Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American actor and comedian known for his gravelly voice. To a generation of early radio and television comedy audiences, he was known as "Rochester".
Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudeville circuit. In the early 1930s, he transitioned into films and radio. In 1937, he began his role of Rochester van Jones, usually known simply as Rochester, the valet of Jack Benny on the NBC radio show The Jack Benny Program. Anderson became the first African American to have a regular role on a nationwide radio program. When the series moved to CBS television in 1950, Anderson continued in the role until the series ended in 1965.
After the series ended, Anderson remained active with guest-starring roles on television and voice work in animated series. He was also an avid horse-racing fan who owned several race horses and worked as a horse trainer at the Hollywood Park Racetrack. He was married twice and had four children. He died of heart disease in February 1977 at the age of 71.
Anderson was born in Oakland, California. His father, "Big Ed" Anderson, was a minstrel performer, while his mother Ella Mae had been a tightrope walker until her career was ended by a fall. He described himself as a descendant of slaves who were able to leave the South during the Civil War through the Underground Railroad. At the age of 10, Anderson and his family moved from Oakland to San Francisco. He left school when he was 14 to work as an errand boy to help his family.
Stagestruck at an early age, he spent much of his free time waiting at stage doors and playing on street corners with his friend and brother, Cornelius. Anderson briefly tried being a jockey, but had to abandon it when he became too heavy. Anderson started in show business as part of an all-African-American revue at the age of 14; he had previously won an amateur contest at a vaudeville theater in San Francisco. Anderson joined the cast of Struttin' Along in 1923 and was part of Steppin' High both as a dancer and as one of the Three Black Aces with his brother Cornelius in 1924. He later worked in vaudeville with Cornelius. Anderson began adding comedy to his song-and-dance act in 1926. During one of his vaudeville tours to the East Coast, Anderson first met Jack Benny, but they only exchanged greetings and shook hands.
Anderson ruptured his vocal cords when he was a youngster selling newspapers in San Francisco, a job that required loud shouting. The permanent damage left him with his trademark gravelly voice. Anderson started in show business as a dancer, but it was his uniquely recognizable voice that brought him to stardom.
Anderson's first appearance on The Jack Benny Program was on March 28, 1937. He was originally hired to play the one-time role of a redcap for a storyline in which the show traveled from Chicago to California by train, which coincided with the show's actual return to NBC's Radio City West in Hollywood after a brief stint in New York. Anderson, who was working as a comedian in Los Angeles, won the role after an audition.
Five weeks after Anderson's first appearance on the Benny program, he was called for another role on the show, this time as a waiter in a restaurant serving the cast. Several weeks later, Anderson was called back once again for the part of a man who had a financial disagreement with Benny.
After the show received many positive fan letters regarding Anderson's guest appearances, Benny invited him to join the cast as Rochester van Jones, the butler and valet for the fictionalized version of Benny. This job made Anderson the first African American with a regular role on a nationwide radio program. Anderson first appeared as Rochester on the program of June 20, 1937.
Neither Benny nor Anderson could recall the origin of the name of Rochester for the character. Anderson always credited Benny, saying that the name was copyrighted and that Benny later sold the rights to him for a dollar. Several episodes offered origin stories for Rochester, including an Amos 'n' Andy backstory. A later television show explained that Benny met Rochester on a railroad train, with Benny responsible for Rochester being fired and then hiring him as a valet.
Benny became frustrated with Anderson's habitual tardiness and fined him $50 each time that he arrived late at the studio. Benny often asked cast members to check on Anderson, who frequently lost track of time, just before travel dates to ensure that he was ready, and occasionally the cast was forced to leave Anderson behind. In one incident, Anderson sped to the Pasadena train station with an LAPD motorcycle squad escort in order to catch his train.
The Rochester character became immensely popular. In 1940, a riot ensued when Anderson's arrival at a Harvard University event was delayed by a prank by students from the rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Especially after World War II, Rochester was second only to Benny in popularity and frequently received the most enthusiastic applause. Although he was not normally involved in the opening minutes of the show, he began to surpass Mary Livingstone as Benny's main foil, especially as Livingstone's stage fright caused her to appear less frequently.
Benny's character and Rochester engaged in numerous running gags, often based on Rochester's attempts to evade work or to go to Central Avenue to drink or on Benny's business ventures or trademark frugality. In Rochester's early appearances, a running gag also involved his gambling habits, although this aspect of his character was considerably downplayed after World War II.
Although Anderson was born and raised in the Oakland area, he came to the Los Angeles black community in the 1930s in search of film work. The people of the Central Avenue area would hold mock elections to name the "Mayor of Central Avenue," who had the right and the duty to advocate for the black community. In May 1940, Anderson launched a campaign for the post. From his headquarters at the Dunbar Hotel, Anderson conducted his campaign based mainly on real issues, such as advocacy for black military aviators. He took flying lessons and lectured with a Tuskegee Institute representative about the subject. Anderson won the election.
Anderson's role as a servant was common for black performers of that era, and the stereotyping of black characters had been standard practice in the entertainment business for many years, often in the form of minstrel shows in which white actors in blackface reinforced negative stereotypes. Benny had broadcast a radio minstrel show on November 1, 1936, with the cast performing in dialect but revisited the subject for a March 29, 1942, show that evinced a great deal of progress in race relations.
According to Benny's posthumous autobiography Sunday Nights at Seven, the amount of racial humor regarding Rochester lessened following World War II after the enormity of the Holocaust was revealed. Benny and his writers initiated a conscious effort to remove all stereotypical aspects from the Rochester character. When a rehashed 1940 script was used for a February 1950 show that included several black stereotypes, some listeners sent angry letters in protest. Thereafter, Benny insisted that his writers guarantee that no racial jokes or references should be heard on his show. Benny often afforded key guest-star appearances to African American performers such as Louis Armstrong and the Ink Spots, and Benny made numerous personal appeals on his show asking listeners to reject racism in favor of fraternity and peaceful racial relations.
The relationship between Rochester and Benny became more complex and familiar as the popularity of Rochester's character grew, with Rochester's role becoming less stereotypical and subservient. However, as a butler, the character remained subservient to the entire cast and was always called Rochester, but he addressed the other characters with formal titles. Although some of the humor remained stereotypical, the racial element of the jokes would emanate from Rochester only.