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All All. Sign In. Peg Leg Bates Actor. His parents were sharecroppers.

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When he was a young child, he would dance for nickels in front of local street audiences. In , Clayton took a job in a farm factory to help his family survive, yet it only lasted a few days when fate struck. He lost his left leg to a cotton gin accident at age Clayton subsequently taught himself to tap dance with a makeshift wooden peg leg from which he took his nickname.

From the s to the s, Peg Leg entertained audiences with his unique brand of tap dancing, traveling all around the US on the Vaudeville circuit. By this time, he had established himself as a world-famous tap dancer, even performing for Queen Elizabeth II. He was one of the most popular and regular guests of that legendary show, making over 20 fabulous appearances.

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In , it was time to settle down and have the world come to him, so Peg Leg and his wife Alice purchased property in the world-renowned Catskill Mountains of New York, where the so-called Borscht Belt of Jewish resorts was located. They established the Peg Leg Bates Country Club, and this made him the first Black resort owner in the US, during a time when racial segregation was still in force.

Countless famous musicians, dancers, and performers came to the resort to entertain throughout the 40 years of its operation, which included Ella Fitzgerald , Sammy Davis Jr. In its heyday, it was the summer hot spot, and the performance hall was always a packed house. In , Peg Leg suffered the loss of his beloved Alice.