{"product_id":"23677-williams-bert-autograph-signature-nobody-with-photograph","title":"Williams, Bert. (1874 - 1922) Autograph Signature \"Nobody\" with Photograph","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRare autograph signature of the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eVaudeville performer and comedian who was an integral figure in the development of African-American entertainment. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInk signature, signed  \"'Nobody,' Bert Williams, Dec. 23rd\/12,\" on an off-white sheet. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eSignature measures 3.5 x 2 inches (9 x 5 cm). Double-matted with an image of Williams in blackface to an overall size of 8.5 x 13.5 inches (21.6 x 34.3 cm). \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eComposed by Williams with lyrics by Alex Rogers in 1905 and first publicly performed in 1906 in the Broadway production \u003cem\u003eAbyssinia\u003c\/em\u003e, the song 'Nobody' became Williams's signature theme and sold tremendously well for Columbia Records in the 1930s. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eInhabiting the overtly racist landscape of his time, Williams, the child of recent immigrants from the Bahamas, made the radical decision to don blackface makeup to hide his light complexion. Behind this mask he became a Broadway headliner–as influential a comedian as Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and W. C. Fields, who called him “the funniest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew.” Williams went on to become the first black performer in the Ziegfeld Follies. \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46657339588767,"sku":"23677","price":1500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Screenshot2024-09-06at12.33.37PM.png?v=1725640425","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/23677-williams-bert-autograph-signature-nobody-with-photograph","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}