WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.439 The Apple podcast title, The Raja of Mirth, uncovering 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:05.580 John Larkin, early Hollywood and vaudeville history, 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:09.619 Apple podcast description. Join us for a fascinating 00:00:09.619 --> 00:00:12.140 deep dive into the extraordinary yet largely 00:00:12.140 --> 00:00:14.759 forgotten life of African -American actor John 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.350 Larkin. Using biographical sources, we explore 00:00:18.350 --> 00:00:21.589 his 40 -year career, from touring the globe with 00:00:21.589 --> 00:00:23.469 minstrel shows and vaudeville troupes in the 00:00:23.469 --> 00:00:27.210 early 1900s to becoming what one 1933 newspaper 00:00:27.210 --> 00:00:29.730 called the highest -paid Negro actor in Hollywood. 00:00:30.410 --> 00:00:33.070 We uncover the mysteries of his birth, his secret 00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:35.750 family in Australia, and the paradox of a highly 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:38.250 respected character actor relegated to uncredited 00:00:38.250 --> 00:00:41.729 roles in 1930s cinema. Perfect for fans of black 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:44.229 Hollywood history, early 20th century entertainment 00:00:44.229 --> 00:00:47.130 and untold historical biographies. Imagine for 00:00:47.130 --> 00:00:49.950 a second being billed across the globe as the 00:00:49.950 --> 00:00:52.070 Raja of Mirth. I mean, that is quite the title. 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:53.890 Right. Or having the curtain rise to these just 00:00:53.890 --> 00:00:56.869 roaring crowds and you're introduced as the funniest 00:00:56.869 --> 00:00:58.810 colored comedian in the world. Which was a massive 00:00:58.810 --> 00:01:01.429 deal for that era. Exactly. Like imagine spending 00:01:01.429 --> 00:01:03.869 decades crossing oceans, headlining international 00:01:03.869 --> 00:01:06.689 tours and basically building this absolute empire 00:01:06.689 --> 00:01:09.430 on the vaudeville stage. You're a titan of early. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.400 entertainment at that point. You really are. 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.819 Yeah. But then picture the camera rolling a few 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:17.900 decades later and you've been reduced to playing 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:21.480 uncredited, nameless background roles in Hollywood 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:24.280 movies. It's a really jarring shift. Yeah. And 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:26.799 here's the real kicker. While playing those silent, 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.099 uncredited background roles, you are allegedly 00:01:30.099 --> 00:01:33.000 the highest paid black actor in town. It's just 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.439 a massive head spinning contradiction. It really 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.120 is. So if you're a fan of black Hollywood history. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:41.400 early 20th century entertainment, or if you just 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:43.900 love uncovering untold historical biographies, 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.840 you are in the exact right place. Absolutely. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.200 Because today we're going on a deep dive into 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:50.939 the extraordinary, yet honestly largely forgotten 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.819 life of African -American actor John Larkin. 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:56.280 It really is a staggering story and one that's 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:58.140 been sitting quietly in the margins of history 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:00.480 for just far too long. Yeah. We're pulling our 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:03.599 insights today from a single... deeply fascinating 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:06.680 Wikipedia article that attempts to piece together 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.479 Larkin's massive 40 -year career. 40 years. Yeah. 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:12.800 And when you look at the sheer scope of what 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:16.639 this man accomplished, it forces you to completely 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.400 rethink how we view early Hollywood, the vaudeville 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.539 era, and really the very concept of historical 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:25.719 legacy. Okay, let's unpack this because the volume 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.530 of work we are looking at is just... Wild. It's 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:30.650 unprecedented for a lot of performers. Right. 