December 3, 2015 elvagreen123

I’m So Excited

th (6) I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it
I’m about to lose control and I think I like it!

Hi, there! I have been working diligently on the biography of my father, Eddie Green, for the past couple of weeks, because I am so close to finishing and I want to get the manuscript sent out for proofreading before I send it to a publisher. One year ago I bought my first laptop and started this project. AND THEN, last week, out of the blue, I received a message from a lady whose 90-plus year old Grandmother, whose name is Millicent, had been in one of the movies my father directed, produced and starred in, “What Goes Up.” The movie was made in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1939.

Evidently, Millicent had for years been telling the younger members of her family about those days, but no one really listened until one family member decided to investigate. She went on line and found my blog (yay!) after typing in Eddie’s name, and now I get to add a bit more information to my book, and I get to share a little of Millicent’s story (she played a chorus girl in the movie) with my readers. This is exactly the type of thing I wanted to happen, though I wasn’t sure it would.

Millicent is the shorter woman in the front in the black dress. I have had a copy of this photo for a long time, but had no idea who these women were. Now I know one of them. Millicent and I live in different cities and have never met, but, boy, am I glad her relative found me. (Laugh Jamboree was a Toddy Pictures production, though the movies, Dress Rehearsal, What Goes Up and Comes Midnight, were Eddie’s.)

Through her granddaughter, Millicent has provided me with more insight into Eddie as an entertainer and as a movie producer than she will ever know. For instance, she says that Eddie was “all business”. Well, in a Baltimore Newspaper article from around the same time that Millicent knew Eddie, the headline reads: ” As a Comedian, He’s Very Funny, As a Business Man, He’s Very Sensible and Comedy is a Business.” The article goes on to say “The fact that Eddie is so funny on the screen, stage and radio is due to the highly intelligent and efficient manner in which he conducts his work.”

The other thing about this contact with Millicent, is that, had my mother, Norma, still been alive today, she would have been 92 years old. For those that don’t know Eddie married my mom when he was 54 and mom was 22. So Millicent was a cast member in Eddie’s movie, about the same time Eddie first met my mom. I love Millicent, I don’t know her, but that’s ok. I have a few more tidbits to share (Millicent was a beauty contest winner), but I will save them for another post.

Being able to look back and “experience” the past through my book and this blog, brings me so much joy. I mean, just because its 2015 does not mean past times are inconsequential. Past times, older people, are extremely important to who we have become today, and well worth the attention, in my opinion.

Thank you, Sharon.

And, thank you, for stopping by.

Lyrics for “I’m So Excited” courtesy of The Pointer Sisters

November 15, 2015 elvagreen123

NETWORKING-A DEFINITE BENEFIT TO MY QUEST

Hello Family: Personal, wordpress and FB. Yesterday I got a chance to attend a mini-fair and community gathering at the William Grant Still Community Arts Center in the West Adams District of Los Angeles, California. William Grant Still (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television. images (12)

The Art Center focuses on the artistic efforts of the community and has a variety of programming throughout the year reflecting the multicultural diversity of its neighborhood where Still resided for twenty years. It has been serving the Westside of Los Angeles since 1978.

My mom, pictured above, had aspirations to become an opera star, and I thought by attending this mini-fair I might be able to hook up with someone who remembered those days, the late 1930s through 1945. Well, I did. I also discovered a lot more information about the 1940s and 1950s and what was then a mostly Black neighborhood that was home to many entertainers, architects, doctors and lawyers.

I am focusing on entertainers in this post because that is what my mother and father did. I chose to go to the gathering at the William Grant Still Center because I also figured I would find people there who had an interest in opera. My mom used to sing at weddings at the Wilfandel Club on Adams Boulevard, and I found out yesterday that the club is still active. Possibly I will be able to find more information when I visit them.

I was actually able to provide some new information to the people I met, who were very interested in who Grandma Norma was. I forgot to mention while I was there that mom was Hattie McDaniel’s protege’, (Hattie McDaniel, first Black female to win an Academy Award,) though I did show them a picture with mom and Hattie, which a couple of people copied for themselves. I also had the following article, but I didn’t get a chance to share it yesterday. ” Representing Miss Hattie McDaniel as guest of Miss Lena Horne at her “after theatre,” party closing her Headline Orpheum appearance, was Miss Norma Anne Amato and her mother, Sinclaire White Amato, violinist and pedagog.” The Caifornial Eagle newspaper, June 22, 1944.

