George Christy

infobox actor


caption=Sheet music cover for a collection of songs by Christy's Minstrels, 1844. George Christy appears in the circle at top.
birthname=George Harrington
occupation=Stage actor, singer

George Christy (born George Harrington) was one of the leading blackface performers during the early years of the blackface minstrel show in the 1840s. [Lott, 1993, 174.] 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. [Lott, 1993, 267.] [Belcher.] 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. [It is possible that he has him confused with E.P. Christy.]

Notes

References

* Belcher, W.H., [http://www.lambertcastle.org/John_Rea.html Interesting Career of Judge John W. Rea] , originally from "Passaic County Historical Publication", Vol. II, No. 1, September 1, 1931. Accessed 6 Sept 2005.
* Comer, Jim, [http://www.ferris.edu/news/jimcrow/links/comer/ Every Time I Turn Around: Rite, Reversal, and the end of blackface minstrelsy] . Accessed 6 Sept 2005.
* Lott, Eric. "Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class". New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-507832-2.