Tim Moore (December 9, 1887 - December 13, 1958)

I can't even hear his name without laughing. Tim Moore has a very successful career in vaudeville and on Broadway but it was at age 63 starting playing a role that would make him famous. In 1951, the highly popular "Amos N' Andy Show" made the jump from radio to television. The series stars and creators were Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, two white men. Because the characters were all African-American a casting call was necessary. Actors Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams, Jr. signed on to play the lead roles with actors Johnny Lee, Ernestine Wade, Amanda Randolph, and Lillian Randolph reprising their roles from the radio series. Tim Moore was given the job of playing George "Kingfish" Stevens...and what a role that was. I know that we are in 2008 now and that such a series could never be produced in this day and age. But I hope that everyone is adult enough to take it for what it was meant for and that was to make people laugh. White, black I don't think it matters. The crazy antics of the Kingfish and his gang will forever be drilled into American radio history.

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