Page "Stepin Fetchit" Paragraph 4

His mother wanted him to be a dentist, so Perry was adopted by a quack dentist, where he blacked boots before running away at age twelve to join a carnival.

He earned his living for a few years as a singer and tap dancer.

By the age of twenty, Perry had become a Vaudeville artiste and the manager of a traveling carnival show.

He performed a vaudeville act with a partner, with the two of them being known as " Step " and " Fetchit ".

When Perry became a solo act he combined the two names, which later became his professional name.