Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

The son of a minstrel and circus tightrope walker, Eddie Anderson developed a gravel voice early in life which would become his trademark to fame. He joined his older brother Cornelius as members of "The Three Black Aces" during his vaudeville years, singing for pennies in the hotel lobby. He eventually moved his way up to the Roxy and Apollo theaters in New York, which led to the Los Angeles Cotton Club in the west. He began to appear in films, typically in servile bits, his best being the featured role of "Noah" in The Green Pastures (1936). He continued in that vein until a chance pairing with comedy star Jack Benny on his radio program in 1937 put him on the map. He only had a bit part on Benny's Easter show as a Pullman porter, but his scratchy voice, superb timing and comic reaction to Benny's banter earned him a fixed spot. He then was heard as Benny's personal valet, Rochester Van Jones, and the role became so popular that he became billed as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. In between radio assignments, he found the time to appear in both film drama and comedies, including You Can't Take It with You (1938), Kentucky (1938), Jezebel (1938), and three with Benny - Man About Town (1939), Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) and Love Thy Neighbor (1940). After the films Brewster's Millions (1945) and The Show-Off (1946), Anderson concentrated on his partnership with Jack Benny, following him into television and working with him for a total of 23 years. He returned to the screen for It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) but ill health eventually forced him into retirement. He died of long-standing heart problems in 1977.
Eddie Acuff

Eddie Acuff

Eddie Acuff is one of those wonderful supporting actors who peopled the fascinating world of Hollywood's A, B or Z movies. In a career spanning eighteen years he appeared in an amazing almost 300 movies and one TV episode! His appearances could be invisible (when deleted), hardly visible (he portrayed an endless series of cabbies, reporters, cameramen, cowboys, hamburger vendors, orderlies, ticket agents, militiamen, bus drivers, the lot...), short but recurring (he was the accident-prone mailman in the 'Blondie' series after Irving Bacon gave up the part) or more fleshed out, notably as the sidekick in various serials. Anyway, he nearly always played - in a very talented way - the wise-cracking guy who "knows better". Born on June 3rd 1903, Edward Acuff was drawn to acting under the influence of his maternal uncle, who had been a performer on showboats along the Mississippi. Before going to Hollywood, Eddie Acuff started a theater career, and even played on Broadway (in minor roles of course) in plays such as 'The Dark Hour', 'Heat Lightning' or 'Yellow Jack'. From 1934 to 1951 (five years before his untimely death following a sudden heart attack), Eddie Acuff worked and worked and worked. Only a few of his films are classics (The Petrified Forest (1936), They Drive by Night (1940), High Sierra (1941), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Johnny Allegro (1949))...So what? Seeing but a glimpse of Acuff is always a dose of pleasure guaranteed. Eddie Acuff is buried at the North Hollywood Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park.

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