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- Actor
- Soundtrack
Stepin Fetchit remains one of the most controversial movie actors in American history. While he was undoubtedly one of the most talented physical comedians ever to do his schtick on the Big Screen, achieving the rare status of being a character actor/supporting player who actually achieved superstar status in the 1930s (becoming a millionaire to boot), his characterization as a lazy, slow-witted, jive-talkin' "coon" offended African-Americans at the time he was a major attraction in motion pictures (primarily the 1930s) and still offends African-Americans in the 21st century, more than 50 years after he had faded from the screen. Yet some African-Americans claim him as the first Black superstar, and thus a trailblazer for others of his "race". The controversy over Stepin Fetchit remains alive to this day, with two biographies published about him in 2005.
Stepin Fetchit was the stage name of Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, who was born May 30, 1902, as confirmed by the 1910 census, in Key West, Florida to West Indian immigrant parents. Sometime in his teens Perry became a comic performer. A literate and very intelligent man who wrote for the premier African-American newspaper "The Chicago Defender," Perry evolved a character called "The Laziest Man In the World" as part of a two-man vaudeville act that broke through to play the white circuits. Eventually, he went solo; "Stepin Fetchit" likely was the original name of the act covering both performers, as "Step 'n Fetchit," and he kept the name as a solo.
While some believe that his stage name is a contraction of "step and fetch it", implying a servile persona (the so-called "Tom") that is synonymous with degrading racial stereotypes in popular entertainment in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Perry claimed he got the name from a race horse. However, it's important to make the distinction that African-American cultural historians do (while at no time condoning Perry's career): rather than a servile Tom (named after Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom"), Stepin Fetchit was an evolution of a later construction, the "coon" who undermined his white oppressors by denying his labor and cooperation through an act of defiance that included the appearance of being lazy and stupid. Essential to the "coon" persona was talking in what to white ears is gibberish (at which Perry excelled), but which Black folk can understand--and which contains barbed insults to "The Man". What rankles so badly (since the Coon remains a stereotype that resonates in African-American culture) is that white audiences swallowed Perry's Stepin Fetchit act whole, as a true representation of a "Negro".
The "Coon" persona mitigated the low status accorded African-Americans by whites by feigning near-idiocy in order to frustrate whites by ironically fulfilling their low expectations (the "Tom," by contrast, is praised by whites for his good work and loyalty. A parallel racial caricaturization of black men by whites, the "buck," is the repository of their racial and sexual fears, and can still be seen in blaxploitation movies of the 1970s and, more recently, in the "gangsta" rapper). Perry used this mitigation stratagem when dealing with whites in real life, allegedly maintaining a coon persona while auditioning for a role in "In Old Kentucky" (1938), where he stayed in the Stepin Fetchit character before and after the audition. Often, while making movies in which he found the lines offensive, Perry would skip or mumble lines he did not like, pretending to be too stupid to comprehend the script.
The "Coon" stereotype existed long before Perry decided to adopt it (its prevalence as a defiance stratagem intensified after the gains that African-Americans had made in the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era were rolled back by segregationist Jim Crow laws, when an "uppity" African-American could well wind up hanging from a tree at the end of a rope). However, he was such a hit with white audiences that his Stepin Fetchit persona popularized the "Coon" image to an unprecedented degree in the medium of film, and many stereotypical Black movie characters, including the child Stymie in the "Our Gang" comedy series, were based upon Stepin Fetchit to cash in on his popularity.
Perry reached the apex of his career co-starring with Will Rogers in several films, including John Fords Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). When viewed objectively today (without revulsion), Perry's Stepin Fetchit character can be seen as more than holding his own with the great Rogers, achieving some kind of inverse parity with his white "massa" through the sheer forcefulness of his personality. Rogers clearly is fond of Perry (if not Stepin Fetchit), although he is liable to denigrate the Stepin Fetchit character unmercifully. In a way, it provides a window on race relations in that Southern and other white Americans could experience fondness for black folk, but would "put them in their place" at any time, for any reason.
