Photo Storytellers: andre de shield

- Actor-dancer André De Shields in his 39th-floor Manhattan apartment. Photo: Axel Dupeux for The Wall Street Journal
  
  April 7, 2015 11:24 a.m. ET
  3 COMMENTS
  
  Actor, singer and dancer André De Shields, 69, has appeared on TV and in Broadway shows, including “The Wiz,” “The Full Monty,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Play On!” He currently is preparing for the Chicago premiere of “Gotta Dance,” which opens this year. He spoke to Marc Myers.
  Black teens in my neighborhood in the 1950s didn’t have much opportunity or hope. I grew up in segregated Baltimore, and in junior high school, the coolest thing you could be was uninformed. If you knew something, you were an outlier.
  I was the ninth of 11 siblings—six boys and five girls. My family lived in a Federalist-style row house on Division Street, a block from Pennsylvania Avenue, the cultural spine of the black community then. Nearby was the Royal Theatre, where I saw every major performer who came through town.

Mr. De Shields in 1975, in the title role of Broadway’s ‘The Wiz.’ Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Throughout my youth, I sat in that dark theater listening to live music and watching feature movies while fantasizing about what I would do when I grew up. In 1954, when I was 8, I had an epiphany while watching “Cabin in the Sky.” The 1943 movie starred every major black performer at the time, but the actor who jumped off the screen was John “Bubbles” Sublett. He played Domino Johnson, the film’s Lothario. In the movie, “Bubbles” sings “Shine” backed by Duke Ellington’s orchestra. When he dances up a flight of stairs at the end, a voice inside me said, “André, that’s what you’re going to do.”
But I had a ways to go. My father, John, was a tailor, and we were just hovering above impoverishment. Our two-story row house was tight, and my bothers and sisters practically slept on top of each other.
ENLARGE
Mr. De Shields in 1978 at his tribute to ‘Cabin in the Sky’ star John ‘Bubbles’ Sublett, right, who influenced his career. Photo: Goatman Archives
In my neighborhood, most of the stores that anchored the black community were Jewish-owned—the cleaners, grocery, clothing store and liquor store. I saw in those families a kind of serenity, intelligence and collaboration that didn’t exist in my chaotic neighborhood. As a young boy, I was convinced my family was caught in this web while the Jewish families had figured out a way to escape and move up. Clearly the secret was education.
At that time, most people my age weren’t going to school. They were truant or slept during classes. In junior high school, I made a conscious decision to go to Baltimore City College, an elite public high school that prepared you for higher education. To get in, I had to pass an entrance exam and study a classical language. Fortunately I had studied Latin. After I was accepted, people in my neighborhood thought I was “cute” for trying to leave. I had to take two buses, and the experience was lonely and dangerous.
College became possible because I was viewed as a deserving student by a Quaker-run scholarship fund. I won a scholarship but had to attend a Quaker college of the board’s choosing. I attended Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio, which had only 35 black students, 25 of whom were African.

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When I was a sophomore in the early 1960s, a teacher in the theater department approached me after I joined the drama club. He wanted to produce “Raisin in the Sun” and cast me as Walter Younger. When I performed in “Raisin” at Wilmington, my mother and my sister Mary took a bus to see me. It’s one thing to have a teacher say you did a great job but quite another when your family witnesses the authenticity of your dream. After, my mother said, “André, child, that was beautiful.” From then on I was determined to be a performer.
Some years later, in 1975, I landed the title role in “The Wiz” on Broadway. In 1978, when I was performing in “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” I cold-called Bubbles in Los Angeles. He was in his 80s by then and had suffered several strokes. I brought him to New York to see me in a nightclub tribute to him. That night I sang “Shine” and told the audience how Bubbles had influenced me. Then I introduced him. He jiggled a little in his wheelchair and started to cry.
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- Actor André De Shields on His Self-Made Journey
  
  The original ‘Wiz’ looks back on a hard start and his rise from Baltimore to Broadway

Actor-dancer André De Shields in his 39th-floor Manhattan apartment.

April 7, 2015 11:24 a.m. ET

Actor, singer and dancer André De Shields, 69, has appeared on TV and in Broadway shows, including “The Wiz,” “The Full Monty,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Play On!” He currently is preparing for the Chicago premiere of “Gotta Dance,” which opens this year. He spoke to Marc Myers.
Black teens in my neighborhood in the 1950s didn’t have much opportunity or hope. I grew up in segregated Baltimore, and in junior high school, the coolest thing you could be was uninformed. If you knew something, you were an outlier.
I was the ninth of 11 siblings—six boys and five girls. My family lived in a Federalist-style row house on Division Street, a block from Pennsylvania Avenue, the cultural spine of the black community then. Nearby was the Royal Theatre, where I saw every major performer who came through town.