00:02:30.710 --> 00:02:32.590 We're talking about a career spanning from the 00:02:32.590 --> 00:02:36.150 late 1890s all the way to 1936. A huge window 00:02:36.150 --> 00:02:38.750 of time. And that covers stage acting, songwriting, 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:41.270 producing his own shows, and then right at the 00:02:41.270 --> 00:02:44.430 dawn of the sound film era, pivoting to accumulate 00:02:44.430 --> 00:02:48.009 nearly 50 film credits in just six years. It's 00:02:48.009 --> 00:02:49.889 an incredible work ethic. But before we even 00:02:49.889 --> 00:02:52.310 get into all those accomplishments. We run into 00:02:52.310 --> 00:02:54.469 a major historical mystery right out of the gate. 00:02:54.590 --> 00:02:57.330 We do. We have conflicting sources just trying 00:02:57.330 --> 00:03:00.069 to figure out when and where the man was born. 00:03:00.169 --> 00:03:03.150 Yeah. And that discrepancy immediately sets the 00:03:03.150 --> 00:03:05.750 tone for the complexities of historical record 00:03:05.750 --> 00:03:07.810 keeping, especially when we're talking about 00:03:07.810 --> 00:03:10.409 marginalized artists of this era. The paper trail 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:13.449 is just. Incredibly fragmented, right? Exactly. 00:03:13.590 --> 00:03:15.770 If you pull up the Internet Movie Database, IMDD, 00:03:16.009 --> 00:03:20.069 it lists his birth year as 1877 and his birthplace 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:23.310 as Wilmington, North Carolina. But then we have 00:03:23.310 --> 00:03:26.189 an actual physical scrapbook of his. Which is... 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:28.800 Amazing that it even survived. It really is. 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.199 It's this fragile piece of history preserved 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:33.400 at Emory University, which they acquired back 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.780 in 2000. And according to the archives connected 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:39.560 to his own personal scrapbook, he was born in 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.120 1882 in Norfolk, Virginia. That is a five year 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:45.849 gap. Yeah. And a completely different state. 00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:48.389 Like, how does history just lose track of half 00:03:48.389 --> 00:03:50.289 a decade for someone who had become a global 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:53.090 star? Well, it speaks volumes about the systemic 00:03:53.090 --> 00:03:56.710 erasure in late 19th century documentation. Birth 00:03:56.710 --> 00:03:58.770 records for African -Americans in the post -Civil 00:03:58.770 --> 00:04:00.849 War South were often incomplete, lost or simply 00:04:00.849 --> 00:04:03.050 never filed. So they just didn't exist in the 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:05.569 formal record. Right. We literally have to rely 00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:07.909 on a preserved scrapbook to figure this out. 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:10.610 A collection of ticket stubs, clippings and handwritten 00:04:10.610 --> 00:04:13.129 notes just to piece together the basic facts 00:04:13.129 --> 00:04:15.590 of his existence. But regardless of whether he 00:04:15.590 --> 00:04:19.410 was born in 1877 or 1882, the sources agree that 00:04:19.410 --> 00:04:22.310 by the twilight of the 19th century, John Larkin. 00:04:22.410 --> 00:04:24.850 Or Jolly John Larkin, as he was often billed. 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.329 Exactly. He was already making waves as a professional 00:04:27.329 --> 00:04:29.769 entertainer. So if we're looking at the late 00:04:29.769 --> 00:04:33.069 1890s, where does a performer like Larkin even 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:35.790 get his start? Is he just doing local theater 00:04:35.790 --> 00:04:38.569 or was he part of something other? He started 00:04:38.569 --> 00:04:41.800 massive. By 1898, the records show he and his 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.319 wife, a singer and dancer named Ida Larkins, 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:46.519 were already touring with the champion Cakewalkers 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.779 company. Okay, and for context, because we throw 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:50.920 terms like cakewalk around without much thought 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:53.620 today, what exactly was that? Yeah, that's important. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.439 The cakewalk was originally a pre -Civil War 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:59.319 dance created by enslaved people. It was actually 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:02.259 a subversive, exaggerated parody mocking the 00:05:02.259 --> 00:05:04.920 grandiosity of their enslavers' formal ballroom 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.379 dances. Oh, wow. So it had this deeply rebellious 00:05:07.379 --> 00:05:10.439 origin. Exactly. But by the 1890s, it had ironically 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.319 evolved into this massive, highly stylized theatrical 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:16.339 craze across America. So Larkin was right at 00:05:16.339 --> 00:05:18.339 the forefront of this huge cultural phenomenon. 