His father, "Big Ed" Anderson, was a minstrel performer, while his mother Ella Mae had been a tightrope walker until her career was ended by a fall.

[4] Stagestruck at an early age, he spent much of his free time waiting at stage doors and playing on street corners with his friend and brother, Cornelius.

[5] Anderson started in show business as part of an all African American revue at age 14; he had previously won an amateur contest at a vaudeville theater in San Francisco.

[5] Anderson joined the cast of Struttin' Along in 1923 and was part of Steppin' High both as a dancer and as one of the Three Black Aces with his brother Cornelius in 1924.

[5] Anderson's vocal cords were ruptured when he was a youngster selling newspapers in San Francisco, a job that required loud shouting.

[4] Five weeks after Anderson's first appearance on the Benny program, he was called for another role on the show, this time as a waiter in a restaurant serving the cast.

After the show received a large amount of mail about Anderson's appearances, Benny invited him to join the cast as his butler and valet Rochester van Jones, making him the first African American with a regular role on a nationwide radio program.

In 1940, a riot ensued when Anderson's arrival at a Harvard University event was delayed by a prank by students from the rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In Rochester's early appearances, a running gag also involved his gambling habits, although this aspect of his character was considerably downplayed after World War II.

[22] From his headquarters at the Dunbar Hotel, Anderson conducted his campaign based mainly on real issues, such as advocacy for black military aviators.

[8][23][24] According to Benny's posthumous autobiography Sunday Nights at Seven, the amount of racial humor regarding Rochester lessened following World War II after the enormity of the Holocaust was revealed.

[8] During World War II, Benny toured with his show, but Anderson did not participate because discrimination in the armed forces would have required separate living quarters.

[citation needed] In 1943, when Benny brought his show to Canada to perform for Canadian forces, Anderson and his wife received a warm welcome.

Benny was also reported to have threatened to move his entire company from a Saint Joseph, Missouri, hotel that denied lodging to Anderson.

[35] During a February 1958 taping of a Shower of Stars special to celebrate Benny's "40th birthday," Anderson suffered a mild heart attack.

In addition to his role with Benny, Anderson appeared in more than 60 films including The Green Pastures (1936) as Noah, Jezebel (1938) as Gros Bat, Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938) as Donald and Gone with the Wind (1939) as Uncle Peter.

For example, censors in Memphis said that Anderson "has an important role and has too familiar a way about him" and lamented that the film "presents too much social equality and racial mixture.

[41] In 1957, Hallmark Hall of Fame presented The Green Pastures, affording Anderson the chance to reprise his film role as Noah on television, and the program was nominated for an Emmy Award.

[43] In the early 1970s, Anderson provided the voice for cartoon character Bobby Joe Mason in Harlem Globetrotters and The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

[43] By 1972, he attempted a comeback with a nightclub act in Houston that led to a role in the Broadway revival of Good News, but he was forced to resign because of his failing health.

[44] Anderson opened a nightclub in the Central Avenue section of Los Angeles, but it did not survive long because of his excessive generosity with friends who frequented the club.

Her son Billy from a previous marriage played professional football for the Chicago Bears[52] and adopted Anderson's surname when his mother remarried.

Anderson combined a Cadillac engine under the hood with a sleek, low-slung exterior to create a car that he exhibited at sportscar shows throughout the country.

When the boat developed engine trouble, Anderson and his two friends signaled an SOS with mirrors, fires, lanterns and with the ship's flag turned upside-down to indicate distress.

[63][64] However, as racial segregation was practiced in Louisville, Kentucky, Anderson and his wife lodged with black politician Mae Street Kidd while in the city to watch the race.

However, United Press International sports columnist Jack Cuddy noted that King George VI's horse Tipstaff finished last at Ascot without any of the type of comments that surrounded Anderson.

"[1] After the Benny television show had left the air, Anderson returned to his love of horse racing, working as a trainer at the Hollywood Park Racetrack until shortly before his death.

[21][68] When a horse named Up and Over became injured and was nearly euthanized, Anderson spent extensive periods of time at the Paramount Pictures studio library reading about equine anatomy.

[17] Anderson died of heart disease on February 28, 1977, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles.

[72] The Rochester House continues to help troubled men transition into society and provide shelter for homeless drug abusers.