I was able to share information about mom’s mother, Sinclaire, who like Mr. Still, played the violin and was the sponsor of the Music Arts Association back in the day. 1931 to be exact. I was able to become acquainted with someone who would like to begin some type of Art Appreciation club here in L A. again for our kids.

Of course, I also took pictures of Eddie, my father, songwriter, producer, comedian, to share with the people I met. As I suspected, even though there were older people at this function, not one of them remembered Eddie. However, I found people who knew of people that Eddie worked with. So I was able to acquaint them with Eddie and I got a chance to exchange cards with other writers of black history.

Bringing Eddie’s accomplishments in the entertainment industry out of the shadows is my quest. I was able to accomplish that, somewhat, at yesterday’s event. I found one one-page article with information on it that I could connect to Eddie. Such as: The article mentioned Clarence Muse, actor, director, composer. I have this picture of Eddie and Clarence 00001389 Courtesy of L. A. Public Library, donated by Attorney Walter L. Gordon, Jr., my godfather.

The article I saw yesterday also mentioned Lena Horne, I have an article from the Pittsburgh Courier, 1945, in which the columnist wrote: “Last Monday through the courtesy of the NBC broadcasting studios, I witnessed the second production of “Jubilee” to be sent to those fine fellows across the sea: Eddie Green did a comic script with Santa Claus (Whitman) and Lena Horne.”

This same one page article that I found yesterday mentioned Sydney P. Dones, former actor and producer, well I found an article from The California Eagle, March 20, 1947, that mentioned Eddie and my godfather being at the same function, as Mr. Dones.: “Dropped in on the candlelight introduction of Les Dames club Sunday evening, Atty. Walt Gordon seemed to be having a grand time greeting old friends, as did Norma and Eddie Green, Sidney Dones.”

The point here is that though Eddie was a visible, well-known figure in those days, it seem to me that he has faded from view. I hope to rectify that.

These folks lived near each other in the Adams Historical District in the 40s and 50s. Hattie McDaniel on Harvard, Sidney Dones, on Hobart, Clarence Muse on 24th Street, Rochester, a friend of the family lived off of 37th Street and we lived on Second Avenue, near 36th Street.

I got the chance yesterday to network and share Eddie’s history, and mom’s. And I will go to great lengths to do that. It took me 4 hours on the bus to get there, same to get back (MTA and Red Line), but I did it.

I will leave you with a few lines from the Eddie Green, Ernest Whitman, Lena Horne skit.

SANTA(Ernest Whitman): Well, my boy, I brought you something that you’ll like. This is your package.

EDDIE: I guess I’ll open it. Well, looka here, it’s a Lena Horne mamas doll, ain’t that nice. It’ll be good if when I squeeze it, it says mama.

LENA (seductively): Oh daddy.

EDDIE: Well, That’s good enough!

By folks, thanks for stopping by, and thank you Kristina, for giving me the idea to research Grandma Norma’s singing career.

Peace and love

October 10, 2015 elvagreen123

ONLY IN A DREAM

Time flies when you’re on a mission.

For the past week or so, my mission has been to get permission to use certain photos in the book I am writing, order the photos, re-read the book before I send it out for copy editing, and looking for a copy editor. And for some reason, it seems like these things have to be done right away. Which they don’t. I am not working on a schedule. I don’t have a contract that says 4 books in 4 weeks. I don’t HAVE a contract. I started this project because I had a goal. To bring my father, Eddie Green, out of obscurity to highlight his achievements as a Black man in the early 1900s, and to put the information in book form for my grandson. Which is what I have done and what I am doing. I shared in an earlier post that, I look forward to my day because I can see the goal, and I am working towards that goal. I am on track. I need to remember that.

As I get closer to my book being a finished product, I realized that I have put next to nothing in this blog about my mother, Norma, Eddie’s fourth, I think, wife. I have a chapter in the book on her, so I will just take from that for this post.