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:21.819 That is such crucial context. It wasn't just 00:05:21.819 --> 00:05:24.779 a dance. It was a layered, complex piece of cultural 00:05:24.779 --> 00:05:27.160 history. It really was. And he keeps building 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:30.860 on that momentum. By 1900, the sources place 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:33.459 him and Ida with Boom's Black Diamond Company. 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:36.230 Yes. But from what I'm reading, he wasn't just 00:05:36.230 --> 00:05:38.790 up on stage delivering punchlines. He was the 00:05:38.790 --> 00:05:41.110 principal comedy performer, sure, but he was 00:05:41.110 --> 00:05:43.850 also the stage manager. What's fascinating here 00:05:43.850 --> 00:05:46.250 is that from the very beginning, Larkin had an 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:48.670 incredible mind for the business and the invisible 00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:50.709 mechanics of theater. He wasn't just waiting 00:05:50.709 --> 00:05:52.250 around for a director. No, he wasn't waiting 00:05:52.250 --> 00:05:54.629 for someone to hand him a script or tell him 00:05:54.629 --> 00:05:56.689 where to stand. He was a manager, a producer, 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:00.350 a creator. And you see that business acumen kick 00:06:00.350 --> 00:06:03.430 in when his personal life hits a bump. Right, 00:06:03.449 --> 00:06:07.250 1901. Yes, his wife Ida leaves the show in 1901. 00:06:07.490 --> 00:06:09.769 Which you'd think might derail a husband and 00:06:09.769 --> 00:06:11.990 wife act entirely. For a lot of performers it 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:15.089 absolutely would have, but Larkin's simply restructured. 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:17.620 He brought in a new performing partner named 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:21.459 Dora Patterson, revised the entire act into Larkins 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:23.899 and Patterson, and together they starred in a 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:26.459 musical called A Trip to the Jungles during the 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:30.620 1902 and 1903 seasons. So he was just incredibly 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:33.300 adaptable. Always looking for the next opportunity 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:35.759 to expand his footprint. And he didn't limit 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:37.620 himself to just one project at a time either. 00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:40.819 Around that same period in 1902, he starts working 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.240 part -time with the Black Patty Troubadours. 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:46.750 And this troupe... was a very big deal in African 00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:49.329 -American entertainment, wasn't it? Huge. The 00:06:49.329 --> 00:06:51.870 Black Patty Troubadours were a famous musical 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:54.810 and acrobatic troupe fronted by Matilda Cicciaretta 00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:56.910 Joyner -Jones. Who went by the stage name Black 00:06:56.910 --> 00:06:59.970 Patty. Yes, she was an absolute vocal powerhouse. 00:07:00.089 --> 00:07:02.110 And Larkin joined them not just as a singer, 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:04.069 but as a creative force. He was writing songs 00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:06.269 for their acts. That's incredible. And there's 00:07:06.269 --> 00:07:08.589 actually a tangible piece of this history held 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:11.480 by the Library of Congress today. Yes, it's sheet 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:14.220 music from 1907 for a song he wrote called A 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:16.959 Royal Coon. It was published by Will Rossiter 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.800 out in Chicago. And right there on the cover 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.180 of the sheet music preserved for over a century 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:25.660 is John Lorcan's Smiling Face. It is amazing 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:28.000 that those artifacts still exist. It really is. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.819 And that collaboration paid off beautifully because 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:34.379 his earlier musical, A Trip to the Jungles, ended 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:37.379 up being completely revised specifically as a 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:39.879 starring vehicle for Black Patty herself. Yes, 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.740 they renamed the show A Trip to Africa. Right, 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:45.800 and it played for years from 1908 to 1911 with 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:48.019 Larkin featured as the star comedy performer. 