George Christy

For the politician, see George P. Harrington.

For the Hollywood Reporter columnist, see George Christy (columnist).

George Christy
Born	6 November 1827  Palmyra
Died	12 May 1868  (aged 40) New York
Occupation	Actor

George N. Christy (born George Harrington) (November 6, 1827 – May 12, 1868) was one of the leading blackface performers during the early years of the blackface minstrel show in the 1840s.

Born in Palmyra, New York, his career began as a star performer with his stepfather Edwin Pearce Christy's troupe Christy's Minstrels; in two and a half years with them he earned $19,680, a fortune for those times. Jim Comer credits him with inventing "the line", the structured grouping that constituted the first act of the standardized 3-act minstrel show, with the interlocutor in the middle and "Mr. Tambo" and "Mr. Bones" on the ends.

He died in New York City from cerebral edema in 1868.

Sources

• The National cyclopaedia of American biography, Volume 7

References

• Belcher, W.H., Interesting Career of Judge John W. Rea, originally from Passaic County Historical Publication, Vol. II, No. 1, September 1, 1931. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
• Comer, Jim, Every Time I Turn Around: Rite, Reversal, and the end of blackface minstrelsy. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
• Lott, Eric. Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-507832-2.

Further reading

• Gleasons Pictorial, 1854