Sherman H. Dudley

This article is about the vaudeville entertainer and theater entrepreneur. For the singer with the Haydn Quartet, see S. H. Dudley (singer).
Sherman Houston Dudley
Born1872 (1872)
DiedMarch 1, 1940(1940-03-01) (aged 67–68)
Other namesLone Star Comedian
OccupationVaudeville

Sherman Houston Dudley (1872 – March 1, 1940) was an African-American vaudeville performer and theatre entrepreneur. He gained notability in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as an individual performer, a composer of ragtime songs, and as a member and later owner of various minstrel shows including the Smart Set Company. Dudley is also notable as one of the first African Americans to combine business with theater, by starting a black theater circuit, in which theaters were owned or operated by African Americans and provided entertainment by and for African Americans. He created the first black operated vaudeville circuit and led the way for what became the Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.).[1]

  1. ^ Knight, Athelia (1987). "He Paved the Way for T. O. B. A." The Black Perspective in Music. 15 (2): 153–181. doi:10.2307/1214675. JSTOR 1214675 – via JSTOR.