My mom, Norma, was born on November 17, 1923, Her mother, Sinclaire was a very light skinned Black woman who chose to live as something other than Black, so by the time my mom entered school, Sinclaire was listing herself as Spanish on my mom’s school records. My mom was born Norma Murcock, but by age sixteen, Sinclaire had remarried and mom’s last name became Amato. Norma began singing, violin and piano lessons very young, and began performing for audiences when she was seven, usually at the Second Baptist Church, or at the Murdock Music Arts Association, and as she got older, she would sing at weddings at the Wilfandel Club in the Historic Adams District in Los Angeles.

importfromphonejuly 145 — Norma Amato, about 17

When mom was 18, an article appeared in a Los Angeles newspaper which helped me verify my mother’s heritage. Here is a portion of the article: “An assistant highway surveying engineer in the business world, Norma Amato, who sings fluently in Italian, French and Spanish, will render a selection. Norma Anne Amato, 18 years old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Guiseppe (Joseph) Amato, who majored in music and graduated from St. Cecilia and Romona Convents was the young lyric soprano soloist featured by the Daughters of the American Revolution at their National Convention banquet in Los Angeles.” Mom was studying to be an opera singer.

As time went on, Norma would appear in more articles: “Miss Norma Amato is the protégé of Miss McDaniel of Gone with the Wind fame.” The group picture here is Norma, Eddie, Louise Beavers, Miss Beaver’s dad, Hattie McDaniel and an unidentified woman,

In 1944 The California Eagle, printed this glowing tip: “Tip to Talent Scouts: Keep your ears on Norma Amato’s delightful thrushing. She has the kind of voice you hear only in a dream.”

“Only in a dream.” This was the path on which mom was working.

On November 17, 1944, Norma became 21 years old. At the time, she was still living with her mother, Sinclaire. One year later, she was married to Eddie.

I am realizing a dream in real time. Something anybody can do.

Thanks, for stopping by.

October 1, 2015 elvagreen123

Into Each Life, Well, you know the rest.

Well, as my dear sweet mama would say, into each life, some rain must fall. Actually, she would usually say it sarcastically, but it still means the same thing.

In the on-going saga of my father’s life, considering he was born a Black man in 1891 in the “poor” part of town in East Baltimore, Eddie, who, by 1941, had become a star of stage, screen and radio, owned two restaurants and a movie studio, had a good life.

Two years later…… In an article, dated January 2, 1943, an article was printed in the local newspaper, well, it wasn’t even an article, it was a paragraph:

Eddie Green the comedian, who once owned a chain of Bar-b-q places in Harlem, his own movie producing company and who ran the gamut of one stage and radio success to another, has filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy in the U. S. District Court. His listed liabilities are $5,119.00 and assets $473.00. He owes the government $445.74 that should have been paid weeks ago. Always a fine fellow, the misfortune of Eddie is not without sadness.

Imagine having your personal business in the neighborhood newspaper. Of course, today everybody knows everybody else’s business, whether we want to or not, but I still think he may have experienced some embarrassment. But, maybe not. He probably used it in his comedy routines, like the one he did three days later in the January 5, 1943 Duffy’s Tavern show with Milton Berle as the guest:

EDDIE: What is that sign you’re making, Mr. Archie, is it a welcome sign for Mr. Berle? ARCHIE: No Eddie, it’s a resolution, you know, one of those New Years things. Listen to it, “There is a well known golden rule, through the ages it’s been true, always be good to your neighbor, they may live next door to you.” That’s good, huh? EDDIE: Yea, it makes a lot of sense, too. How bout hangin up a sign for the waiter, me. ARCHIE: Like what, Eddie? EDDIE: Like this: “The golden rule has a fine intent, but a ten cent tip will pay the rent.”

I really do believe that it pays to have a good sense of humor.

So, Eddie did still have his job as the waiter on Duffy’s Tavern and two months later, in March Eddie was a guest on the Caravan radio show, along with the popular radio emcee, Gary Moore, who was also a guest on the program.

