Ultra Rare"Sunshine Sammy"Morrison Pathe Comedies Black EntertainerTrading card

Description

Ultra Rare "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison Pathe Comedies Trading card
Card is in really nice condition.! ! 1/4inch light crease at top center
a couple of lightly dinged corners. All in all very nice rare card...
Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison is the first real Little Rascal.
Everyone else comes after him. Alternately known as "Booker T. Bacon
"Morrison ultimately appeared in two-reel silent comedies opposite both Harold Lloyd and Snub Pollard, two of the era's biggest comedians.
He was the first African American actor to be signed to a long-term contract
, signing with studio executive and comedy producer Hal Roach in 1919. When Roach conceived his Our Gang series, featuring child actors in a natural juvenile setting in 1921, Sammy was the first child recruited. Morrison left the series in 1924 to work in vaudeville, where his talents were featured on the same bills with such up-and-coming acts as Abbott and Costello and Jack Benny.
After touring in Australia with partner Sleepy Williams, Morrison returned to the United States and was chosen by Sam Katzman to be one of the East Side Kids. From the beginning, Morrison tapped into his experiences growing up on the East Side of New York City to shape the character of
"Scruno."
He spent three years with the gang before leaving to pursue other opportunities, often doing promotional stints with Huntz Hall and Bobby Jordan.
Morrison left the Kids when he was offered an opportunity to work with the Step Brothers act, a prominent black stage and film dance act. He was drafted into the army during World War II. After being discharged, he was offered a part in The Bowery Boys series that was just being launched, but he declined the offer. Morrison made mention of this in interviews, saying he "didn't like the setup."
Morrison later worked as a quality control inspector for an aerospace company in Compton, California.
In later years, Morrison appeared in a guest spot on the sitcom Good Times airing in 1974.
Morrison died of cancer in Lynwood aged 76, on July 24, 1989. He is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood California.