- Bob Height
Bob Height was an
African American blackface minstrel performer. He was a standout talent in the companies with which he performed, although frustrations eventually drove him to pursue a career in Europe. Later writers have compared him to his contemporary,Bert Williams . [Toll 203.]Height joined with
Charles Hicks in the late 1860s to formHicks and Height's Georgia Minstrels . This company proved quite popular among African Americans, particularly in theWashington, D.C. area. Eventually, both Hicks and Height joined Sam Hague's Slave Troupe of Georgia Minstrels. Height became a featured talent and accompanied the troupe on a European tour in the early 1870s.Upon the troupe's return to the US in 1872,
Charles Callender purchased it and changed the name toCallender's Original Georgia Minstrels . The new owner helped lead the company to great success, and Height enjoyed high billing alongsideBilly Kersands andPete Devonear . Before long, however, Height and several other performers quit Callender's in a dispute over pay and recognition. They formed a new company, but it saw little success; most of the players soon rejoined Callender's troupe. Height instead emigrated to Europe, where he performed for many years.Notes
References
*Toll, Robert C. (1974). "Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-century America". New York: Oxford University Press.
*Watkins, Mel (1994). "On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying—The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor". New York: Simon & Schuster.
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