paint down
English
Verb
paint down
- (transitive) To apply blackface to (an actor).
- 2015, Mollie Gregory, Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story (page 28)
- White actors in blackface were so common that even Shirley Temple was painted down in The Littlest Rebel (1935).
- 2015, Kristen J. Warner, The Cultural Politics of Colorblind TV Casting (page 54)
- Producer reaffirms that this Section 14 prohibits the practice commonly referred to as 'painting down'. […] The protests were in opposition to the literal adoption of blackface within Tropic that ultimately disallowed the gainful employment of male African-American actors.
- 2015, Mollie Gregory, Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story (page 28)