Egbert Austin "Bert" Williams was once described by comedian W. C. Fields as the funniest man he had ever seen and the saddest he had ever known. Born in Antigua, West Indies on November 12, 1874, his family moved to the United States when he was a child, settling first in Riverside, California in 1885. After completing his secondary education, he is said to have attended Stanford University for two semesters with the intention of studying engineering but quit due to a lack of finances. He was forced to earn his livelihood by turning to his natural inclination for mimicry and entertaining in the cafes along San Francisco's Barbary Coast, to the accompaniment of his banjo. George "Bon Bon" Walker was born in Lawrence Kansas 1873 and at a very early age started developing his onstage persona of quick remarks and fancy outfits and top flight strutting. Using the name "Nash" Walker he worked with a medicine show from Kansas out west to San Francisco. Now it was at this time in 1892 the first reference to the "Cake Walk" appeared in print announcing a contest in the Stockton Evening Mail (newspaper) which is about 60 miles east of San Francisco. The Article mentions the contest was put on by the 400 club, and that the prize Cake was on exhibition at Holders Drug Store. In the summer of 1893 Bert Williams joined Martin and Seig's Mastodon Minstrels and met George “Bon Bon” Walker. The two paired up with Bert strumming the banjo while George sang and danced and it was here the legendary team of Williams and Walker began. During the early years of their partnership Walker and Williams appeared as a separate act as well as within different minstrel groups on San Francisco's Barbary Coast. billing themselves as "The Two Real Coons" which at that time distinguished themselves from the large number of black face acts performed by white actors in burnt cork. The two became masters of dance with George to become known as “the greatest of the strutters” and Williams a Master of the “Mooche” or “Grind” , with his eccentric grace and subtleties. In an interview with Marshall Stearns ,Walter Crumby said Walker was the greatest of the strutters, and the one who turned the strut into the cakewalk. Despite steady work, their ambition was to travel to New York and their first show was "The Gold Bug" (1896) "Sons of Ham" (1900), "In Dahomey" (1902), "In Abyssinia" (1908) and "In Bandanna Land" (1919). With the production of "In Dahomey" , a concept of Walkers, Bert Williams was established as one of the leading comedians in the country, and he and Walker became the first internationally famous team of black stars in American entertainment. Their theatrical company, which was formed in 1897 and which included their wives Lottie Thompson Williams and Ada Overton Walker, was comprised of some of the most talented black actors, dancers, singers and vaudeville acts to be found. this landmark piece was written, produced and performed entirely by blacks. The show ran from 1902 until 1905, including cross-country tours and a seven-month tour of England, where it served to introduce the Cakewalk, to European audiences. The success of the Williams and Walker partnership came to an end in 1907 when George Walker contracted syphilis, succumbing to paralysis in 1911. Bert Williams, now working alone, received featured billings and was a success but started appearing opposite such stars as Fannie Brice and Eddie Cantor. Although his ability to amuse audiences did not slow down, his material was frequently of poor quality and he found it difficult to secure good writers. After nine years with the Zeigfeld Company, Williams left and starred in two productions two of his own productions. It was during a performance of a show that he collapsed on stage. He died of pneumonia on March 4, 1922.