{{short description|American musician and pianist}} {{More citations needed|date=April 2019}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox actor | name = Buck Washington | birth_name = Ford Lee Washington | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|10|16}} | birth_place = Louisville, Kentucky | death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|01|31|1903|10|16}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | years_active = 1910s–1954 | known_for = Half of ''Buck and Bubbles'' duo | spouse = {{marriage |Flash Amber Vincson|1927|1955}} }} '''Ford Lee "Buck" Washington''' (October 16, 1903 – January 31, 1955) was an American vaudeville performer, pianist, and singer. He was best known as half of the duo Buck and Bubbles, who were the first black artists to appear on television, with John W. Bubbles, his performance partner for 40 years.<ref name="NGroveDictJazz 1994" />
== Career == Washington was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He and Bubbles (born John W. Sublett) first began working together in the 1910s, while Washington was in his teens. Their duo was known as "Buck and Bubbles." Bubbles was primarily a tap dancer while Washington sang and played stride piano.<ref name="finding aid">{{Cite archival metadata |author = John M. Murphy and David Day |title = John W. Bubbles papers: Creator Info |url = http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/11203 |repository = L. Tom Perry Special Collections |location = Provo, UT |date = 2015 |accessdate = May 23, 2016 }}</ref> They were so popular that the duo moved to Manhattan, New York City in September 1919. By the late 1920s they were on Broadway. They played together in the Columbia Theater and the Palace, performing with Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, and Danny Kaye.<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/20/obituaries/john-bubbles-the-dancer-is-dead-at-84.html |title=John Bubbles, The Dancer, Is Dead at 84 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 May 1986}}</ref> They were on the ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1931.''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6Cs0Y1pvRAC&q=ziegfeld+follies+1931&pg=PA200|title=Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: A-J|last1=Wintz|first1=Cary D.|last2=Finkelman|first2=Paul|date=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781579584573|pages=199–200|language=en}}</ref> They also became the first black artists to perform at the Radio City Music Hall. They toured Europe in the 1930s and appeared on television and in films, including ''Calling All Stars'' (1937) and ''Cabin in the Sky'' (1942). The Buck and Bubbles act was represented by Nat Nazarro.<ref name="NYAge 1948 Sep 21" /> "Buck and Bubbles" performed live in the first scheduled 'high definition' (240-line) television program on November 2, 1936, at Alexandra Palace, London, for the BBC, becoming the first black artists on television anywhere in the world.<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="finding aid" /><ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title=Television Begins |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fgenome%2Fentries%2Fe8a2fa30-7729-4256-aba1-e00cbb187f93 |publisher=BBC |access-date=7 June 2020 |language=en |date=2 November 2016}}</ref> In 1927, when Buck and Bubbles were performing at the Sunset Café, Buck developed a working relationship and friendship with Louis Armstrong.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0-393-06582-4|location=New York, NY|pages=265}}</ref>
As a pianist, Washington also did sessions with jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong (1930), Bessie Smith (1933), and Coleman Hawkins (1934). He also played trumpet, though he only made home recordings on the instrument. He continued working with Bubbles until 1953, and in 1953-1954 worked with Timmie Rogers and Jonah Jones. He died on January 31, 1955, in New York City.<ref name="Slide 1981" />
== Family == On August 23, 1927, in Chicago, Washington married Flash Amber Vincson (1902–1975). One of her younger sisters, Bobbie Vincent ''(née'' Bobbye Vincson; 1906–1978), was a singer and dancer who performed in the 1925 production of ''Chocolate Kiddies'' during its inaugural European tour.
==References== {{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="NYAge 1948 Sep 21">"Buck and Bubbles Center of Suit," ''New York Age,'' Vol 63, No. 17, September 21, 1948, p. 6 (accessible ''via'' {{URL|https://www.newspapers.com/image/40655850|Newspapers.com}}; subscription required)</ref> <div style="margin-left:2em">
<ref name="NGroveDictJazz 1994">"Buck Washington," entry by Howard Henry Rye, EdD, ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz,'' (this edition is in one Vol.), Barry Kernfeld (ed.). Saint Martin's Press (re-print 1994), pps. 1264–1265; {{OCLC|611333148}}, {{ISBN|0-3336-3231-1}}, {{ISBN|0-3121-1357-9}}, {{doi|10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J473300}}<br />Rye's sources: <ol type="i" start="1"> <li>"Mr. Washington of Buck & Bubbles," by Leonard Feather, ''Melody Maker,'' No. 12, October 14, 1936, p. 2 <li>"Ford Lee 'Buck' Washington," by Mezz Mezzrow, ''Bulletin du Hot Club de France,'' No. 48, 1955, p. 3 <li>''Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance,'' Marshall Stearns and Jean Stearns (1994 ed.), p. 213; also pps. 151, 157, 192, 217, 218, 246 <ol type="a" start="1"> <li> Collier-Macmillan (1968); {{OCLC|655466715}}</li> <li> Macmillan (1971); {{OCLC|900269}}</li> <li> Schirmer (1979); {{OCLC|720681903|1069868504}}; {{ISBN|978-0-0287-2510-9}}</li> <li> Da Capo Press (paperback) (1994); {{OCLC|610972997}}; {{ISBN|978-0-3068-0553-0}}</li></ol> <li> "Visiting Firemen: 10" (article), by Howard Henry Rye, "Buck Washington (Buck & Bubbles)" (article section), ''Storyville,'' No. 114, August–September 1984, pps. 211–217 (accessible ''via'' National Jazz Archive at {{URL|https://nationaljazzarchive.org.uk/explore/journals/storyville/storyville-114/1265360|link}})</ol></ref>
<ref name="Slide 1981">''The Vaudevillians: A Dictionary of Vaudeville Performers,'' "Buck and Bubbles," by Anthony Slide, Arlington House Publishers (1981), p. 18; {{OCLC|7460932}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8700-0492-6}}</ref>
}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name}} *{{IBDB name}} *{{Discogs artist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Buck}} Category:African-American jazz pianists Category:American vaudeville performers Category:Musicians from Louisville, Kentucky Category:American jazz singers Category:1903 births Category:1955 deaths Category:Jazz musicians from Kentucky Category:Singers from Kentucky Category:20th-century American pianists Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:American male jazz pianists Category:American jazz pianists Category:20th-century American male pianists