ENLARGE

Mr. De Shields in 1975, in the title role of Broadway’s ‘The Wiz.’ Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Throughout my youth, I sat in that dark theater listening to live music and watching feature movies while fantasizing about what I would do when I grew up. In 1954, when I was 8, I had an epiphany while watching “Cabin in the Sky.” The 1943 movie starred every major black performer at the time, but the actor who jumped off the screen was John “Bubbles” Sublett. He played Domino Johnson, the film’s Lothario. In the movie, “Bubbles” sings “Shine” backed by Duke Ellington’s orchestra. When he dances up a flight of stairs at the end, a voice inside me said, “André, that’s what you’re going to do.”
But I had a ways to go. My father, John, was a tailor, and we were just hovering above impoverishment. Our two-story row house was tight, and my bothers and sisters practically slept on top of each other.

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I slept with my father in one bed for many years and then with one of my brothers. We didn’t have family dinners. My mother, Mary, cooked pot meals, and when you were hungry you’d dip in and eat. We never spoke while eating. You used that time to do something else. I read and did my homework.

Video, John ‘Bubbles’ Sublett singing ‘Shine’ from ‘Cabin in the Sky’ (1943)

To help make ends meet, my mother did domestic work for white families who lived beyond the area’s racial demarcation. Then she’d come home and take care of us. That helped tear at the family relationship. Once I asked my mother why she had so many children. She described us as her wealth and happiness. My father loved us, too, but I sensed he viewed the situation differently. It was an overwhelming challenge for him to provide for us. He always seemed worried, like a man struggling to keep his head above water.

Becoming an entertainer appealed to me because of my parents’ deferred dreams. My mother had confided in me that she wanted to be a chorus girl when she was young but that her strict parents wouldn’t let her. My father said he had wanted to be a singer, but his parents warned him against making singing a career if he expected to support a family. My father sang in a choir, and the few conversations I recall having with him were of the “I could have been a contender” variety.

ENLARGE

Mr. De Shields in 1978 at his tribute to ‘Cabin in the Sky’ star John ‘Bubbles’ Sublett, right, who influenced his career. Photo: Goatman Archives

In my neighborhood, most of the stores that anchored the black community were Jewish-owned—the cleaners, grocery, clothing store and liquor store. I saw in those families a kind of serenity, intelligence and collaboration that didn’t exist in my chaotic neighborhood. As a young boy, I was convinced my family was caught in this web while the Jewish families had figured out a way to escape and move up. Clearly the secret was education.
At that time, most people my age weren’t going to school. They were truant or slept during classes. In junior high school, I made a conscious decision to go to Baltimore City College, an elite public high school that prepared you for higher education. To get in, I had to pass an entrance exam and study a classical language. Fortunately I had studied Latin. After I was accepted, people in my neighborhood thought I was “cute” for trying to leave. I had to take two buses, and the experience was lonely and dangerous.
College became possible because I was viewed as a deserving student by a Quaker-run scholarship fund. I won a scholarship but had to attend a Quaker college of the board’s choosing. I attended Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio, which had only 35 black students, 25 of whom were African.

When I was a sophomore in the early 1960s, a teacher in the theater department approached me after I joined the drama club. He wanted to produce “Raisin in the Sun” and cast me as Walter Younger. When I performed in “Raisin” at Wilmington, my mother and my sister Mary took a bus to see me. It’s one thing to have a teacher say you did a great job but quite another when your family witnesses the authenticity of your dream. After, my mother said, “André, child, that was beautiful.” From then on I was determined to be a performer.
Some years later, in 1975, I landed the title role in “The Wiz” on Broadway. In 1978, when I was performing in “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” I cold-called Bubbles in Los Angeles. He was in his 80s by then and had suffered several strokes. I brought him to New York to see me in a nightclub tribute to him. That night I sang “Shine” and told the audience how Bubbles had influenced me. Then I introduced him. He jiggled a little in his wheelchair and started to cry.

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Jerry Wallace subscriberApr 11, 2015

I congratulate Mr. De Shields on his success in life. He knew what he wanted and he went on to achieve it in the face, no doubt, of many obstacles. It was great that Mr. De Shields did not forget John "Bubbles" Sublett. That speaks quite well of him as person.

I must also compliment Marc Myers, who put Mr. De Shields's story down on paper. He did a superb job of it.

Carl Martin userApr 8, 2015

Powerful story.
It's a little hazy...but I kinda remember reading about his Broadway performances in Jet magazine as a kid. You can see a power & dignity shine through in these photos for the article that I'm sure was/is even more evident live.