On Oct. 6, the activities room of the Pine Bluff Library was filled with better than 30 interested citizens. They were there to view the premiere of a short documentary about local legend Larry “Shine King” Ellis.
The movie was a University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Department of Multi-media Communication presentation.
The film’s director is Marineisha Hardrick, who worked alongside cameraman Randy Kelley, screenwriter/producer Marvin O’Bryant and UAPB instructor Rhashaun Trammell. Kelley and O’Bryant were on hand to introduce their work to the crowd.
“Larry has been shining my shoes and boots for 10 years,” O’Bryant said. “I always say, ‘You know it’s a good shine when you can look down and see up your nose.'”
Born in north Louisiana, Ellis’ family relocated to Sherrill when he was just a baby. He spent much of his formative years in and around Pine Bluff.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The film began with Ellis describing how he came to be known as “Shine King.”
“In 1948, I began my evolution into a shoeshine man,” Ellis said. “My uncle was a shoeshine man and when I was 6 years old, I was amazed how a real shine looked like a mirror.”
He went on to share how he paid $18.95 for his first pair of dress shoes. As a teenager, he soon discovered how impressed young ladies were by creased pants and a pair of shiny shoes.
“I began shining professionally at age 16 before moving to Chicago when I turned 18,” Ellis said.
“It intrigued me when I saw my first stand-alone shine parlor in the city,” he said.
Instead of just a single chair in the corner of a barbershop, Chicago had a 12-chair business specializing in the art of shining shoes.
“I soon went to work there and became fast friends with the older gentleman who owned the shop,” Ellis said.
“I built a reputation for a quality shine and pretty soon had blues artists in Chicago like B.B. King, Little Milton and Tyrone Davis coming to me with their shoes,” said Ellis, who’s the brother of Grammy-winning musician Bobby Rush.
“I was happy on the one hand and not so much on the other because they were bringing sacks full of shoes to polish before they went on the road. That’s when they started calling me ‘Shine King.’ I told them, ‘I think ya’ll might love me too much.'”
Ellis explained how he joined the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade during the Vietnam War. After his tour of duty, he returned to Pine Bluff and began a shoeshine stand in the Holiday Inn for the next dozen years.
“After that, I got ambitious and went to Little Rock where I set up in different banks, hotels and even the state Capitol. Beside senators and representatives, I shined shoes for Govs. (Bill) Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker,” Ellis said.
“In 1995,” he said, “I went to Beale Street and had half a dozen other locations around Memphis. That’s when I took my service to the people and began carrying a shoeshine suitcase around to take care of the growing list of clients. I had customers who paid $100 to $200 a week to keep a high sheen of their shoes.”
After his successful stint in Tennessee, Ellis came back to his home in Sherrill. He established a full-time shine chair in Pop’s Barber & Beauty Shop in downtown Pine Bluff.
Regarding the classic neighborhood shop where he spent the last two decades, Ellis said, “Pop’s has been a jewel in the city of Pine Bluff for 22 years. He looks out for me like a young man should and I appreciate him like an old man should.”
After the 15-minute film, Ellis told the crowd “I ain’t had a bad day doing it and I spread my joy all across the country everywhere I go.”
Ellis shared how he no longer does shoeshines at the stand but customers may drop off their footwear at Pop’s and pick it up later.
Shine King has a book in the making with the purpose of promoting the shoeshine tradition and teaching the proper way to treat footwear.
“I want to show folks the absolute correct method and provide a resource for them to master the art of shining shoes. You need to understand the different leathers and how each one needs its own specialty. It’s fascinating how simple it is yet how involved,” Ellis said.
Asked what product he prefers, he joked, “Paste and spit!”
After the question-and-answer period, O’Bryant returned to the podium.
“I believe most of our best talent comes from small country towns, so we are beginning a film production company right here in Pine Bluff to tap into that wealth of latent acting talent,” O’Bryant said.
He further explained how scripts are already written and two more projects are going into production with casting underway.
The “Shine King” film saw a second showing on the UAPB campus Oct. 7.
