Amos and Andy 1978 Inductees

Amos & Andy, one of the finest situation comedies of all time, was popular in the United States from the 1920s through
the 1950s.  The show was first broadcast in March of 1928 from radio station WMAQ in Chicago.  It became the
longest-running radio program in broadcast history.

The show was created and written by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.  Freeman Gosden was a pioneer in the
development of the situation comedy form.  He teamed up with Charles Correll in 1921 to do radio work, comedy acts,
sketches, and to host variety shows.  They had several successful radio shows before Amos & Andy.

During the early days of Amos & Andy, Gosden and Correll were the voices for all the main character roles - "Amos,"
"Andy," "Kingfish," "Lightning," "Brother Crawford," and dozens of other characters.  The show was one of the earliest
success stories of radio syndication.  Many stations besides WMAQ carried the program using prerecorded records.
The show was moved to NBC in 1929.  The story line was then changed to reflect the main characters moving from
Chicago to Harlem in New York City, where they were then joined by the rest of the regular characters.

The show's popularity gained it many sponsors over the years, including Pepsodent toothpaste, Campbell's soup, Rinso
detergent, and the Rexall drugstore chain.  Amos & Andy had an estimated forty million listeners by 1931.  President
Calvin Coolidge was reported to be a zealous listener.  Huey P. Long, the then governor of Louisiana, took his
nickname "Kingfish" from one of the characters on the show.  Indeed, the show was so popular that movie theaters of
the era began the practice of stopping the movie that was playing and then broadcasting the Amos & Andy show over
the sound system.  After the 15 minute radio show was over, the movie was resumed.

The TV version of Amos & Andy was produced by Gosden and Correll from 1951 to 1953.  The first episode aired on the
CBS-TV network in July of 1951 and the show became the surprise hit of the year.  Gosden and Correll conducted a
four year search to find African-American actors who could bring their radio personalities to life.  They finally settled on
three outstanding actors who sounded reasonably like the radio characters.   Amos & Andy became the first television
show with an all-black cast.  Alvin Childress was selected as "Amos," Tim Moore played "Kingfish," and Spencer
Williams Jr. became "Andy."   They were acknowledged to be three of the finest comics of all time.  Ernestine Wade as
"Saffire Stevens" and Amanda Randolph as Saffire's mother, "Ramona Smith," were brought over to TV from the radio
cast.

Amidst growing protests by the black community as well as the NAACP regarding the characterization of
African-Americans on the show, it was cancelled by CBS in 1953.   However, it was widely rerun on local stations for
another ten years.

The radio show, with changes in format over the years, continued to flourish.  It had managed to escape much of the
controversy surrounding the TV show. The final Amos & Andy radio show was broadcast on November 25, 1960.

Page created November 25, 2003  Copyright©  InfoAge 1998-2003 InfoAge. All rights reserved.
Page research and presentation by Doris Tucker, Infoage Virtual Volunteer
Amos and Andy image from http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/aa.html  By Elizabeth McLeod