Google Doodle Celebrates Native American Comedian Charlie Hill

Wednesday`s Google Doodle celebrates the 71st birthday of Charlie Hill, a Native American actor and standup comedian who challenged racial stereotypes and drew attention to oppression while defending his native identity.

Hill was born in 1951 in Detroit and moved at 11 to the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin reservation his father grew up on. As a kid, Hill fell in love with comedy watching TV programs featuring Dick Gregory, a Black satirist who used his comedy to draw attention to social injustices.

Hill majored in speech and drama at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before joining the New York theater scene and then ultimately moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and comedy. His big break came in 1977 with an appearance on the Richard Pryor Show, a short-lived sketch comedy TV show hosted by the Black comedian who also used humor to break down racial barriers...
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