Editing Stepin Fetchit (section)

{{Short description|American character actor (1902–85)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2024}}
{{redirect|Lincoln Perry|the artist|Lincoln Perry (artist)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Stepin Fetchit
| image              = Lincoln Perry Stepin Fetchit 1959.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| caption            = Fetchit in 1959
| birth_name         = Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1902|5|30}}
| birth_place        = [[Key West, Florida]], US
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1985|11|19|1902|5|30}}
| death_place        = [[Woodland Hills, California]], US
| resting_place      = [[Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles)|Calvary Cemetery]], Los Angeles
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = Actor
| years_active       = 1925–1976
| spouse             = Dorothy Stevenson (1929–1931)<ref>Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. p. 41. {{ISBN|0-595-37125-6}}.</ref><br />Bernice Sims (1951–1984)<ref>Clark, Champ (2005). Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit. iUniverse. p. 87. {{ISBN|0-595-37125-6}}.</ref> (her death)
| children           = 2
}}

'''Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry''' (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by his stage name '''Stepin Fetchit''', was an American [[Vaudeville|vaudevillian]], comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/23285/Stepin-Fetchit |title=Stepin Fetchit |date=January 18, 2007 |access-date=October 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913052745/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/23285/Stepin-Fetchit |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=September 13, 2012 }}</ref> His highest profile was during the 1930s in films and on stage, when his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as the "Laziest Man in the World".

Perry parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, becoming the first black actor to earn $1 million. He was also the first black actor to receive featured screen credit in a film.<ref name="Lamparski">{{cite book |title=Whatever Became Of ...? Eighth Series |last=Lamparski |first=Richard |year=1982 |publisher=Crown Publishers |location=New York |isbn=0-517-54855-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/whateverbecameof0000lamp/page/106 106–7] |url=https://archive.org/details/whateverbecameof0000lamp/page/106 }}</ref><ref name=Shuffling>{{cite book |last= Clark |first= Champ |title= Shuffling to Ignominy: The Tragedy of Stepin Fetchit |publisher= iUniverse |year= 2005 |isbn= 0-595-37125-6 |page=2}}</ref>

Perry's film career slowed after 1939 and nearly stopped altogether after 1953. Around that time, Black Americans began to see his Stepin Fetchit persona as an embarrassing and harmful anachronism, echoing negative stereotypes. However, writer [[Mel Watkins (American_writer)|Mel Watkins]] has since argued the Stepin Fetchit character is better described as a prankster rather than simply lazy.<ref name="npr">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5245089|title=Stepin Fetchit, Hollywood's First Black Film Star|author=Roy Hurst|work=National Public Radio|date=March 6, 2006|access-date=July 30, 2007}}</ref>