Stepin Fetchit became the first African-American actor to become a millionaire, but he mishandled his fortune through lavish overspending and was bankrupt by 1947. In the 1940s his career in mainstream "white" cinema was essentially over, and he crossed over into "race" films, movies made specifically for (and sometimes by) African-Americans, where he essentially played the same schtick. By 1960 he was a charity case in Chicago.
Perry had been denounced by the same civil rights leaders that eventually forced CBS to mothball the popular TV series The Amos 'n Andy Show (1951), as they didn't want any stereotypes pandering to the inherent racism of whites while they were trying to obtain equality. Cast out and an exile in the 1960s, Perry was rehabilitated by heavyweight champion Cassius Clay--the symbol of African-American racial pride who had become Muhammad Ali--making him one of his entourage after Perry allegedly showed him a punch that Ali successfully used during a fight. Following Ali's example, Perry converted to the 'Honorable Elijiah Muhammad''s Lost-Found Nation of Islam (the so-called "Black Muslims"). He was saved.
Because of the degrading image Stepin Fetchit represents to many African-Americans, Perry's appearances in mainstream movies typically are cut out of the picture, regardless of the narrative logic. Most of his films have not been widely released on video. However, near the end of his life, Perry achieved redemption. He appeared in a bit at the beginning of the Moms Mabley comedy Amazing Grace (1974), in which he warned a white train conductor to not mistreat Moms. Later in the film, Mabley and her co-star Slappy White--two stalwart black entertainers of the "Chitlin' Circuit" whose characters in the film represent the pre-Black Power generation that reached maturity during the World War II era--have been humiliated by both the Black bourgeoisie and the new generation. With a haunting vocal by Perry on the soundtrack, a song about a young black man (obviously of another era) stealing "hair grease," the downcast Mabley and humiliated White walk down a street, stepping on a poster of Stepin Fetchit cast away in the street. It's a remarkable scene.
The film says that respect is due these people who did blaze the trail for a younger generation, at great cost to themselves (Moms' character, a widow, had lost her son during the war, a war in which African-American men were segregated from whites and suffered egregious discrimination, all the while enlisted in the fight against Adolf Hitler's racist Third Reich--whose racial laws had been modeled on the Jim Crow laws of the American South!).
And respect was duly paid.
The Hollywood chapter of the NAACP (whose national organization had made Perry its bete noire, along with "Amos 'n Andy") awarded him a Special Image Award in 1976 for his pioneering movie career that was rationalized as helping to open doors for blacks in the movie industry. Two years later he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry died on November 19, 1985.- Actor
- Writer
Mario Alcalde was born on 6 September 1926 in Key West, Florida, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Fugitive (1963), Studio One (1948) and Goodyear Playhouse (1951). He was married to Nancy L. Maxwell. He died on 22 April 1971 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Elizabeth Kemp has worked extensively in theatre, film and television. She has worked on and off Broadway, including "Once in a Lifetime" at Circle in the Square, "North Shore Fish" at WPA and "Heat" at the Public Theatre. She was in the original cast of "The Best Little Whorehouse" in Texas, which first opened at The Actors Studio. Highlights include playing opposite Christopher Reeve, Tom Hanks and Kevin Kline, as well as working with Tennessee Williams. At the recommendation of Elia Kazan, she was chosen to play the final incarnation of Baby Doll in the world première of "Tiger Tail". Regional credits include California Actors Theatre in San Francisco, Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., Center Stage in Baltimore and Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Film credits include Sisters(2007)Eating (1990), The Clairvoyant (1982), Murderous Vision (1991), Animal Room (1995) and Challenger (1990). On television, in addition to numerous long-running and guest-starring roles, she received the GLAAD Award for her work on L.A. Law (1986). Directing and set design credits include productions in Paris, Stockholm and Rome, "The Glass Menagerie" at The Actors Studio and "Four to Four" at UBU Rep. A longtime Member of The Actors Studio, she recently starred in and designed the set for its productions of "The Wound of Love" and "Elektra". She has been a member of the Acting Faculty of The Actors StudioMFA Program since its inaugural year.She serves on the Board of Directors of the Actors Srudio.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
