George Christy
Born6 November 1827 Edit this on Wikidata
Palmyra Edit this on Wikidata
Died12 May 1868 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 40)
New York Edit this on Wikidata
OccupationActor Edit this on Wikidata

George N. Christy (born George Harrington) (November 6, 1827 – May 12, 1868) was one of the leading blackface performers during the early years of the blackface minstrel show in the 1840s.[1]

Born in Palmyra, New York, his career began as a star performer with his stepfather E. P. Christy's troupe Christy's Minstrels; in two and a half years with them he earned $19,680, a fortune for those times.[2][3] Jim Comer credits him with inventing "the line", the structured grouping that constituted the first act of the standardized 3-act minstrel show, with the interlocutor in the middle and "Mr. Tambo" and "Mr. Bones" on the ends.[4]

He died in New York City from cerebral edema in 1868.

Notes

  1. ↑ Lott, 1993, 174.
  2. ↑ Lott, 1993, 267.
  3. ↑ Belcher.
  4. ↑ It is possible that he has him confused with E.P. Christy.

Sources

References

  • Belcher, W.H., Interesting Career of Judge John W. Rea, originally from Passaic County Historical Publication, Vol. II, No. 1, September 1, 1931. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
  • Comer, Jim, Every Time I Turn Around: Rite, Reversal, and the end of blackface minstrelsy. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
  • Lott, Eric. Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-507832-2.

Further reading


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