Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal Commentary Blogs -> Althouse

Legal Commentary

: Althouse

Do you remember "My Little Margie"? I do!

This "I Love Lucy"-like sitcom ran from 1952 to 1955, and I'm surprised that I have memories of watching it. (I was born in 1951.) I see that the star ? Gale Storm ? has just died, at the age of 87.

I was able to pull up a clip of the old show. This clip is interesting for several reasons: 1. It's just so incredibly old-fashioned, 2. There's a role for a black actor (Willie Best as Charlie, the elevator operator), 3. There's a law theme (service of process).

RIP, Gale Storm.

Something more on Willie Best (who died in 1962):

William "Willie" Best (May 27, 1916 ? February 27, 1962) was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first well-known African-American film actors, although his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is today sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and simple-minded Black characters in films. Best's characterization of the stereotype of the lazy Black man earned him the stage name "Sleep 'n' Eat"; many of his films bill him under this name, if he was billed at all.

Here's a YouTube clip of Best (credited as Sleep 'n' Eat) in a 1932 movie called "The Monster Walks." Offered for historical reference, it's badly recorded and exemplifies the unfortunate stereotypes.

Full post as published by Althouse on June 29, 2009 (boomark / email).