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:50.819 He was everywhere. But as much as I love hearing 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:53.259 about his time on stage, the source material 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:55.180 points out something even even more impactful 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.240 about his offstage role during these years. This 00:07:57.240 --> 00:07:59.420 is a crucial point. When the Troubadours were 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:01.660 on hiatus, he was running his own outfit, the 00:08:01.660 --> 00:08:04.060 Jolly John Larkins Musical Comedy Company. And 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:06.459 that is where we see his true historical weight. 00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:09.019 He was the boss. He was organizing the tours, 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:11.759 managing the payroll, and most importantly, deciding 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.240 who got hired. And the people he hired were no 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.100 small names. Not at all. The musical directors 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:19.519 he chose to employ went on to become monumental 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:23.250 figures in American music. from 1906 to 1907 00:08:23.250 --> 00:08:25.910 he hired a man named james reese europe to be 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:29.079 his musical director wow And a few years later, 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:32.480 for his 1911 to 1912 tour of a show called Royal 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.580 Sam, he brought on H. Lawrence Freeman. Now, 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:37.659 for listeners who might not recognize those names 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:40.340 offhand, just how significant are they? They 00:08:40.340 --> 00:08:42.960 are historically renowned African -American composers 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:45.799 who quite literally helped shape the sound of 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:48.600 the 20th century. Larkin wasn't just a comedian. 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:51.700 He was an incubator for black excellence. He 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:54.720 provided a platform, a stage and a steady paycheck 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.379 for musical geniuses who were pushing the boundaries. 00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:59.620 of what American music could be. He was literally 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:02.019 funding the future of music while making audiences 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:04.139 laugh. Exactly. That is an incredible legacy 00:09:04.139 --> 00:09:05.919 to hold just within the United States alone. 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:08.860 But he didn't stop there. The timeline shifts 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:12.539 to 1917. America is entering World War I. Larkin 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:14.539 is around 40 years old at this point, and instead 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:16.279 of slowing down, he takes over the leadership 00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:18.259 of the Dandy Dixie Minstrels. And this kicks 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:21.039 off a solid decade of world tours. Yeah, the 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.860 sources list him taking shows to London, China, 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.559 South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. He is 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:30.899 taking this theatrical experience completely 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:33.440 global. And you have to put yourself in the shoes 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.659 of touring artist in 1917 to understand the sheer 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:39.470 logistics of that. We are talking about weeks 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:42.210 -long journeys on steamships managing a large 00:09:42.210 --> 00:09:44.649 troop of performers, their instruments, and their 00:09:44.649 --> 00:09:47.090 costumes across entirely different continents 00:09:47.090 --> 00:09:48.889 and cultures. Right in the middle of a world 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:51.830 war. Yes. It requires immense capability as a 00:09:51.830 --> 00:09:54.250 leader. It also speaks to the universal appeal 00:09:54.250 --> 00:09:56.549 of his comedic timing and his musical talents. 00:09:57.190 --> 00:09:59.309 Comedy doesn't always translate across borders, 00:09:59.450 --> 00:10:01.690 but Larkin found a way to make the whole world 00:10:01.690 --> 00:10:03.990 laugh. But here's where it gets really interesting. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:06.740 Because while he is successfully navigating these 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:09.059 massive global tours and managing all these moving 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:11.860 parts, his personal life down in Australia becomes 00:10:11.860 --> 00:10:14.419 incredibly complicated. Highly complicated. In 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:16.779 September 1920, the records show he gets married 00:10:16.779 --> 00:10:19.700 at St. Peter's Church in East Sydney. His new 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:22.159 bride is a vaudeville actress named Elsie Levine 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.419 Morris, who had previously performed in India 00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:27.320 and all over Australia. And just as a quick side 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:29.960 note on that marriage certificate, his age is 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:32.799 listed as 37. Which definitely lends a lot of 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.519 weight to that 1882 birth year from the Emory 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.899 University scrapbook. It does align perfectly 00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:40.179 with the later birth date, but the marriage to 00:10:40.179 --> 00:10:42.379 Elsie was unfortunately deeply troubled from 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:44.500 the start. Yeah, the historical record paints 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:48.059 a rather messy reality offstage. It does. Larkin 00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:50.740 was reported to be gambling large sums of money, 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:53.559 which created severe financial and emotional 00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:56.480 disharmony in the relationship. The isolation 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.159 and transience of being a global touring artist 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:01.740 can take a heavy toll. And in Larkin's case, 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:03.700 it led to a complete fracture. He just walked 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:06.899 away, right? He did. In March 1923, he deserted 00:11:06.899 --> 00:11:09.679 Elsie. He simply left and she never heard from 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.399 him again, eventually being granted a divorce 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.399 for desertion in 1928. It's a sad end to that 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:16.500 chapter. But wait, because the source material 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:18.720 drops an absolute bombshell right here. It really 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.000 does. A development that nobody in the 1920s 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.080 could have ever seen coming. Thanks to modern 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:25.120 science, we now know that his time in Australia 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:28.139 left an even bigger, entirely secret legacy. 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:30.700 Completely hidden from the public. While he was 00:11:30.700 --> 00:11:32.860 there, he had a relationship with a costume designer 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:36.129 named Rachel Anderson, who went by Ray. Together, 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:38.870 they had two daughters, Olga, born in 1919, and 00:11:38.870 --> 00:11:41.529 Joan, born in 1924. But that's not even the end 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:44.610 of it. No, it's not. If an entire secret family 00:11:44.610 --> 00:11:48.129 wasn't enough in 2019, a DNA match revealed that 00:11:48.129 --> 00:11:50.509 Larkin had also fathered a son named Alan in 00:11:50.509 --> 00:11:53.320 Melbourne. in 1920. it is a stunning revelation 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.500 for nearly a century the full scope of larkin's 00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:59.159 family tree was completely unknown to the public 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:01.460 record hidden in the shadows of his international 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:04.159 tours it's wild to think about and i think it 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:07.200 is vital to pause here and reflect on how Modern 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.059 technology like DNA matching is actively rewriting 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:12.559 historical biographies today. We often think 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:14.620 of history as something fixed, like dusty old 00:12:14.620 --> 00:12:16.639 facts printed in a textbook. Right. Like it's 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:19.220 already settled. Exactly. But it is actually 00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:21.200 a living, breathing puzzle that is constantly 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:24.500 being updated. A simple DNA swab taken in 2019 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:27.179 completely changes our understanding of a vaudeville 00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:30.799 star's private life in 1920s Australia. It really 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.080 recontextualizes everything. It shows that beneath 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.950 the public persona of the Raja of mirth. There 00:12:35.950 --> 00:12:39.870 was a man living multiple, deeply compartmentalized 00:12:39.870 --> 00:12:43.470 lives across the globe. It is mind -blowing to 00:12:43.470 --> 00:12:46.830 think about. He has this vast, complex life headlining 00:12:46.830 --> 00:12:49.049 theaters in Sydney and London, fathering children 00:12:49.049 --> 00:12:50.929 across continents. But eventually, the roaring 00:12:50.929 --> 00:12:53.870 20s come to a crashing halt, and the world changes 00:12:53.870 --> 00:12:56.950 overnight. Quite literally overnight. The Wall 00:12:56.950 --> 00:13:00.230 Street crash of 1929 devastated the global economy. 