Some of you reading this may be too young to remember, but I know a few of us vaguely remember The Gary Moore Show, or I’ve Got A Secret or To Tell The Truth which Mr. Moore hosted till about 1976. I remember Mr. Moore as always having a smile on his face.

Despite Eddie’s setback, his success story was far from over. More to come….

Thanks, for spending some time with me.

August 31, 2015 elvagreen123

SINGING, DANCING, DRAMA, BLACK HISTORY

Hello there, this is so funny to me. I was trying to crop a picture and this is what I got. A hand-drawn cropping, almost looks like somebody’s profile. Anyhow, my mom used to say, “You learn something new everyday.” Here is something I learned while looking for information on my father, Eddie, from when he played “Koko” in the Hot Mikado in 1939. I found this article from 1962, in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Tonight at 8:00, the esteemed Sir Arthur Sullivan would have rarely looked more dour . . . and Sir William Gilbert might have returned to his law practice were they alive to hear the liberties taken In the late 30s version of Mikado. Tonight we take a second listen as “Ko-Ko”, “Nam-Poo”, “Yum-Yum”, “Katisha” and friends go modern in Hot Mikado with Bill Robinson and Eddie Green.”

A good little blurb to add to my book.

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson turned sixty-one while starring in the Mike Todd version of Hot Mikado as the Mikado. A local newspaper ran this ad:

“A second negro production of “The Mikado” in modern swing tempo, entitled The Hot Mikado opens tonight at the Broadhurst with Bill Robinson, the tap dancer, in the lead role.”

Michael Todd, producer of the play sponsored an after-theater party on stage at the Broadhurst Theater, where the cast of the play, members of the Cotton Club and a bunch of friends drank a toast to Bill’s health and wished him many happy returns.

According to the New York Age, “following the toastmaking, Eddie Green, “Koko” of Hot Mikado on behalf of the cast presented Mr. Robinson with a silver plaque on which was inscribed: “Happy Birthday ‘Bill’ Robinson from the cast of the Hot Mikado Co. Broadhurst Theatre, May 28, 1939.” A silver stage crew, the onlv one of its kind in America, was another gift from the cast to its leading star.”

And here is an article from the Brooklyn Eagle, specifically about Eddie:

“Eddie Green, who has been funny all the time but has not quite seemed to get his teeth into anything, is singing “Titwillow” to Katisha and his “Titwillow” turns out to be completely delightful. The song has, no doubt, been sung many times by better voices, but it could hardly be done more amusingly. With it Mr. Green makes himself one of the jewels of the Hot Mikado.

In 1940, Eddie went on to appear on the Tommie Riggs radio program:

TONIGHT’S BEST RADIO BETS 7:50— “Blondie,” …Tommy Rlggs and Betty Lou. David Ross, Freddie Rich Orchestra. Eddie Green WEAF. 8:30— ..Brooklyn NY Eagle1940.

Eddie also found time to appear with Miss Hazel Scott on the dramatic mystery program The Bishop and The Gargoyle.

The show was about a former Bishop and an excon who teamed up to solve crimes. It’s very gritty, I listened to about five minutes of one of the shows and here is a sample of the kinds of lines in the script: “Aw listen, man, don’t try to make a chest outta that stomach.” So funny.

On the show, Eddie and Hazel did a skit titled “The Item of the Voodoo Doll”. Miss Scott was a jazz and concert pianist, normally, who, according to the papers, put her own interpretation into Bach and Beethoven. The reviews of her acting ability were good, and of course, Eddie was funny.

Hazel Dorothy Scott, born in 1920 became a star in her own right and while she was at it, she married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who became the first person from New York of African-American descent to be elected to Congress, representing Harlem, New York, from 1945 to 1971.

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was also pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and as such Rev. Powell christened me. How’s that for a good ending?

Thank you so much, for stopping by.

August 21, 2015 elvagreen123

A REAL LAUGH RIOT

Otay. Comes Midnight is the third picture my father made. It is a story about two men (played by Eddie and Jimmie Baskette) who will receive $100 if they stay in Old Man Mose’s deserted house overnight in order to dig up his body and get the gold that has been placed under his body, and return it to the rightful owner.

It’s got really corny jokes in it such as: 1st person: You know, old man Mose had a million dollars in gold ore. 2nd person: Gold or what?

