"To Hal / The best / The best from? / Stu Gilliam '69"
Stuart Bryon Gilliam (July 27, 1943 – October 10, 2013) was an African-American comedian, best remembered for his stand-up work and TV and film appearances in the 1960s and 1970s.
Gilliam was born in Detroit, Michigan and died in Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
In the 1950s and ’60s he often worked a nationwide circuit of clubs with mainly or exclusively black audiences, including several appearances at the Apollo in New York City. He sometimes served as an emcee for mixed-race shows, but in several states was prevented from appearing onstage at the same time as white performers.
His growing comedy skills gained him connections and respect among “other writer-performers who wanted black entertainers as a whole to advance.” Recognizing his acumen with mixed audiences, the Playboy Club circuit placed him before largely white crowds, including in southern states where that constituted an open challenge to segregation laws.
The late 1960s saw Stu break into national television, including The Ed Sullivan Show, Playboy After Dark and The Dean Martin Show. He also traveled to England and France with Liberace.
Over the next two decades, he continued to appear on television — comedy, drama and game shows — and was a star of the sitcom Roll Out for one season. He also appeared in the 1975 Broadway production The Wiz; did voice work for many children’s cartoons; and acted in a number of movies, his last role being in Meteor Man in 1993.
