IN PRAISE OF PINEAPPLE JACKSON: CAPE NATIVE CO-AUTHORS BOOK ABOUT BLACK CHILD STAR

When Gwendolyn St. Julian moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Northern Iowa with a master's degree in speech pathology, she became involved with a theater company called the Paul Robeson Players. They sent her to see Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson for tap dancing lessons. Jackson, now 84, had a remarkable career in movies and on TV that included a role in the "Our Gang" comedy series.

St. Julian admits she was an awful tap dancer, but Jackson took her under his wing and eventually asked her to write his autobiography. Seventeen years later in 1999, Eugene "Pineapple Jackson: His Own Story," was published by McFarland & Company, Inc.

St. Julian, a 1970 Central High School graduate, and other members of her family were in Cape Girardeau last weekend for a high school reunion. Growing up in Cape Girardeau, she was known as Sue Sides. "I didn't like the name Gwendolyn back then," she laughs.

St. Julian was a high school correspondent for the Tiger newspaper, but she didn't know anything about writing books. Her resources were a pamphlet she found at the public library on writing your autobiography and a tape recorder.

She would go to Jackson's house every night after work.

"It was so interesting that a lot of times I would fall sleep on his couch and he would cover me up," she said. "It would be like listening to Aesop's Fables."

Jackson had rickets as a child and his mother was told he'd never walk. By age 3 he was dancing in his grandfather's barbershop and at 6 he was dancing on Los Angeles street corners for nickels and dimes. By age 8 he was playing "Pineapple," Farina's brother, in the "Our Gang" comedy series of shorts shown at movie theaters.

"Our Gang," the book asserts, began the integration of the film industry. Jackson appeared in six of the comedies.

Roles in silent movies included "Boy of Mine" and "Penrod and Sam," both in 1923, "Thief of Baghdad" in 1924, and "Little Annie Rooney" with Mary Pickford in 1925.

His talkie career began in 1925 with "Heart in Dixie," making him the first black child actor to appear in a talkie.

He was in "Cimarron," an Oscar-winning movie starring Irene Dunne and Richard Dix.

In 1932 he had a vaudeville tour that included 89 cities and 16 states. Famed actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge worked in one of his revues as a young teen-ager.

He also appeared in episodes of the TV show "Amos n' Andy" and in Gene Autry movies.

His most recent film appearance was in "The Addams Family."

Jackson lost interest in the book at times, especially after St. Julian moved to Chicago to work for the public schools as a speech pathologist.

"It was so hard to get a publisher I literally threw the book in the closet," she said.

During the long and frustrating process , St. Julian sometimes listened to Jackson's tapes just to cheer herself.

"Any time I got down," she said, "I just put in my old tapes of Mr. J."

Many of the roles Jackson played in both silent movies and talkies were black stereotypes. He and others like him have been called Uncle Toms. But St. Julian calls him a trailblazer. "They faced discrimination and they faced it the best they could," she said.

Reached at his home in Compton, Calif., Jackson said it was difficult being a black entertainer through the thick of the 20th century, especially on the road.

"We went through hell in those days," he said. "We couldn't find a place to stay. Sometimes we'd stay in the car."

St. Julian says Jackson opened doors for black entertainers who followed and deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "I want him to smell all of his roses while he's alive," she said.

Jackson refuses any credit. "I was just doing my thing," he said.

"Eugene Pineapple' Jackson" can be ordered at bookstores, by calling 800-253-2187 or online at www.mcfarlandpub.com.

St. Julian is working on another book, this one on Miller Grove, a free black community that existed in Southern Illinois before the Civil War.