Amos 'n' Andy

Godsden and Correll in character

Amos 'n' Andy  - starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll

Gosden and Correll made their debut on radio on January12, 1926, as the blackface characters Sam 'n' Henry. The program was carried over WGN Chicago. On March 19, 1928, over WMAQ Chicago, they introduced Amos 'n' Andy, which went on to become one of the most popular and longest running programs in radio history.  The series ran six nights a week for a while, then five nights, first at 11:00 p.m. and later at 7:00 p.m. The first network broadcast was over NBC on August 19, 1929. During the height of it's popularity almost the entire country listened to Amos 'n' Andy. Department stores open in the evening piped in the broadcasts so shoppers wouldn't miss an episode; movie theaters scheduled their features to end just prior to 7:00 p.m. and to start again at 7:15, while they too piped in Amos 'n' Andy; and the program was frequently referred to in the Congressional Record.
"Amos," "Andy," and many of the characters belonged to the "Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge," of which "George Stevens" was "The Kingfish." "Amos" and "Andy" ran the "Fresh-Air Taxi Company," with the more stable, married "Amos" doing most of the work while "Andy" chased girls. One of the best remembered sequences was the time "Andy" almost married "Madame Queen." Each year at Christmas time, "Amos" interpreted the Lord's Prayer for his little daughter Arbadella in a perennially popular sequence.

An early photo of Godsden and Correll during a program

In 1930, RKO Radio Pictures starred Gosden and Correll in an Amos 'n' Andy feature film, Check and Double Check. The cast included a mix of white and black performers including Duke Ellington and his orchestra with Gosden and Correll playing Amos 'n' Andy in blackface.
During the first years of its run Amos 'n' Andy was a fifteen-minute program. It was sponsored by Pepsodent from 1929 to 1937 and by Campbell's Soup from 1937 to 1943. Later the program ran once a week, was thirty minutes long, and was sponsored by Rinso and then Rexall. In the 1950s Amos and Andy performed in a weekly half-hour series called The Amos 'n' Andy Music Hall.
The Amos 'n Andy Show was adapted for television and began it's short-lived run June 1951 to April 1953 with 78 filmed episodes. The television series used black actors in the main roles. Almost immediately the show was attacked by the NAACP as racist and the sponsor Blatz Beer, was targeted as well with the company discontinuing it's sponsorship in 1953. You can still see the Amos 'n' Andy show on DVD. It is available on this website. Two wonderful volumes of the Amos 'n' Andy radio broadcasts are available from MyRadioClassics.com. These are the original broadcasts, uncut, full-length with the original commercials for Rinso. Enjoy!

Amos 'n' Andy Radio Cast:
Amos Jones - Freeman Gosden
Andy (Andrew H. Brown) - Charles Correll
Kingfish (George Stevens) - Freeman Gosden
Lightnin' - Freeman Gosden
Henry Van Porter - Charles Correll
Ruby Taylor - Elinor Harriot
Madame Queen - Harriette Widmer
The Little Girl (Arbadella) - Terry Howard
Shorty, the barber - Lou Liubin
Sapphire Stevens - Ernestine Wade
Stonewall, the lawyer - Eddie Green
Miss Genevieve Blue - Madaline Lee

Orchestra and Chorus: Jeff Alexander
The Jubalaires singing group: George McFadden, Theodore Brooks, John Jennings, Caleb Ginyard
Announcers: Bill Hay, Del Sharbutt, Olan Soule, Harlow Wilcox.

Themes: "The Perfect Song," "Angel's Serenade."

Catch-phrases:
I'se rregusted!
Ow wah, ow wah, ow wah!
Buzz me, Miss Blue!
Check and double-check.
Now ain't that sumpin'?
Holy mackerel, Andy!