Rawls and Van Kaufman
William "Mush" Rawls Born: December 18, 1877 Washington, NC Died: July 17, 1957 Muskegon, MI |
Ella Van Kaufman Born: March 31, 1877 Boonville, MO Died: April 13, 1945 Muskegon, MI |
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At
the age of 17, Rawls joined a medicine show. A
jack-of-all-trades, he performed as a contortionist,
ventriloquist, fire-eater, and legitimate actor during his years
on the stage. He also developed a number of comedy
routines, playing under the banner Rawls and Braton Comedy
Company. As a blackface comedian, he is credited as being
the man who aided Eddie Cantor develop his blackface makeup
during Cantor's early days in show business.![]() Mush made his last public appearance on the April 3, 1957 episode of "This is Your Life" honoring Buster Keaton. As a guest of the show, Rawls recalled Keaton's days on the vaudeville stage. A few months later, Rawls passed away. He was survived by a sister-in-law, nine nieces and a nephew living in West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. |
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Special thanks to Mary Jo Moblo
for the image of the Mush and Ella from 1916. |