In the Fall of 1907 Mr. Winter played a brief engagement in a vaudeville act, appearing in black-face. The report that Mr. Winter didn’t black his ears or eyes on this occasion is manifestly absurd.
Mr. Winter was born in Macon, Ga., February 8, 1857; after which he wrote “White Wings”; and incidentally no one ever sang it better, for Banks Winter was one of minstrelsy’s great tenors.
John D. Gilbert (Donohue) formed a partnership with Billy Courtright about 1871, in an original black-face act called “Big and Little”; they subsequently had many imitators. Courtright and Gilbert made their first New York appearance at Charley White’s, 585 Broadway, October 12, 1872. Mr. Gilbert later eschewed burnt cork, and subsequently with Henry V. Donnelly and Eddie Girard starred in “Natural Gas.” Mr. Gilbert’s time is now mostly devoted to authoring theatrical sketches.
John D. Gilbert was born in Dublin, Ireland, September 3, 1857.
Wm. J. Sully (Sullivan) formed a partnership with Patsy Howard in 1873, doing a black-face act; they remained together one season. In 1876 he joined Billy Williams, and as Williams and Sully were well known on the variety stage, where they played for eleven years.
Mr. Sully afterwards married Nellie Germon, and as Sully and Germon did sketches, also in the variety theatres.
In 1884 Williams, Sully and Germon’s “Three Sunflowers” Company toured.
Of late Mr. Sully has been doing a single specialty in vaudeville. Mr. Sully was born in Boston, Mass., June 23, 1858.
Alf Gibson, the well-known comedian, made his first appearance at Columbus, Ohio, as a clog dancer, during the festivities that attended the Goss-Allen fight.
In 1875 he was with William Lawrence Allen’s Statue Company; after this Gilmore and Gibson did a song and dance with Mons. De Rea Circus.