# Sidney Easton

Sidney Easton (October 2, 1885 – December 24, 1971) was an African-American actor, stage performer, playwright, composer, vocalist, and pianist. He worked as a performer in minstrel shows, carnivals, burlesque, and vaudeville. Starting in the 1930s he appeared in films.

## Biography

Sidney Easton was born on October 2, 1885, in Savannah, Georgia. However some sources have his date of birth as 1886 or 1891. Easton was the eldest of six children, his parents were Eva and King Easton. In childhood, Easton went to work for the John Robinson Circus and later with the A.G. Allan Minstrel Show. He was married to performer Sarah Dooley from 1913 to 1920, ending in her death.
Easton was a member of the Easton Trio. Many of his songs were recorded by various musicians in the 1920s including Elizabeth Smith [Wikidata], Margaret Johnson, Martha Copeland, Fats Waller, Fess Williams and his Royal Flush Orchestra, Joe Simms [Wikidata], Ethel Waters and the Ebony Four, George Bias, Stewart Wille, Virginia Liston, Clarence Williams and the Clarence Williams’ Blue Five, and Eva Taylor.
Easton had a few successful collaborations with the singer Ethel Waters, including the lyrics and composition of the song, "Go Back to Where You Stayed Last Night". Easton was the lyric and instrumental composer and served as a co-producer alongside Joe Simms of the traveling show, Sons of Rest (1920).
In the 1940s, he sued 20th Century Fox the makers of the film, Lifeboat (1944) for having used his play Lifeboat 13 to write the script. The case settled out of court four years later.
The New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has a collection of his papers.

## Theater and stage

Theater and stage credits :
| Name | Dates | Role | Notes |
| How've You Been? | 1925 | Performer, "the happy bootblack" | Traveling musical revue by Pollock Productions, music by Donald Heywood |
| Darktown Scandals | 1927 | Performer | Traveling musical revue by Eddie Hunter |
| Kilpatrick's (Old Time Minstrels) | April 19, 1930 – April 26, 1930 | Performer | Nine performances at the Royale Theatre, by Henry Myers. Performances were done by an African American cast, however many wore blackface to appear darker and red lips. |
| The Pursuit of Happiness | 1933 – 1934 | Performer, Mose | Musical revue at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre in Kansas City, by Alan Child, and Isabelle Louden. |
| The Case of Philip Lawrence | June 7, 1937 – July 31, 1937 | Performer, first bodyguard | |
| At Home With Ethel Waters | September 22, 1953 – October 10, 1953 | Composer | Music and lyrics for "Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night" |
| After Midnight | November 2013 – June 2014 | Composer | Music and lyrics |

## Filmography

Film credits :
| Year | Name | Role | Notes |
| 1931 | His Woman | Mark | Film based on the novel The Sentimentalists by Dale Collins (Boston, 1927). |
| 1932 | Wayward | George | Film based on the novel Wild Beauty by Mateel Howe Farnham (New York, 1930). |
| 1939 | Paradise in Harlem | Sneeze Ancrum | Easton performed with Babe Matthews in this film. |
| 1941 | Murder on Lenox Avenue | Speed Simmons | |
| 1940 | Sunday Sinners | Bootsie | |
| 1946 | Fight That Ghost | Spooky Lighting | |
| 1947 | The Story of Mr. Hobbs | Ben (butler) | |
| 1948 | Killer Diller | policeman | |
| 1948 | Boarding House Blues | Boo Boo | |