Johnny Hudgins

Johnny Hudgins (May 5, 1896 – May 5, 1990) was a Baltimore-born vaudeville and Broadway performer known for mime performances he delivered in blackface, using burnt cork and exaggerated white lips. He earned the nickname the Wah-Wah Man and built a reputation for silent comic work accompanied by skilled trumpeters, among them Doc Cheatham, Johnny Dunn, Joe Smith, Louis Metcalf, and Rex Stewart. His performances attracted imitators and led Hudgins to pursue copyright protection for his performance art.

Hudgins worked across Harlem's clubs, toured the United States, and traveled through Europe, where audiences compared him to Charlie Chaplin. His Broadway career spanned 1924 to 1925 and included two musicals: Lucky Sambo and The Chocolate Dandies. Josephine Baker, with whom Hudgins shared the stage in The Chocolate Dandies, remained a lifelong friend of his wife, Mildred Martien. Hudgins also performed alongside Martien and Fredi Washington during his career. In 1926 he appeared in Blackbirds of 1926 with Florence Mills.

Hudgins extended his work into film. He appeared in Jean Renoir's 1927 short Charleston Parade alongside Catherine Hessling, performing to the piece known as Renoir Charleston, with the film produced by Pathé. He also appeared in the 1926 film A Night in Dixie. Photographer Edward Elcha documented Hudgins during his career. His papers, spanning 1927 to 1988, are held at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University.