A native of Key West, filmmaker Michael Baumgarten attended high school and film production classes in Orlando, Florida. His first professional year in the biz was spent doing production assistant gigs on commercials, indie film projects, an MTV Spring Break special, and the studio movies "Oscar" starring Oscar winner Sylvester Stallone, Tim Curry, and Oscar winner Marisa Tomei; "Honey I Blew Up The Kid" starring Emmy winner Rick Moranis and Golden Globe winner Keri Russell; and "Problem Child 2" starring Golden Gobe winner John Ritter and Oscar nominee Jack Warden. Seeking bigger career challenges, Michael later moved to Los Angeles in 1995 where he did assistant director gigs, worked as an executive assistant for a Century City film finance company, and then held assistant to the producer positions on movies such as "Wedding Bell Blues" starring Paulina Porizkova, John Corbett, and Carla Gugino; and "Kiss Toledo Goodbye" starring Michael Rapaport, Oscar nominee Christopher Walken, Christine Taylor, and Oscar nominee Robert Forster. In the late 90's, Michael also devoted over 3 years to the theatrical distribution company Legacy Releasing where he served as the Director of Acquisitions. During his time with Legacy, Michael attended the Sundance Film Festival 3 times and participated in the theatrical release of over 30 motion pictures that included the drama "Digging To China" starring Emmy nominee Evan Rachel Wood and Golden Globe winner Kevin Bacon; the romance comedy/drama "The Only Thrill" starring Oscar winner Diane Keaton, Oscar nominee Sam Shepard, and Oscar nominee Diana Lane; the action film "Thursday" starring Golden Globe nominee Thomas Jane, Golden Globe nominee Aaron Eckhart, and Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke; and the inspirational boy and dog movie "Shiloh" starring Golden Globe nominee Scott Wilson, Emmy winner Michael Moriarity, and Oscar winner Rod Steiger.
After a decade of experience under his belt, Michael started writing and producing with the comedy/drama feature film "Roomies" starring A. J. Buckley, Holly Fields, Jennifer Lyons, Stephen First, Joel Michaely, Dana Barron, and Lisa Brenner. Michael followed that up with 3 seasons of segment producing the hit show "MTV Taildaters" and moonlighted as a line producer on award-winning films such as "Exodus Fall" starring Jesse James, Devon Graye, Dee Wallace, and Golden Globe nominee Rosanna Arquette. Wanting to make a heartfelt boy and dog movie with a positive message, Michael wrote and produced the award-winning feature "Smitty" starring 2-time Oscar nominee Peter Fonda, Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, Oscar winner Louis Gossett, Jr., Gemini Award nominee Lolita Davidovich, and Jason London.
As a screenwriter and director, Michael has directed 6 features from his screenplays and is best known for writing and directing the award winning anti-bullying comedy/drama "The Martial Arts Kid" starring Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, Cynthia Rothrock, Jansen Panettiere, Kathryn Newton, Sydney Sweeney, and T.J. Storm; and the award-winning action-comedy "Paying Mr. McGetty" starring Burbank Intl. Film Festival Best Actor winner R. Marcus Taylor and Don 'The Dragon' Wilson. Michael also wrote the screenplay for LionsGate's sci-fi/family film "Ari: The Robot Pet" (being released in early 2020) and he has ready-to-produce screenplays available that include the teen crime drama "Suburban Gangstas," the sequel "The Martial Arts Kid 2: Payback," the buddy comedy "Man Campers," the female in danger drama "Cyber Star," the teen romantic comedy "My Social Media Nightmare," and the action-packed vampire trilogy "Blood Walkers."- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Jamie Gliddon was born on 30 August 1968 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is an actor, known for Jurassic World (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Rage (2014). He has been married to Erin Prince-Gliddon since 2000.- Actress