Supposedly, Eddie filmed this movie in a real haunted house in New Jersey. The older residents of the neighborhood said they had heard weird groans and had seen a pale face pressed against the window. One of the original cast members bowed out because he was too afraid to enter the house.

The movie had a great cast, though.

Jimmie Baskette, who you might remember as “Uncle Remus” or the man who sang “Zip A Dee Doo Da”.

And Amanda Randolph. She was the first African-American performer to star in a regularly scheduled network television show, appearing in DuMont’s The Laytons. Miss Randolph also starred in “Beulah” in 1953. She also appeared in 71 episodes of “Make Room for Daddy” with Danny Thomas. (Anybody out there remember at least one of these shows?) I found the following information on the net, and it kind of upsets me: Amanda Randolph appeared in a few Oscar Micheaux films. The reason I get upset is also one of the reasons I am writing a book about my father. Eddie made movies with the current stars of his day, the same stars who appeared in Micheaux films and films produced by Whites, yet as far as the media goes, it is as though Eddie and his work with these actors has simply dropped through the floor. I am a champion for my father.

The movie was a short, only twenty-one minutes, but it was a “real laugh-riot.”

Eddie, “Harlem’s favorite Hollywood comedian” was quoted as saying this about his movie making skills:

“The first thing I try for,” he said, “is naturalness. I write my own stories, building them around some incident that has been interesting, but not offensive. Then I select the actors that I think are best suited to the parts, so that they need only be themselves.”

The movie had its first showing at the Brooklyn Apollo Theater at 1531 Fulton Avenue. The theater closed in 1965.

On Tuesday afternoon of July 30, 1940, if anyone was looking for a good short movie, according to the Television column, of The New York Sun, you could catch “Comes Midnight” at 3:55 p.m. that afternoon, right after the 3:48 p.m. film “Tour of the World’s Fair.”

Just before Eddie started making “Comes Midnight”, he went to Hollywood from New York to audition for the part of “Pork” in Gone With the Wind. He did not get the part, but, hey, nothing beats a failure but a try, right?

The update on my first try at writing a book is that I now have a 48,061 word manuscript, including title sheet, TOC, dedication, introduction, appendices and bibliography. I’m done, basically, I know I am. I am sending it piecemeal to my brother, who is helping me with editing, and, of course I am proofing also. I will be looking for a “real” editor any day now.

I am still having fun. And I thank you effusively for stopping by and hanging in.

August 13, 2015 elvagreen123

RAISING MY HAND FOR LEFT-HANDERS DAY – And thoughts on Eddie

Hey!!! Today is left-handers day!

Remember Babe Ruth? Left-handed.

I am left-handed. When I was still in elementary school learning how to write, we had to have a writing pad to practice with.

These pads were set up for right-handed people, because one was supposed to “slant” ones letters to the right. And my mom was determined that when I wrote, first, I would not right with my left hand all twisted around (bad enough I was left-handed), and second, I would make those letters slant the right way. My mother was right-handed and had beautiful hand-writing. I still don’t think my writing slants correctly, but I do not write with my left hand curved around in a circle. Only because I got hollered at if I did. Anyhoo, my mom was just doing what she thought best, and I do not have a problem being left-handed. Except when I have to sign one of those machines at the pharmacy after I slide my card-they are only made to turn to the left to make it easy for right-handed people to sign.

The other day I went to lunch with my daughter, Melony and my grandson, Edward, because Edward is moving to Nevada. We had a ball. As you can see, Edward is right-handed so I couldn’t sit too close to him as our elbows would crash together, My original idea for writing a book about my father, Eddie Green, came to me when Edward was about six years old. You can see how long he has been waiting for me to write this book.

Of course, today, in regard to writing my book, I don’t actually write anything.

It has all been done on my trusty laptop. And I think I am happy to say that I hope to be ready to hand over my manuscript for outside editing by the end of the month. I think I am happy because I feel slightly queasy. Although, this endeavor has never been about fame and fortune, only a way to share with Edward and others, that a person can achieve their goals against all odds. Eddie did.

More to come. Thanks for stopping by.

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 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.