James Barton was a song and dance man, famous for his drunk act. Early in his career, he frequently appeared in burlesques, and worked closely with African American dancers, eventually becoming a great eccentric dancer. The young Barton began his career at age 8, performing across the country with his parents who owned their own vaudeville repertory.
Barton’s first big break came when he was cast in The Passing Show of 1919 on Broadway, the Shubert’s response to the Ziegfeld Follies. This led to steady work for the next decade. Barton proved himself to be vaudeville royalty by headlining the Palace eight times from 1928 to 1932. In 1933, Barton turned to the legitimate stage with his career-defining role in the Broadway hit play Tobacco Road in 1933.
Ben drew Barton when he replaced Henry Hull as Jeeter Lester, the patriarch of the struggling Georgia family. Though disturbing and a sad portrait of a poor family, Tobacco Road was played more and more for laughs. With Barton’s background in comedic and often alcohol infused roles, he was able to bring a sense of likeability to the otherwise unlikeable Jeeter Lester. Over the course of 5 years, Barton played the role in over 2,000 performances, making it one of the longest running shows in Broadway history, as well as the 2nd longest running non-musical.. But Tobacco Road didn’t start out as a sure blockbuster.
From the first reviews of the Jack Kirkland play, it did not look like the Lester family would stay on Broadway for very long. Opening during the hard times of the Depression in December 1933, the story followed the Lester family of Georgia, who have hit hard times with the depletion of their tobacco crop.
Despite bad reviews, ticket sales took off when prices were cut from $3.30 to $1.10. Brooks Atkinson said of the play “Plays as clumsy and rudderless as ‘Tobacco Road’ seldom include so many scattered items that leave such a vivid impression.” The play was controversial, as it explored the principles of Eugenics, selective breeding and sterilization in humans. Ada, Jeeter’s wife, suffers from pellagra, a vitamin deficiency that causes dementia, among many other serious conditions. The couple’s daughter, Ellie May, has a harelip, and the family is unhealthily emaciated. The show was banned from traveling to many major cities, including Detroit and Chicago.
This long lasting hit would forever leave its mark on American popular culture. Henry Hull read a selection from Tobacco Road during the first television broadcast by RCA on July 7, 1936. Rae Solowey used to describe the farm in its earliest days as “Tobacco Road.”
Katherine Marshall
Associate Curator
