Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates was born in Fountain Inn, South Carolina on October 11, 1907. He began dancing at age 5, simply for his own amusement. At age 12 his leg was mangled in an accident at the cotton mill where he worked. There was no hospital for African Americans in the area at that time, so his leg was amputated as he lay on the kitchen table of his home. After an uncle whittled him a peg-leg, complete with a leather tip, Bates was able to keep dancing. “After losing the leg, for some unknown reason, I still wanted to dance. At first I was walking around on crutches, and I started making musical rhythm on them.” 

Bates began performing at talent contests that were held at Greenville’s Liberty Theatre. He usually won these contests. At age 15 he began a career that included the minstrel and vaudeville circuits, stage musicals, films, and television. He appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show 22 times. He was ubiquitous throughout the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s. In the 1960’s he opened the Peg Leg Bates Country Club in Kerhonkson, NY. The club catered to a primarily African American clientele and was the first resort of it’s kind in New York’s Catskill Mountains.