Julia is a young actress who splits her time between Florida and L.A. She began taking drama classes at a very young age to overcome extreme shyness and just loved it. Julia started on stage performing in local community theatre productions at the age of nine. She did her first student film at Ringling College when she was 11 and has pursued on-camera work since. In real life, Julia is an honor roll high school student. She is on student council and admissions team. On screen, she often portrays the goth/troubled teen! She enjoys the diversity of characters she has gotten to explore. In her free time, Julia pursues ballet - she dances at the School of Russian Ballet each night for several hours after school.- Katherine Harris grew up in a wealthy household in southern Florida, where her father was a very prominent banker and her grandfather a powerful landowner who grew citrus and ranched cattle. After graduating from Bartow High School, she earned a Bachelor's Degree in History with a specialization in International Trade & Negotiations from Agnes Scott College, and then earned a Master Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. Her professional life began as a marketing executive for IBM, then became Vice President of a commercial real estate firm. Like many from such a background, Harris was active in public life, taking part in community affairs and also participating in Republican events. This lead to her seeking office herself, and in 1994, she was elected to the Florida state Senate. After serving a full term, she ran for Secretary of State in 1998. She wasn't expected to win, as her primary opponent was the incumbent, but won an easy victory in the primary and then a competitive general election. In early 2000, she had interest in running for the United States Senate, but was persuaded that she hadn't held her current office long enough. But that year, she became more prominent than any candidate for the U.S. Senate that year. In the Presidential election, Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush finished in the closest Presidential election since 1968, and in Florida the results were a virtual dead heat. Bush appeared to have won by a few hundred votes out of millions cast, and Gore called for a recount. Being in charge of vote tabulations, Harris was suddenly thrust into the national spotlight. She was immediately accused by Democrats of bias in Bush's favor and vilified in the national press. Two automatic recounts showed Bush winning by a tiny margin, but Gore wanted to conduct a manual recount run by county officials in only four counties, all of them solidly Democratic. Harris regarded this as illegal and supported the Bush campaign's efforts to halt this. After weeks of legal wrangling, Bush was declared the winner. But for Harris, it was a huge ordeal. However, she became a heroine among Republican activists, and she was sent huge amounts of flowers by sympathizers, she some of which she distributed to charitable organizations. In the next year, she published a book, "Center of the Storm," which was a moderate success. In 2002, with her office being abolished by a 1998 voter referendum, she ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in a district that includes her home town of Sarasota. She won, but in the general election ran behind party lines. In 2004, she again considered running for the U.S. Senate, but Republican activists persuaded her not to run.
In 2006, she announced that she would definitely run for the United States Senate against Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. Polls show her trailing badly in the general election and that voters in Florida viewed her negatively, but she refused to withdraw, in spite of many requests from her fellow Republicans that she do so. Her campaign stumbled many times, and her errors and gaffes were widely reported in the press. Republicans even tried to find someone to defeat her in the primary, but were unsuccessful. Nelson, though not highly popular, started out well ahead and expanded his lead as the campaign went on. He defeated Harris by a wide margin. In addition to her ignominious defeat, Harris faced anger and resentment from Republicans who claim that she engineered a Republican defeat in a year when Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate.
After her defeat, she quietly served in Congress until her term expired. She then returned to private life. - David Robinson is an American former professional basketball player, who played center for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for his entire career. Based on his prior service as an officer in the United States Navy, Robinson earned the nickname "The Admiral".
Robinson is a 10-time NBA All-Star, the 1995 NBA MVP, a two-time NBA Champion (1999 and 2003), a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner (1992, 1996), a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2009 for his individual career, 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team), and a two-time U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductee (2008 individually, 2009 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team). He is widely considered one of the greatest centers in both college basketball and NBA history. Robinson is the only player from the Naval Academy to play in the NBA.