00:13:00.509 --> 00:13:02.750 And the entertainment industry was hit incredibly 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:06.190 hard. Live acting companies, minstrel shows and 00:13:06.190 --> 00:13:08.250 vaudeville troops struggled to survive because 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:11.029 people simply no longer had the disposable income 00:13:11.029 --> 00:13:12.769 to buy theater tickets. They just couldn't afford 00:13:12.769 --> 00:13:16.259 it. Exactly. In 1930, Larkin was touring in Southern 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:19.120 California, and he found himself staring down 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.740 the barrel of a collapsed industry. He was in 00:13:21.740 --> 00:13:24.320 his early 50s by now, an age when most people 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.840 are settling down, but he had to completely reinvent 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.279 himself to survive. So he turned to the booming 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:31.200 new industry operating right in his backyard, 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:33.539 which was sound films. And reinvent himself he 00:13:33.539 --> 00:13:35.919 did. His film debut was in a Warner Brothers 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:38.519 picture called Man to Man, which was released 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:42.000 in December 1930. From there, he just hit the 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.039 ground running with an absolute vengeance. He 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:46.379 was working constantly. The sources tell us that 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:49.940 between 1931 and 1936, he appeared in at least 00:13:49.940 --> 00:13:53.500 45 films. He was working for nearly every major 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:57.240 studio in town, MGM, RKO, Paramount, Universal 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:00.120 Republic. He was churning out anywhere from 6 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.190 to 11 films a year. But that pivot from the stage 00:14:03.190 --> 00:14:05.909 to the silver screen came with a very harsh, 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:08.710 very racialized reality. This is the tough part. 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:10.950 On a vaudeville stage, Larkin was the headliner. 00:14:11.049 --> 00:14:12.730 He was the producer. He was the man in charge. 00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:16.129 In 1930s Hollywood, the casting mores of the 00:14:16.129 --> 00:14:18.529 era dictated a very different, highly restricted 00:14:18.529 --> 00:14:20.710 path for African -American actors. Even with 00:14:20.710 --> 00:14:23.110 his massive resume. Despite his massive resume, 00:14:23.210 --> 00:14:25.169 over half of his film appearances were completely 00:14:25.169 --> 00:14:27.250 uncredited. And the roles he was offered were 00:14:27.250 --> 00:14:30.129 heavily stereotyped. He was repeatedly cast as 00:14:30.129 --> 00:14:32.730 shoeshine man. servants, porters, janitors, stable 00:14:32.730 --> 00:14:36.149 hands, and slaves. It is such a jarring emotional 00:14:36.149 --> 00:14:40.009 and cultural shift. You spend your life as the 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:42.490 Raja of Mirth standing in front of thousands 00:14:42.490 --> 00:14:45.549 of people producing your own shows and hiring 00:14:45.549 --> 00:14:48.850 musical legends and then you are reduced to being 00:14:48.850 --> 00:14:51.809 the unnamed guy holding a door or sweeping a 00:14:51.809 --> 00:14:53.629 floor in the background of a movie scene. If 00:14:53.629 --> 00:14:55.450 we connect this to the bigger picture it becomes 00:14:55.450 --> 00:14:57.769 even more poignant when you compare Larkin to 00:14:57.769 --> 00:14:59.990 his African American contemporaries in Hollywood. 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.539 at the time. Like who? Well, you had stars like 00:15:02.539 --> 00:15:05.100 Steppen Fetchit, who was utilized almost exclusively 00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:08.460 for pure, often demeaning comedy relief. Then 00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.759 you had Bilbo Jangles Robinson, whose screen 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:13.519 time was heavily focused on showcasing his incredible 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.080 singing and tap dancing abilities. Right. But 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.940 Larkin was utilized by the studios strictly as 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:21.120 a character actor. And for those unfamiliar, 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:24.120 a character actor is someone who plays unusual, 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:27.179 highly specific or eccentric supporting roles 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:29.539 rather than the leading part. weren't letting 00:15:29.539 --> 00:15:32.070 him show off his real talents. The tragedy is 00:15:32.070 --> 00:15:34.710 that Hollywood gave Larkin very few opportunities 00:15:34.710 --> 00:15:37.509 to actually display the vast singing, dancing, 00:15:37.590 --> 00:15:39.570 and comedic skills that had made him a global 00:15:39.570 --> 00:15:42.309 sensation. They wanted his physical presence 00:15:42.309 --> 00:15:45.429 and his professionalism, but they kept his actual 00:15:45.429 --> 00:15:48.470 genius hidden. They boxed him in completely. 