Stepin Fetchit The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry978-0375423826

«  » »Description:The name Stepin Fetchit evokes images of an African-American caricature, a lazy, cowering fixture in early films. Watkins, a former New York Times Book Review editor, details the story behind the stereotype, examining the life and career of actor Lincoln Perry (19021985), creator of Stepin Fetchit. Watkins makes a case that the character’s «  »rebellious, folk-inspired subversiveness (avoiding unrewarding labor by pretense and sham) was subverted and, ultimately, perverted. » » Perry started performing in early 20th-century traveling minstrel shows and was part of the two-man act «  »Step and Fetch It. » » By the early 1920s, when he reached Hollywood, he’d gone solo but kept the name. After breaking into films and working with luminaries like Will Rogers, he fought for treatment and salaries similar to his white co-stars. He became a millionaire



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