Markham was born in
Durham, North Carolina. Later, he claimed he originated the ''Truckin' ''dance which became nationally popular at the start of the 1930s. In the 1940s he started making film appearances. In 1946 he recorded "
Open the Door, Richard". Markham was a familiar act at New York's famed
Apollo Theater where he wore
blackface makeup and huge painted white lips, despite complaints the vaudeville tradition was degrading. The book
Showtime at the Apollo suggests, "He probably played the Apollo more often than any other performer." Starting in the 1950s Pigmeat Markham began appearing on television, making multiple appearances on
The Ed Sullivan Show. His boisterous, indecorous "heyeah (here) come da judge"
schtick, which made a mockery of formal courtroom etiquette, became his signature routine. Markham would sit at an elevated judge's bench (often in a black graduation cap-and-gown, to look more impressive), and deal with a series of comic miscreants. He would often deliver his "judgments", as well as express frustration with the accused, by leaning over the bench and smacking the accused with an inflated bladder-balloon. He had hit comedy recordings in the 1960s on
Chess Records, and saw his routine's entry line become a
catchphrase on the ''
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''
NBC television show, as did his phrase "Look that up in your
Funk & Wagnalls." Markham's most famous routine was "discovered" by the general public only after
Sammy Davis Jr. had performed it as a guest on the March 25, 1968 episode of
Laugh-In. Due to the years of
racial segregation in the American entertainment industry, he was not widely known by white audiences, and had almost exclusively performed on the "
Chitlin' Circuit" of vaudeville, theatres, and night clubs
Archie Campbell later adapted Markham's routine, performing as "Justus O'Peace," on the
country version of
Laugh-In,
Hee Haw, which borrowed heavily from the
minstrel show tradition. Thanks to his
Heyeah come da judge routine, which originally was accompanied by music with a
funky beat, Pigmeat Markham is regarded as a forerunner of
rap. His song "
Here Comes the Judge" peaked at number 19 on the
Billboard and other charts in 1968. He published an autobiography,
Here Come the Judge!, in the wake of his
Laugh-In success. The song "
Here Comes the Judge" was prominently sampled by
Big Audio Dynamite II in the song "
Rush". ==Death==