00:15:48.990 --> 00:15:51.950 But despite being pushed to the bottom of the 00:15:51.950 --> 00:15:55.210 cast list or left off it entirely, the sources 00:15:55.210 --> 00:15:58.769 reveal this massive, almost unbelievable paradox 00:15:58.769 --> 00:16:01.460 about his time in Hollywood. This is one of the 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.600 most fascinating details. In 1933, he was in 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:06.980 an MGM film called Gabriel Over the White House. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:08.940 Right. He played a character named Sebastian, 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.139 the president's valet, as usual, as a completely 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:13.779 uncredited role. Right. But that exact same year, 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:16.559 the California Eagle, which was a major African 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.139 -American newspaper based in Los Angeles, ran 00:16:19.139 --> 00:16:21.799 a huge story on him. They openly called him the 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:23.759 real star of the film. And what did the caption 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:25.960 say? Right next to his photo, the caption read 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.149 in big letters, High Pay Man. The article stated 00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:31.049 he was earning a greater salary than any other 00:16:31.049 --> 00:16:33.610 black performer in Hollywood. Which is a fascinating 00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:36.110 dynamic to analyze, and it cuts right to the 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:39.049 heart of how structural racism operated in the 00:16:39.049 --> 00:16:41.789 studio system. How so? Well, what does it mean 00:16:41.789 --> 00:16:44.750 when the industry clearly values your talent 00:16:44.750 --> 00:16:47.389 enough to make you the highest paid actor in 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:50.389 your demographic, yet simultaneously refuses 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:52.990 to put your name on the screen? It's a blatant 00:16:52.990 --> 00:16:55.230 double standard. Think about it like this. Behind 00:16:55.230 --> 00:16:57.789 closed doors, the studio executives were writing 00:16:57.789 --> 00:17:00.309 him the biggest checks because they knew his 00:17:00.309 --> 00:17:02.809 extensive stage experience meant he could nail 00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:05.470 a scene in one take and save a production time 00:17:05.470 --> 00:17:07.829 and money. He was efficient and professional. 00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:10.130 But putting his name in the credits meant putting 00:17:10.130 --> 00:17:12.490 his name on a marquee, and the Hollywood system 00:17:12.490 --> 00:17:15.009 simply wasn't built to share that kind of public 00:17:15.009 --> 00:17:17.609 prestige with a black character actor. It shows 00:17:17.609 --> 00:17:20.490 a massive disconnect between industry reliance 00:17:20.490 --> 00:17:23.089 behind the scenes and public visibility. It is 00:17:23.089 --> 00:17:26.250 infuriating, honestly. But it is also a massive 00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:29.509 testament to his sheer undeniable talent that 00:17:29.509 --> 00:17:31.690 he commanded that kind of premium salary anyway. 00:17:32.250 --> 00:17:34.630 He knew his worth, and he just kept working right 00:17:34.630 --> 00:17:37.309 up until the very end. He really did. And sadly, 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:41.809 that end came quite suddenly. On March 18, 1936, 00:17:42.269 --> 00:17:44.630 John Larkin died in Los Angeles from a cerebral 00:17:44.630 --> 00:17:47.130 hemorrhage. And because he worked at such a relentless, 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:49.630 machine -like pace, his presence in the cinema 00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:53.089 continued well after his death. Five films featuring 00:17:53.089 --> 00:17:56.710 Larkin were released in 1936 alone. Five films 00:17:56.710 --> 00:17:58.849 in one year. The first one, The Trail of the 00:17:58.849 --> 00:18:01.029 Lonesome Pine, premiered just five days before 00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:03.369 he passed away. The other four were released 00:18:03.369 --> 00:18:05.730 posthumously, and these weren't small indie pictures. 