(December 9, 1887-December 13, 1958)
Born in Rock Island, Illinois
Birth name was Harry Roscoe Moore
Portrayed George 'Kingfish' Stevens on 'Amos N Andy' (1951-53)
Vaudeville comedian
Appeared in the films 'Darktown Revue' (1931) and 'Boy! What a Girl!' (1947)

He dropped out of school before his teens to join a vaudeville revue.
He later joined a medicine show selling quack remedies and worked as a carnival geek, pretending to bite the heads off snakes.
He made his Broadway debut starring in a show called 'Lucky Sambo.'
He was arrested for firing a gun at his in-laws (1958).

During his vaudeville career, he played the Apollo in Harlem and the Moulin Rouge in Paris and co-starred with Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and Lena Horne.
He stole 'Amos and Andy' from the two titular stars.
<4263>Sammy Davis, Jr.<4263> said, 'He had the unique ability in comedy to vault a lot of the build-up in a funny situation with a facial expression or gesture that told more than a hundred words in the mouth of another comedian.'

Credit: C. Fishel

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