Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me.

Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me.

The greatest acts in colored show business had long made Harlem their home and favorite stamping ground.

What impressed me most about New York were its huge apartment houses.

After years in white theaters I dreaded working in colored houses. The noise, the stomping, whistling, and cheering that hadn't annoyed me when I was young was now something I dreaded.

My aunts lived on liquor and seldom felt like eating much. I don't know what's wrong about a kid stealing when he's hungry.

I dressed plain, but my partners were always spending more money on clothes than I could afford.