DUSTY FLETCHER (ca. 1948) Oversize portrait

Vintage original 14 x 11″ (36x 28 cm.) black-and-white print still photo, USA. A few marginal tears and some diagonal creasing, near very good.

Dusty Fletcher (1900-1954) was an African American film, stage and frequent vaudeville performer. He became famous for a routine called “Open the Door, Richard”, which portrayed a drunk trying to make his way home. That routine included a song of the same name, which he recorded in 1947, and which became a novelty sensation. His films include such classics as RUFUS JONES FOR PRESIDENT (1933), with a pint-sized Sammy Davis, Jr. (who was then six years-old), KING FOR A DAY (1934) with Bill Robinson, and HI DE HO (1947) with Cab Calloway.

-bojangles