Leon Claxton was Born in April 1902 to Overton (O.C.) and Maggie Claxton, members of a renowned vaudeville family from Memphis Tennesee as an only child. Claxton lived on Beale Street in downtown Memphis and although he went to school, education for black people in the teens and early 1920's was limited. At 11 he joined Ringling Bros. circus as a block boy, making $5.35 a week helping in the show's menagerie and with setup and teadown  later becoming a performer. He was an acrobat and worked in vaudeville houses which by that time were on their way out. By his late 20s he was designing shows. His big break came when he produced “The Cotton Club Showboat” for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1934. Leon met his wife Gwendolyn as a performer in Saskatoon Canada and the pair were married at St. John's Cathedral in Saskatoon in 1938. ( With Saskatoon being on the Royal American circuit, they came back year after year, Leon as the producer of the show and sometimes the MC and Gwendolyn as the lead dancer and bookkeeper.)
For 32 years Claxton toured with singers and dancers, comedians and musicians, a mix of black American and Cuban entertainers who gave one-hour shows, sometimes doing more than a dozen a day. Every year from April to October they were an instrumental part of the Royal American Shows midway, travelling by train to state fairs in Florida and Arkansas, Illinois and Minnesota, then on to Western Canada. The cast rode in a separate Pullman car on the train. Their car, always No. 66, was pelted with rocks and bottles in the early years by racist people in some cities in the southern States. It didn't even unload in others. 
"Harlem in Havana" was one of the finest girl show revues, colored or otherwise, in outdoor show business history, featuring around 50  brillantly costumed performers that included a jazz band, a chorus line, comics, singers, dancers and a belly dancer. This was a time when blacks could not go to dance and music school so for them, life on the road was their college. For the hundreds of ‘colored’ dancers, musicians, and comedians who performed here for decades, it was the “best gig in the world" and for those who, still today, remember Harlem in Havana, it will forever be the greatest “brown-skinned” stage show in North American history. It is said that Leon Claxton produced shows rivaling a Las Vegas revue. Later, when Castro took over Cuba, the name of the show was changed to Harlem Revue to make it more politically correct.   
Claxton managed his money wisely and became Tampa's first black millionaire. He lived with Gwendolyn in a big house on Grace Street in West Tampa and drove a stylish car. The motel he owned, The Claxton Manor, had a large picture of him on a wall near the bar. It catered to top African American celebrities, top professional athletes and big name politicos of the time.
He was the first black Shriner in Tampa and a Noble member of Harram Temple 23. Leon was a great philanthropist and a pillar in the Tampa business community being awarded Tampa’s Citizen of the Year in 1959. Founder of the Tampa Big Buddy Club, Leon was an avid fundraiser for needy children’s organizations, Showman’s Leagues and a variety of other local charities.
Leon Dunkins Claxton, Sr. passed away in November of 1967. Known as the "Bronze Zeigfeld of Chicago", Leon’s reputation was untouchable in the production of quality midway revue shows that presented brown skinned entertainers to a nation divided by segregation. A documentary film project is underway entitled "Jig Show", showcasing his life and exploits as well as the history of his famous Harlem In Havana revue. 
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http://www.harleminhavana.com