John W. Cooper facts for kids
John Walcott Cooper, Jr. (born February 17, 1873 – died April 1966) was an amazing American ventriloquist, entertainer, and singer. He was part of a group called the Southern Jubilee Singers. People knew him as the "Black Napoleon of Ventriloquism." He also used the stage name Hezekiah Jones. Throughout his life, Cooper was a member of important groups like the Negro Actors Guild of America and the International Brotherhood of Ventriloquists.
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John W. Cooper's Early Life
John W. Cooper was born in 1873 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, John Walcott Cooper, Sr. and Annie Morris, had moved north from the southern United States in 1871. His father was from Beaufort, South Carolina, and his mother was from Georgia.
Cooper left school when he was 8 years old, in 1881. Sadly, both of his parents passed away before his 13th birthday in 1886. To earn a living, Cooper started working at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Brooklyn. There, a white ventriloquist introduced him to the art of making voices without moving his lips. This experience likely inspired Cooper to become a ventriloquist himself.
Starting His Entertainment Career
John W. Cooper began his career in 1886 with the Southern Jubilee Singers. For four years, they traveled and performed in New England, Canada, and the Mid-Atlantic States. During this time, Cooper started to develop his own ventriloquism act. He wrote and performed his shows for mostly white audiences.
A Unique Performer
In 1900, Cooper joined Richards and Pringles Georgia Minstrels. Minstrel shows were popular performances that started in the 1830s. Sadly, they often involved a very racist style called blackfacing. Performers would paint their faces black to mock African Americans.
However, Cooper was different. He performed as a ventriloquist and did not wear blackface. He brought a new style to these shows. After touring with this group, he became known as "the Black Napoleon of ventriloquism." He then joined another group, Rusco and Holland's Big Minstrel Festival, in late 1901.
"Fun in a Barber Shop" Act
In 1902, Cooper started doing his own independent shows. One of his most famous acts was called "Fun in a Barber Shop." In this act, Cooper used five different puppet characters. He made each puppet speak with a different voice.
The scene took place in a barbershop for white customers with black employees. Cooper managed all five dummies and made six different voices! The sixth voice was his own, as he also had a role in the show. He was very skilled, using his hands to make one dummy "cut hair" and his feet to control the other puppets. It was a truly amazing performance.
Breaking into Vaudeville
Cooper got his big chance in vaudeville because of a strike in 1901. A white vaudeville union, known as The White Rats, was having problems with theater managers. Performers couldn't agree on fair terms for their work.
During this strike, there was a great need for new talent. Cooper took this opportunity and became a regular performer on the vaudeville circuit. This led to him performing on many radio shows throughout his life. He even had weekly performances while touring with a group called "The Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour."
Touring with Father Quinn's Entertainers
In the 1920s, Cooper was the main performer in a group called Father Quinn’s Entertainers. This group of five performers toured Catholic churches across the United States. By the 1930s, vaudeville shows became less popular.
After performing in clubs, halls, and theaters for twenty years, Cooper began to tour alone. His main partner was his dummy named Sam Jackson. For the rest of his career, John W. Cooper and Sam entertained children. They performed in the homes of wealthy families and in hospitals in New York City. In 1960, at 86 years old, Cooper retired from show business.
Meet Sam Jackson, The Dummy
In the later part of his vaudeville career, in the 1930s, Cooper's act often featured his dummy, Sam Jackson. Cooper would sometimes say that Sam was a "cousin" of Charlie McCarthy. Charlie McCarthy was the very famous dummy of Edgar Bergen.
Later research for a TV series found that both Charlie McCarthy and Sam Jackson were made by the same person. This person was Theodore Mack, a well-known puppet maker from Chicago.
Sam Jackson's Features and Fame
Sam Jackson and other dummies often had large features, like big eyes. This was because audiences sat in large theaters. The enlarged features helped people in the very back, even in the balcony, see and enjoy the show.
John W. Cooper, now using the name Hezikiah Jones, and Sam toured the country with The Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour. A few years later, during World War II, Cooper and Sam performed for soldiers. They visited veterans hospitals and performed in USO camp shows across the country. They also appeared at private parties and famous nightclubs in New York City, like the Kit-Kat and El Morocco clubs.
John W. Cooper's Legacy
John W. Cooper passed away in April 1966 in Brooklyn.
Performers often replaced their dummies with new ones because they were used so much. However, John W. Cooper's daughter, Joan Maynard (preservationist), is the caretaker of Sam Jackson. To keep her father's memory alive, Joan Maynard created exhibits about him. These exhibits are at the Brooklyn Historical Society. They include family history documents, letters sent to John W. Cooper, and scripts he wrote for his shows with Sam.
