27 Facts About Slappy White

Melvin Edward "Slappy" White was an American comedian and actor.

Slappy White worked with Redd Foxx on the Chitlin' Circuit of stand-up comedy during the 1950s and 1960s.

Slappy White appeared on the television shows Sanford and Son, That's My Mama, Blossom, and Cybill and in the films Mr Saturday Night and Amazon Women on the Moon.

Slappy White was born near the old Royal Theatre in Baltimore, where by the age of 10, he used to dance outside for coins and sold candy at the theater.

Slappy White left Baltimore at the age of 13 because he was in danger of being sent to reform school because of his school absences.

Slappy White joined a traveling carnival and made a living as a tap dancer with the troupe.

Slappy White was eventually picked up by police and returned to his family, but could not trade show business for school.

Slappy White received his nickname from the manager of a local theater where he entered a talent contest with a friend; the manager billed them as "Slap and Happy".

Slappy White began his career as a dancer and did not turn to comedy until 1940 when he joined with a fellow hoofer in the "Two Zephyrs" to replace one of its members who had previously passed away.

Lewis and Slappy White made a television appearance on The Morey Amsterdam Show.

Foxx and Slappy White met in Harlem in 1947 and formed a comedy team.

Some years before, Slappy White had met and married Pearl Bailey, when both of them were still relatively unknown professionally.

Bailey's career was on the rise; she was performing in the better nightclubs with people like Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway while Slappy White was still struggling in lesser venues.

Slappy White started out as a chauffeur to the singer, entertaining her with jokes as he drove.

When she was late arriving on stage one evening, Washington, worried about the waiting audience, asked Slappy White to go on stage and "say something funny" while she prepared for her performance.

Slappy White was once married to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and blues belter, LaVern Baker.

The manager fired Slappy White, but changed his mind about the comedian's employment when Dinah Washington indicated she would withdraw her entire act because of Slappy White's firing.

Slappy White spent four years with Dinah Washington before establishing himself as a solo act.

Slappy White wrote and performed a comedy routine called "Brotherhood Creed" using one black and one white glove while reciting his poem about equality between men.

In 1965, Slappy White was invited to perform the "Brotherhood Creed" before the Massachusetts State Senate.

Slappy White was well known as a comedian who eschewed offensive material in his nightclub act.

Rossi and Slappy White performed their act aboard a National Overseas Airlines flight from Chicago to Spain.

Slappy White's role was to be that of Berle's old vaudeville partner and as an employee in the music store owned by Berle's character.

Slappy White enjoyed a minor renaissance after his death owing to bootleg recordings of Friars' Club roasts that became available through comedy record outlets.

Slappy White's name was used on an episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Money", in which Seinfeld uses "Slappy White" as his own name.

At the time of his death, Slappy White was preparing to retire from acting and was in the process of moving from Los Angeles to New Jersey.

Slappy White had no children from either of his marriages.