Alvin Childress
Alvin Childress | |
---|---|
Born | Emory Alvin Childress September 15, 1907 Meridian, Mississippi, U.S. |
Died | April 19, 1986 Inglewood, California, U.S. | (aged 78)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1931–1982 |
Spouses |
Alvin Childress (September 15, 1907 – April 19, 1986) was an American actor, who is best known for playing the cabdriver Amos Jones in the 1950s television comedy series Amos 'n' Andy.
Biography
Alvin Childress was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He was educated at Rust College, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. When he initially entered college, Childress intended to become a doctor, enrolling in typical pre-med courses. He had no thoughts of becoming involved in acting, but became involved in theater outside of classes.[3]
Childress moved to
In 1951, he was cast as the level-headed, hard-working and honest Amos Jones in the popular television series, The Amos 'n' Andy Show, which ran for two years on CBS. Childress originally tried out for the role of The Kingfish, but Charles Correll and Freeman Gosden cast him as Amos.[11] Since he had been hired a year before the show began, Gosden and Correll turned the search for an actor to play "The Kingfish" over to Childress.[12] In a 1979 interview, Childress shared information about some of the candidates. Cab Calloway was considered but found wanting by Gosden because of his straight hair. Childress said there were many famous men, with and without actual acting experience, who wanted to play the role.[13] Eventually, old-time vaudeville comedian Tim Moore was cast as the Kingfish.[14][15]
Shortly after the television show had ended, plans to turn it into a vaudeville act were announced in 1953, with Childress, Williams and Moore playing the same roles as they had in the television series. It is not known if there were any performances.
Childress also appeared in roles on the television series Perry Mason,[12] Sanford and Son,[18] Good Times and The Jeffersons[19] and in the films Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) and The Day of the Locust (1975).[14] When Childress appeared as a minister in a 1972 episode of Sanford and Son, he was reunited with two former cast members: Lillian Randolph of Amos 'n' Andy in the role of Aunt Hazel and Lance Taylor, Jr. of Anna Lucasta, with the role of Uncle Edgar.[20]
Childress's first wife was the former Alice Herndon, who established herself as a successful writer and actress under the name of Alice Childress (1916–1994); the couple was married from 1934 to 1957 and had a daughter, Jean Rosa.[3][21] From 1961 to 1973, Childress worked as an unemployment interviewer for the Los Angeles Department of Personnel and in the Civil Service Commission of Los Angeles County.[10][12][22]
Death
Childress suffered from diabetes and other ailments. He died at age 78 on April 19, 1986, in Inglewood, California.[23][24] He was buried at National Memorial Harmony Park in Landover, Maryland.[25]
Stage and screen credits
- Selected stage credits
- Savage Rhythm (1931)
- Brown Sugar (1934)
- Sweet Land (1936)[26]
- The Case of Philip Lawrence (1937)
- Haiti (1938)[27]
- Hell's Alley (1938)
- Natural Man (1941)
- Two on an Island (1942)
- Anna Lucasta (1944–46)
- Striver's Row (1946)
- The Amen Corner (1968)
- Selected screen credits
- Hell's Alley (1931)
- Harlem is Heaven(1932)
- Out of the Crimson Fog (1932)
- Dixie Love (1934)
- Keep Punching (1939)
- Anna Lucasta (1958)[28] – Noah
- The Man in the Net (1959) – Alonzo (uncredited)
- High Time (1960) – Guest Announcer at Judge Carter's Ball (uncredited)
- Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) – Janitor
- The Day of the Locust (1975) – Butler
- Darktown Strutters (1975) – Bo
- The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) – Horace Quigley, Owner of Atlanta Black Crackers
- The Main Event (1979) – Man In Gym
- Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980) – Pinochle Player
References
- ^ "Alvin Childress, who played 'Amos' on TV, dies at 78". The Milwaukee Journal. 21 April 1986.
- ^ a b c "Alvin Childress – Just Call Him 'Amos'". The Afro American. 25 September 1954. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ "Amos And Andy Name Subs For Television Roles". St. Petersburg Times. 18 June 1951. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ISBN 0-7864-1132-5. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ^ "'Anna Lucasta' Next at Nixon". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 10 October 1946. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ "Radio's Veteran Comics Smash Hit on Television". Eugene Register-Guard. 14 April 1954. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ What Happened to TV Stars of Amos 'n' Andy?. Jet. 1981. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ a b Clayton, Edward T. (1961). The Tragedy of Amos 'n' Andy. Ebony. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
- ^ a b Whatever happened to The Amos 'n' Andy Cast?. Ebony. July 1973. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
- ^ "Amos 'n' Andy Look For Exit As They Plan New TV Show". Reading Eagle. 17 June 1951. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d "TV's Amos Finds Fame Fleeting". The news and Courier. 14 November 1964. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ "A Conversation with 'Sapphire' and 'Amos'". Yoda'sLair.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ^ a b "Alvin Childress". AllMovie biography.
- ^ Quigg, Jack (10 June 1951). "Declare: 'TV not for us'". Youngstown Vindicator. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ "'Amos 'n' Andy' Set for Vaude". Baltimore Afro-American. 4 August 1953. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ Gardiner, John (25 June 1957). "The Theatre and its People". The Windsor Daily Star. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ Television. Jet. 27 January 1972. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ^ "Tonight's Best on TV – The Jeffersons". Lakeland Ledger. 8 March 1975. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ "Alvin Childress on Sanford and Son". Washington Afro-American. 25 May 1976. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ "Changes in 'Lucasta' Cast". The Afro American. 10 August 1946. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ Says 'Amos 'n' Andy' Role Employment Handicap. Jet. 26 October 1961. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
- ^ "Actor of 'Amos' Fame Dies". Eugene Register-Guard. 22 April 1986. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
- ^ "Amos of TV's Amos 'n' Andy is dead at age 78". Lodi News-Journal. 22 April 1986. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
- ^ "Youth Theatre Presents Play". The Afro American. 5 September 1936. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ "Harlem Protests Moving 'Haiti'". The Afro American. 2 July 1938. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ "Eartha, Sammy, Signed for 'Lucasta'". St. Petersburg Times. 30 June 1958. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
External links
- Alvin Childress at IMDb
- Alvin Childress at the Internet Broadway Database