Billy McClain

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia William C Billy McClain 12 October 1866 19 January 1950 was an AfricanAmerican acrobat comedian and actor who starred in minstrel shows before World War I He wrote produced and directed several major stage and outdoor extravaganzas and wrote a number of popular songs He was influential in extending the range of minstrel shows far beyond the traditional conventions of the time giving them appeal to much wider audiences He toured in the USA Canada Australia and Europe Later he promoted boxing and played several minor roles in movies In 1931 McClain moved to Los Angeles and obtained a position with the Pasadena police department as a physical trainer In August 1931 he appeared on stage for the first time in 21 years in a benefit performance playing the two leading roles from Uncle Tom Uncle Tom himself and the slave owner Simon Legree While working for the police department he acted in several films These included Nagana 1933 starring Melvyn Douglas the short Rhapsody in Black where he sang four southern melodies and Dimples starring Shirley Temple Between 1933 and 1946 McClain appeared in many other film roles although often these were minor parts and he was not credited He played a servant butler footman cook and janitor His last role was as Uncle Ben in Vincente Minnellis suspense drama Undercurrent 1946 His name was misspelled in the end credits as McLain Billy McClain died on 19 January 1950 when the trailer he was sleeping in caught fire McClain was one of the pioneers in introducing vaudevillized minstrelsy which opened a wider range of styles on the eve of the ragtime era Despite his great ability he was handicapped by prejudice against African Americans Thus he was reportedly arrested in Kansas City in 1902 for the offense of having too much jewelry for a colored man He may have failed to change from his stage clothes to street clothes before leaving the theater During his lifetime he neither claimed nor received full recognition for his achievements