Black Television Characters: 1,116 Profiles, 1939-1999

By Vincent Terrace

In 1939, Ethel Waters appeared in the NBC program Variety over the Air, becoming the first African American entertainer to appear on television. Pioneering Black programs from the 1950s paved the way for later shows such as Sanford and Son and The Cosby Show, yet many of the seminal television programs and characters that shaped the most successful Black media remain unknown or unacknowledged.

This reference book features 1,116 fact-based, trivia-themed profiles of Black characters in more than 500 television series. Organized in alphabetical order, each entry covers Black characters from all genres--from comedy and crime drama to cartoons and science fiction--and provides the same level of detail for both regular and semi-regular characters. The book also contains a character index, a performer's index, a chapter exploring the aired and unaired pilots that were to star Black actors, and a listing of variety programs that featured Black entertainers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1476659680
• ISBN13: 9781476659688
• Release Date: December 2026
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 120 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.0" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up