Black Star over Hollywood

About the Book

Black Star tells the story of Ted Masters, a burned-out tap dancer and guitarist who leaves the southern black theater circuit (TOBA) and ventures west, eventually finding Sid Grauman (and his famous theater), the mom-and-pop movie producer Nat Levine, as well as Hattie McDaniel, Rex Ingram, Stepin Fetchit, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, and a host of other moviemakers who pitch in, attempting to turn Masters into the first black cowboy movie star. A long-lost love appears at the most inopportune time. It is a unique look at African Americans and their struggles in the moviemaking years prior to WWII.

About the Author

About the Author Author of seven books and numerous academic and popular articles, John W. Ravage is professor emeritus, University of Wyoming, where his specialties are TV and motion picture history, production and direction, as well as African Americans in the West. His background includes commercial radio and TV, theater directing, acting, and designing. He is a member of the Western Writers of America.