00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:07.930 No, these were massive productions. We are talking 00:18:07.930 --> 00:18:10.730 about major cinematic works like The Great Ziegfeld 00:18:10.730 --> 00:18:13.509 Frankie and Johnny Hart's Divided, and his final 00:18:13.509 --> 00:18:16.210 fittingly uncredited role playing a sexton in 00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:18.410 The Green Pastures. According to the source, 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:21.230 he is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles. 00:18:21.930 --> 00:18:24.289 This was significant because it was a cemetery 00:18:24.289 --> 00:18:26.569 that uniquely permitted the burial of African 00:18:26.569 --> 00:18:29.029 Americans during an era of strict segregation. 00:18:29.349 --> 00:18:31.529 An important historical detail. He rests there 00:18:31.529 --> 00:18:34.029 alongside other groundbreaking performers whose 00:18:34.029 --> 00:18:36.170 careers overlapped with his, like Eddie Rochester 00:18:36.170 --> 00:18:39.430 Anderson and Louise Beavers. And on his tombstone, 00:18:39.490 --> 00:18:41.789 there's a photograph of him along with the years 00:18:41.789 --> 00:18:45.700 1882 to 1936. So they went with the 1882 date. 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:47.759 They did. So right up to the very hand, that 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.660 mystery of his exact age, whether he was 54 or 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:54.099 58, is quite literally carved in stone. It is 00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:56.900 a fittingly enigmatic end to a life that, as 00:18:56.900 --> 00:18:58.660 we discussed with the recent DNA discoveries, 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.839 we are still actively uncovering today. So what 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.539 does this all mean? For you, the listener navigating 00:19:04.539 --> 00:19:08.240 the media landscape today. Larkin's story challenges 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.559 everything we assume about what it meant to be 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.940 a successful entertainer in the early 20th century. 00:19:13.099 --> 00:19:15.779 It wasn't a simple path at all. Success wasn't 00:19:15.779 --> 00:19:17.839 a straight line. You could be an international 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:21.079 stage phenomenon, a pioneer employing musical 00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.759 geniuses, a man living a secret life with a hidden 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:25.779 family on the other side of the planet, and the 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:28.640 highest paid black actor in Hollywood. All while 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:30.940 the history books and movie studio credits actively 00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:33.380 tried to render you invisible. It's a profound 00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:36.059 legacy. He forces us to look closer at the margins 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:38.480 of history because the people standing in the 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.660 background often have the most incredible stories 00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:44.579 to tell. And it leaves us with one final provocative 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:47.569 thought to mull over. We only know the truth 00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:50.490 of Larkin's exact birth year, his early career 00:19:50.490 --> 00:19:52.869 triumphs, and his vaudeville origins because 00:19:52.869 --> 00:19:56.150 a single physical scrapbook filled with tangible 00:19:56.150 --> 00:19:58.690 ticket stubs and fading photographs survived 00:19:58.690 --> 00:20:01.170 against all odds and made it to the Emory University 00:20:01.170 --> 00:20:03.809 archives in the year 2000. It's miraculous it 00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:05.779 wasn't thrown away. It makes you wonder about 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:08.559 the nature of legacy in our modern digital age 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.119 where everything is stored in the cloud but can 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:13.819 be deleted, corrupted or overwritten with a single 00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:16.440 keystroke. Are we actually better equipped to 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:18.400 preserve the legacies of today's marginalized 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.039 artists? Or are we just creating a different, 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:23.539 more fragile kind of invisible history? That 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:25.599 is a chilling thought. We have more data than 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.900 ever, but maybe less permanence. It really makes 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:29.460 you want to hold on to those physical artifacts 00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:31.259 and certainly makes you want to go back and watch 00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:34.599 those old movies with completely new eyes. Thank 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:36.519 you for joining us on this journey into the life 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:39.259 of the Raja of Mirth, John Larkin. Keep digging, 00:20:39.420 --> 00:20:41.680 keep questioning, and we will catch you on the 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:42.579 next deep dive.