Robinson averaged 21.1 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, 3 blocks per game, and 2.5 assists per game over 987 games in his NBA career. Also, he is one of only a very small group of players to have scored over 20,000 career points in the NBA, as well as being one of only four players to have recorded a quadruple-double (with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks against the Detroit Pistons on February 17, 1994). - Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Music Department
Andrew Brenner was born on 7 February 1961 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is a writer, known for Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor (2017), Thomas & Friends: The Great Race (2016) and Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! (2018).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Frank Wiltse was born on 23 July 1963 in Key West, Florida, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Joust (1994), Rookie of the Year (1993) and Pay Per View (2015). He was married to Shurl-Lyn Hamacher. He died on 16 August 2023 in Plainfield, Illinois, USA.- Casting Department
- Producer
- Director
Suzy Sachs was born on 28 August 1964 in Key West, Florida, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Miracle on 34th Street (1994), The Jeweled Bird and Yesterday Today. She has been married to Hunington Sachs since 1995. They have five children.- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Production Manager
Steve Beswick was born on 4 January 1952 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is a producer and production manager, known for Legion (2010), Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008) and Middle of Nowhere (2008). He has been married to Nancy Hwang since 27 March 2004. They have one child.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Quincy Perkins was born on 16 July 1980 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Sweet Home Alabama (2002).- Shane Spencer was born on 20 February 1972 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is an actor, known for Judge John Deed (2001), 1998 American League Championship Series (1998) and 1999 American League Championship Series (1999). He has been married to Heidi Spencer since January 2001. They have one child.
- Bronson Arroyo was born on 24 February 1977 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn (2013), Love in Chains (2007) and 2004 American League Championship Series (2004). He was previously married to Aimee Faught.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Born in Key West and brought up in the Florida Keys, Tom went to Riverside Military Acadeamy in Gainsville, Georgia. He started acting at the age of 9 and to date has appeared in almost 200 plays including Dracula, The Fantastics, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Oklahoma, Man of La Mancha, Dial M for Murder, The Seven Year Itch, Dam Yankees, The Graduate and Neil Simmons Rumors, among many others. While attending college in Miami, Florida he appeared as an extra in a number of pictures including Darker Than Amber and The Aquaknots, both shot at the Ivan Tors Studios in North Miami.
He made his first film as a writer/director/producer, The Barrington Oak, in 1978 and then spent the next 10 years in TV news, the first three working as a cameraman for CNN. He followed that with four years at WCSH-TV in Portland, Maineas a camerman/editor.
In 1996 he arrived in Hollywood and to date has completed 20 films, produced 5 and written 16 screen plays. He has played opposite Timothy Bottoms,Maureen McCormick, Edward Albert,LeLe Sobiski, Timmothy Hutton and Christopher Atkins (in 4 different pictures) A 45 year resident of New Hampshire with his wife and 4 cats. He spent 4 years on the New Hampshire Film Commission, 2 years as Chairman.- Writer
- Editor
- Script and Continuity Department
Ralph Spence was born on 4 November 1890 in Key West, Florida, USA. He was a writer and editor, known for Tomorrow at Seven (1933), On Time (1924) and Around the World (1943). He died on 21 December 1949 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
Ward Hayes was born on 7 September 1894 in Key West, Florida, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Come on Cowboys! (1924), My Pal (1925) and An Awful Bull (1921). He died on 26 January 1925 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Rich Garcia was born on 22 May 1942 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is an actor, known for For Love of the Game (1999), Monday Night Baseball (1976) and 1984 World Series (1984).
- Fred Nelson was born on 31 August 1963 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is an actor, known for Post House (2006), Dinner: Impossible (2007) and Gladys' Beautiful Beard Balm (2018).
- Erick Burdette sought his musical fortune in Los Angeles and still searching for fame and riches. He is currently living in Inglewood CA. Erick Burdette has played, jammed and hung out with numerous artist and bands in his musical career. Reeves Neveo & the Cinch, Geno Washington, Najee, Patrice Rushin, Himalaya and is now currently playing with a Funk Rock band call Inuendo. Erick is now married with three kids.
- Soundtrack
Mark Gormley was born on 7 May 1957 in Key West, Florida, USA. He died on 24 May 2024 in Pensacola, Florida, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Sound Department
Michael Mulholland was born in September 1964 in Key West, Florida, USA. He is a composer, known for The Fighter (2010), Hardball (2001) and The Dilemma (2011).- Cintio Vitier was born on 25 September 1921 in Key West, Florida, USA. He was a writer, known for Cintio Vitier (1992). He died on 1 October 2009 in Havana, Cuba.
- Ruth W. Greenfield was born on 17 November 1923 in Key West, Florida, USA. She was married to Arnold Merwin Greenfield. She died on 27 July 2023 in Miami, Florida, USA.