Rusty Williams papers

Rusty Williams was a comedian who worked in the vaudeville circuit for 38 years, from the 1910’s to 1950. In that time, he worked in tent shows, traveling shows and on some of the major vaudeville stages of his day, doing comedy routines, singing and performing both in whiteface and blackface and as a clown.

He was born on February 1, 1897 in Durham N.C. His father was a shipping clerk and then a farmer. As a child, Rusty developed a local reputation for being a rather good singer. One day when Rusty was in his teens, a musical quartet from Texas called The Great Western Quartet came through town. They happened to be looking for a new tenor to join their act, and Rusty was recruited and joined the troupe. The quartet played every major US city, Canada, Cuba and Mexico. Rusty enjoyed it and stuck with it for over two years.

Once his stint with the Great Western Quartet ended, Williams went on do comedy in a variety show directed by a man named Joe Cunard. Other companies he worked with include: Coburn’s Minstrel show, Jethro Almond’s tent show, Walt Kellums’ Change of Pace Revue, and William Todd’s tent show, whose slogan was better than a circus He stayed with Todd for a total of 16 summer seasons, splitting his time between working for Todd and managing his own travelling show in which Williams and a fellow named George A. Hunter formed a double blackface act, with Hunter as the straight man. This was a successful time for Williams, and he played a number of major US theaters, including those in New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Chicago.

Williams’ first self produced show, in the latter 1910’s was Rusty’s Merry Go Round Revue, featuring him as the star attraction. Included in the show were a cadre of chorus girls and vaudeville acts, nearly twenty people altogether. His booking agent was a man named Joe Speigelberg, who operated a performance circuit up and down the Eastern seaboard.

Williams married Dorothy Hurrey in Miami, and had two daughters with her. Their names were Wilma and Billie. They were good tap dancers and they could sing. For many years, they held the world record for number of schools attended, a total of 267 altogether. While one may wonder how they were able to learn anything at all, they were both avid readers, and usually were ahead of their classmates when it came to their studies. An article in the Rusty Williams papers details their experiences hopping from school to school.

In the thirties, after Todd had died, Williams struck out on his own full time. He formed his own tent show, working winter and summer. He hauled his tents from place to place, performing for the farmers in lots of small towns. His wife and family helped him out.

Towards the end of his career in vaudeville, when his two daughters were older, Mrs. Williams would play the piano, and it would become a family affair with Rusty clowning on stage in blackface, his girls tap dancing between reels of old movies, and Mrs. Williams playing piano for them all. He held on until 1950 when he became a deputy sheriff. Movie houses, drive in movie theaters, and tv all contributed to the decline of vaudeville. By the 50s, it was all over.