Born Name:  Ulysses Thompson

Born Date:  August 28, 1888

Born Place:  Prescott, Arkansas

Died Date:  March 17, 1990

Died Place:  Little Rock, Arkansas

Occupations:  Singer, dancer, comedian, promoter, conductor

Brief Biography:  Ulysses "Slow Kid" Thompson became a master of slow-motion eccentric dance during the vaudeville era. Beyond his own celebrated stage talents, he is widely remembered as the devoted husband and manager of legendary Jazz Age superstar Florence Mills.

Early Life and Career Beginnings:
Hard Scrabble Start: His mother died of typhus when he was seven years old. He ran away from home at age 14 to forge a path in entertainment.
The Circuit: He learned his showmanship trades on the rough-and-tumble circuit of traveling medicine shows, carnivals, and small circuses—including working for the Mighty Hagg Circus by 1904.
The Nickname: He earned the moniker "Slow Kid" due to his signature ability to perform highly physical, perfectly timed, and incredibly slow comedic dance routines.

Stardom, Marriage, and Management:
Vaudeville Breakthrough: In the 1910s, he successfully broke into Black vaudeville circuits, joining Ralph Dunbar’s famed Tennessee Ten on the Keith-Proctor circuit.
Meeting Florence Mills: While performing with the Tennessee Ten, he met a magnetic young singer named Florence Mills. The two fell in love and married in Harlem, New York, in 1921.
Managerial Sacrifice: Recognizing that his wife's star power outshone his own, Thompson willingly stepped back from the center stage to act as her manager, promoter, protector, and constant travel companion.
World War I Interruption: His ascent was briefly paused from 1917 to 1918 while he served military duty overseas in France.