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Ernest Fredric Morrison (December 20, 1912 – July 24, 1989) was an American child actor, comedian, vaudevillian, and dancer who also performed under the stage-name Sunshine Sammy Morrison. He was the only black member of the East Side Kids and was an original performer in Our Gang, a 1920's silent film franchise.
Sunshine Sammy Morrison | |
|---|---|
 Ernie Morrison as Sunshine Sammy in Dogs of War (1923) | |
| Born | Ernest Fredric Morrison December 20, 1912 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 24, 1989 (aged 76) Lynwood, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Sunshine Sammy Little Sambo Smiling Sambo |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1916–1974 |
Early life
editBorn in 1912 in New Orleans, Morrison was the brother of Florence Morrison and stage- and screen-actress Dorothy Morrison. He entered show-business as a replacement for another infant actor who constantly cried. A crew member asked Morrison's father, Ernest Morrison Sr., to bring in his newborn son. Because Morrison sat perfectly and didn't cry during filming, the crew christened him with the name "Sunshine". Morrison's father added "Sammy" to his son's stage name to create the iconic character Sunshine Sammy.[1]
Biography
editMorrison ultimately appeared in two-reel silent comedies opposite both Harold Lloyd and Snub Pollard, two of the era's biggest comedians. He was the first African-American actor to be signed to a long-term contract, signing with studio executive and comedy producer Hal Roach in 1919. When Roach conceived his Our Gang series, featuring child actors in a natural juvenile setting in 1921, Sammy was the first child recruited. Morrison left the series in January 1925; the young actor was then making $225 a week (equal to about $4,000 weekly in 2024), and his father demanded a pay raise of $75 a week, which Roach refused.[2] Ernie Morrison's last Roach credits were Jimmie Parrott comedies; these had been filmed in 1923 but were not released to theaters until 1926.
Ernie Morrison went to make personal appearances in vaudeville, where his talents were featured on the same bills with such up-and-coming acts as Abbott and Costello and Jack Benny.
After touring in Australia with partner Sleepy Williams, Morrison returned to the United States and was chosen by producer Sam Katzman to be one of the East Side Kids. From the beginning, Morrison tapped into his experiences growing up on the East Side of New York City to shape the character of "Scruno." He spent three years with the gang before leaving to pursue other opportunities, often doing promotional stints with Huntz Hall and Bobby Jordan. Morrison left the series when he was offered an opportunity to work with the Step Brothers act, a prominent black stage-and-film dance act. He was drafted into the army during World War II. After being discharged, he was offered a part in The Bowery Boys, the successor to the East Side Kids that was just being launched, but he declined the offer. Morrison "didn't like the setup":[3] Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall were now the stars of the troupe, and Bobby Jordan and the other gang members were now incidental players and paid much less.
Morrison later worked as a quality control inspector for an aerospace company in Compton, California.[4] In later years, Morrison appeared in a guest spot on the sitcom Good Times airing in 1974.
Morrison died of cancer in Lynwood aged 76, on July 24, 1989. He is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California, where later Our Gang cast member Buckwheat Thomas is also buried.
Selected filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | The Soul of a Child | Uncredited | |
| 1918 | Dolly's Vacation | Ebenezer Eczema Abraham White | Credited as Sambo |
| 1919 | Peggy Does Her Darndest | Snowball Snow | |
| 1919 | The Little Diplomat | George Washington Jones, Jr. | Credited as Little Sambo |
| 1920 | Haunted Spooks | House Boy | Uncredited |
| 1920 | All Lit Up | The Kid | |
| 1920 | Number, Please? | Suit Duster | Uncredited |
| 1920 | Waltz Me Around | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison | |
| 1920 | Get Out and Get Under | Child on the street | Uncredited |
| 1921 | Rush Orders | Narcissus | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1922 | One Terrible Day | Booker T. | |
| 1922 | Saturday Morning | Sorghum | |
| 1923 | The Champeen | Sammy | |
| 1923 | Sunday Calm | Sammy | |
| 1923 | The Cobbler | Ernie | |
| 1923 | A Pleasant Journey | Ernie | |
| 1923 | No Noise | Sunshine Sammy | |
| 1924 | Fast Company | Sunshine Sammy | |
| 1924 | It's a Bear | Sunshine Sammy | |
| 1926 | Between Meals | In Need | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1940 | I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby | Joe | Credited as Sammy Morrison |
| 1940 | Boys of the City | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1940 | That Gang of Mine | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1940 | Pride of the Bowery | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1941 | Spooks Run Wild | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1941 | Flying Wild | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1941 | Bowery Blitzkrieg | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1942 | Mr. Wise Guy | Scruno | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Let's Get Tough! | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1942 | Smart Alecks | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy |
| 1942 | 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy Morrison |
| 1943 | Kid Dynamite | Scruno | Credited as Sunshine Sammy |
| 1943 | Clancy Street Boys | Scruno | Credited as Sammy Morrison |
| 1943 | The Ape Man | Copyboy | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Ghosts on the Loose | Scruno | Credited as Sammy Morrison |
| 1944 | Follow the Leader | Scruno in a dream sequence only | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Greenwich Village | One of the Four Step Brothers | Uncredited |
| 1974 | Good Times | Messenger | Episode: "The TV Commercial" |
References
edit
- ^ "Ernest Morrison Jr". Another Nice Mess.
- ^ "Sunshine Sammy Quits Hal Roach", The Afro-American, January 10, 1925.
- ^ Hayes, David & Walker, Brent The Films of the Bowery Boys Citadel Press; 1st edition (October 1984)
- ^ Maharaj, Davan (31 Jul 1989). "'Little Rascal' player Ernest Morrison dies". Los Angeles Times. p. F16. Retrieved 12 Nov 2019.
Bibliography
edit- Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 56–58.
- Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, p. 165.
External links
edit
- Sunshine Sammy Morrison at IMDb Retrieved on 2009-05-18
- Sunshine Sammy Morrison at AllMovie Retrieved on 2009-05-18
- "Sunshine Sammy Morrison". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2009-05-18.