Talking Motion Pictures

Yes, Roscoe Bartlett was born in the era of silent movies. That all changed with The Jazz Singer in 1927. The Jazz Singer was a musical starring Al Jolson as a Jewish boy who gains fame by singing popular tunes in a beer hall, much to the consternation of his devout father, a cantor. Al Jolson appeared in blackface in the movie, and did so in real life as well. Blackface is actually central to the storyline of the movie as a way to hide the lead character's Jewish background. In later film and television, blackface became the basis of racist jokes.