Flip
The Inside Story of TVs First Black Superstar

The rags-to-riches story of a groundbreaking, beloved entertainer WhenThe Flip Wilson Showdebuted in 1970, black faces were still rare on television, black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow Flip Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover ofTimeas TVs first black superstar? Flipis a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture. Kevin Cook chronicles Flips meteoric rise through the Chitlin Circuit of segregated nightclubs to his breakthrough on Johnny CarsonsTonight Showto his hit variety show, on which he created such outrageous and hilarious characters as the sassy Geraldine and flock-fleecing Reverend Leroy. As one of the biggest stars of his time, he performed and partied with Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and other stars of the 1970s. Drawing on interviews with family, friends, and celebrities, Cook delivers the inspiring story of a complex man who broke the prime-time color barrier, blazing a trail for generations of African American performers who followed him.