Originally there were five character types created for the African American actor. The Tom, Coon, Mulatto, Mammy, and Buck. These five characters have been explored in detail by Donald Bogle, writer of the book Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: A n Interpretive History of Blacks in American Film (2001) . Bogle began his discussion of the characters in the year 190 3 with the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1903), a film that introduced the first of the five, the Tom. Over the next 10 years the four others were introduced, reproduced and impressed upon African American roles for years to come. Bogle also performs a timeline of films and actors in each who we re representative of the original five and how to recognize the
