fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Sidney Easton (October 2, 1885 – December 24, 1971) was an African-American actor, stage performer, playwright, composer, vocalist, and pianist. He worked as a performer in minstrel shows, carnivals, burlesque, and vaudeville.[1] Starting in the 1930s he appeared in films.[2]

Sidney Easton
Born	(1885-10-02)October 2, 1885 Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Died	December 24, 1971(1971-12-24) (aged 86)
Occupation	actor, stage performer, playwright, composer, vocalist, pianist

Biography

Sidney Easton was born on October 2, 1885, in Savannah, Georgia.[2][3] However some sources have his date of birth as 1886 or 1891.[1][2] Easton was the eldest of six children, his parents were Eva and King Easton.[4] In childhood, Easton went to work for the John Robinson Circus and later with the A.G. Allan Minstrel Show.[4] He was married to performer Sarah Dooley from 1913 to 1920, ending in her death.[4]

Easton was a member of the Easton Trio.[1] Many of his songs were recorded by various musicians in the 1920s including Elizabeth Smith [Wikidata], Margaret Johnson, Martha Copeland, Fats Waller, Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra, Joe Simms [Wikidata], Ethel Waters and the Ebony Four, George Bias, Stewart Wille, Virginia Liston, Clarence Williams and the Clarence Williams’ Blue Five, and Eva Taylor.[5]

Easton had a few successful collaborations with the singer Ethel Waters, including the lyrics and composition of the song, Go Back to Where You Stayed Last Night.[4] Easton was the lyric and instrumental composer and served as a co- producer alongside Joe Simms of the traveling show, Sons of Rest (1920).[6]

In the 1940s he sued 20th Century Fox the makers of the film, Lifeboat (1944) for having used his play Lifeboat 13 to write the script.[7] The case settled out of court four years later.[4]

The New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has a collection of his papers.[4]

Theater and stage

Theater and stage credits

Name	Dates	Role	Notes
How've You Been?	1925	performer, "the happy bootblack"	traveling musical revue by Pollock Productions, music by Donald Heywood[6]
Darktown Scandals	1927	performer	traveling musical revue by Eddie Hunter[6]
Kilpatrick's (Old Time Minstrels)	April 19, 1930 – April 26, 1930	performer	9 performances at the Royale Theatre, by Henry Myers.[8] Performances were done by an African American cast, however many wore blackface to appear darker and red lips.[8]
The Pursuit of Happiness	1933 – 1934	performer, Mose	musical revue at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre in Kansas City, by Alan Child, and Isabelle Louden.[9]
The Case of Philip Lawrence	June 7, 1937 – July 31, 1937	performer, first bodyguard	[3]
At Home With Ethel Waters	September 22, 1953 – October 10, 1953	composer	music and lyrics for "Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night"
After Midnight	November 2013 – June 2014	composer	music and lyrics

Filmography

Film credits

Year	Name	Role	Notes
1931	His Woman	Mark	film based on the novel The Sentimentalists by Dale Collins (Boston, 1927).[10]
1932	Wayward	George	film based on the novel Wild Beauty by Mateel Howe Farnham (New York, 1930).[11]
1939	Paradise in Harlem	Sneeze Ancrum	Easton performed with Babe Matthews in this film.[12][13]
1941	Murder on Lenox Avenue	Speed Simmons	[12]
1940	Sunday Sinners	Bootsie	[14]
1946	Fight That Ghost	Spooky Lighting	[12]
1947	The Story of Mr. Hobbs	Ben (butler)	[12]
1948	Killer Diller	policeman
1948	Boarding House Blues	Boo Boo

References

External links

• Sidney Easton at IMDb

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