Dudley Dickerson

Dudley Dickerson, an African-American actor, was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. His screen credits numbered almost 160 movies released from 1932 to 1952. He became best known for several Three Stooges shorts, where he specialized in scared reaction comedy and often played cooks, orderlies, porters, and watchmen who panicked comically. One of his early roles was in the Our Gang comedy Spooky Hooky (1936). He also appeared in Soundies musical films, standing in for Big Joe Turner and lip-syncing Turner's vocals. In Hold That Lion! he played a train conductor who reacted with comic terror when a lion attacked him. His most memorable part was the hapless chef in A Plumbing We Will Go, footage of which was reused in Vagabond Loafers (1949) and Scheming Schemers (1956). He had featured billing in Columbia's Hugh Herbert comedies as Herbert's valet, and appeared on The Amos 'n' Andy Show in the early 1950s. He retired from acting in 1959 and died in 1968.