Buck Washington
also Ford Lee Washington, Ford L. Buck
Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Buck Washington was an American stride pianist and singer, the Buck of the vaudeville act Buck and Bubbles, which he formed with the tap dancer John W. Bubbles and kept going for forty years. He accompanied Louis Armstrong in 1930, Bessie Smith in 1933 and Coleman Hawkins in 1934, and played on Billie Holiday's first record that November. The act reached the Ziegfeld Follies in 1931 and was the first Black act booked at Radio City Music Hall, and in 1936 the two men became the first Black performers to appear on television anywhere, broadcasting from Alexandra Palace.
Creations
- Mingo — Porgy and Bess (Boston, 1935)
- Mingo — Porgy and Bess (New York, 1935)
Written from
- Wikipedia (2026) Buck Washington. (Accessed: 1 September 2026).
- Playbill (n.d.) Porgy and Bess (Broadway, Alvin Theatre, 1935). (Accessed: 1 September 2026).