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BERT WILLIAMS, THE JACKIE ROBINSON OF THE AMERICAN THEATER - Page 2

© Joyce E. Eberly

Although Walker and Williams continued to work together, their relationship became strained. Having never really been close friends, differences in temperament made their professional lives difficult. However, they did produce a new show, "Bandanna Land," in 1908.

In 1909, during the run of "Bandanna Land," Walker became ill and had to retire from the stage. Since Walker had been the business manager, Williams had to take over Walker?s duties. He opened a revue, "Mr. Load of Koal," which received good reviews. However, Williams discovered he was temperamentally unsuited for managing, and the musical closed in May 1909. Williams continued to perform successfully as a single act in vaudeville theaters with white performers despite attempts by them to ban him.

In 1910, Ziegfeld approached Williams to appear in his 1910 "Follies," where he would be billed as "The Blackbird with Songs." The white performers already under contract threatened a revolt, but Ziegfeld said they were all replaceable except for Williams who was "unique." Williams also appeared in the 1911 and 1912 "Follies" and was an enormous hit. In the 1911 "Follies" he introduced the song, "Woodman, Spare that Tree," written for him by Irving Berlin

During his years in vaudeville and as a featured performer in the Follies, Williams continued writing songs and making records on wax cylinders. Although he had signed a contract with Ziegfeld he decided not to appear in the 1913 "Follies" because of segregation and discrimination suffered during tours of the South. He did appear in the 1916 and 1917 "Follies", however. Nevertheless, he was becoming more and more outspoken about the injustices facing a black performer in segregated productions.

He left vaudeville for a short time to appear in two short films in 1914, only one of which is now remembered: "Darktown Jubilee." This film is believed to be the first with an all-black cast. After it received angry reactions from whites in a mixed race audience in Brooklyn, the film was never widely circulated. Only two films Williams made in 1916 now survive: "Fish" and "A Natural Born Gambler."

By now, Williams was so distressed with segregation he refused to perform in the South, although he did appear in the 1916 and 1917 versions of the "Follies." He wrote an essay about his experiences with segregation in the "American Magazine" and "New York Age" in 1918. In 1919 he made what is considered his most famous comment about race in the "American Magazine": "People sometimes ask me if I would give anything to be white. I answer'I have never been able to discover that there was anything disgraceful in being a colored man. But I have often found it inconvenient in America.'"

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