely unexpected.

But before I get to that part of Eddie’s life, I will share with you what I found today. I have been searching the World Wide Web for just the right thing to share and lo and behold, I came across the best picture.

Eddie lived in New York for a large part of his career. He lived in Manhattan and worked in Harlem. He was called “The Harlem Funster”. In 1937 Rudy Vallee had a Radio Program on NBC-Blue Network and when Mr. Vallee went on his summer vacation, he convinced his sponsor, Fleischman’s Yeast, to hire Louie Armstrong to host the show for the summer. In 1937, at Vallée’s insistence, Louis Armstrong hosted the show during Vallée’s summer vacation. This made Armstrong the first African American to host a national network program. Guess who shared billing with Mr. Armstrong as one of the shows comedians.

According to BALLSTON SPA DAILY JOURNAL, BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1937:

A new variety show, an all-negro revue, makes its debut on* WJZ-NBC revue, at 9 p.m. Based on the hot rhythm of Harlem as dispensed by Louis Armstrong’s orchestra, together with his trumpet, it will present Eddie Green and Gee Gee James, comedy team, and guest artists. The script is being put together by Octavus Roy Cohen.

Below is the picture I mentioned, celebrating this huge event.

Left to right are Luis Rusell, Eddie Green, Gee,-Gee James aid Louie Armstrong, •/ho on Friday night, over station WJZ, under the sponsorship of the Flelschman Yeast Company, made show world history.—Photo by Continental News. — Left to right are Luis Rusell, Eddie Green, Gee,-Gee James and Louie Armstrong,
•/ho on Friday night, over station WJZ, under the sponsorship of the Flelschman
Yeast Company, made show world history.—Photo by Continental News.

RECEIVE CONGRATULATIONS FROM COAST-TO-COAST
APRIL 17, 1937
T h e Pitttburgh Courier

The first time I have ever seen this picture. It’s too bad Mr. Armstrong is difficult to see, but it’s an old picture and I have a cheap printer. Anyhow, there they are. Making history. But who remembers Eddie Green? Well, I guess I do and I am sharing him with the world of today, not just because Eddie became “somebody”, despite the obstacles, but because there are still people who believe they cannot achieve their goals because of seeming obstacles.

Of course, we have to put in the work, acquire as much knowledge as we can about our pursuits, and if we have a talent, put it out there. I read that my father said that talent is respected in his business, and you have to keep at it because all the work and practice and time you put in pays off in the end.

Speaking of work. Right after the ending of the Fleischman Yeast’s Summer Program, Eddie was off to Hollywood where he appeared on “Showboat” a radio program which I talked about on my previous post. But before he left New York, Eddie had another bit of business to attend to, per the Pittsburgh Courier “Eddie Green, the radio comic, has gone Into the restaurant bis. He’s now the proud owner of a Bar-Bee-Q eatery off 139th” street on Seventh avenue. .”

Busy, the man was busy.

Thanks for stopping by.
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