History Main / ShoeShineMister

* El Chavo in ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' has tried a job as shoe shiner on more than one opportunity. Always ending up distracted mid-job and painting the socks, trousers and sometimes even the face of the poor adult that accepted his services.

* ''Series/PoliceSquad'' had Johnny the Shoe-Shine Boy, who knew '''everything''', so much that he's listed on this site as an AlmightyJanitor. Our hero goes to him to catch the 'word on the street', then it's taken UpToEleven by having various celebrities turn up for advise on everything else.

--> Bart: Shine yer boots, guv'ner?
--> Homer: No son of mine is gonna be a 19th-century cockney bootblack!

* A hotel shoe shiner played a major role in ''Nick of Time'' with JohnnyDepp.

* "Get Rhythm" by JohnnyCash.
* "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy", a song performed by BingCrosby and FrankSinatra, amongst others.

* ''Film/NickOfTime''. A disabled war veteran earning money this way becomes a ally to the protagonist, after he overhears the villain discussing his EvilPlan while having his shoes shined (he suffers from hearing loss, but is not completely deaf as the villain had been lead to believe).

* ''Series/PoliceSquad'' had Johnny the Shoe-Shine Boy, who knew '''everything''', so much that he's listed on this site as an AlmightyJanitor.

* ''Literature/{{Burke}}'' series, the Prof (short for either Professor or Prophet) uses this as a cover when carrying out surveillance, when he's not pretending to be a mad street preacher.

** JamesBrown – "The Godfather of Soul". He used to shine shoes and sing and dance on Ninth Street in Augusta, Georgia; in 1993 the road was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" in his honour.
** RushLimbaugh– conservative radio talk show host and pundit, shined shoes as a young boy to make spending money.

* ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' features a scene in which Tommy [=DeVito=] (Creator/JoePesci) brutally beats and knifes Billy Batts to death for insulting him about being a shoeshine boy in Tommy's younger days. This would eventually get Tommy killed, as Batts was a made man. \\

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "The Birthday Bag", Harriet Conklin invents a story about an impoverished shoeshine boy friend of hers in order to get money from Miss Brooks.

* One of them is in the city in ''VideoGame/{{Animal Crossing}}''s third installment ''City Folk/Let's Go To The City''. He changes the color of your shoes according to the clothes you're wearing at the time.

* ''ThePrisoner'' episode "The Girl who was Death" parodies secret agent adventures, and early on has Number Six exchanging info with a fellow agent who is posing as a shoe shine guy, complete with transmitter brush.

* ''PoliceSquad'' had Johnny the Shoe-Shine Boy, who knew '''everything''', so much that he's listed on this site as an AlmightyJanitor.

* Andy from ''ParksAndRecreation'' gets the job of shoeshine boy at Pawnee City Hall after a season and a half of being essentially homeless and unemployed.

* For a little while on ''NightCourt'' there was a shoeshine stand that was an important place in the courthouse, with the shiner as a recurring character.

* ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' features a scene in which Tommy [=DeVito=] (Creator/JoePesci), brutally beats and knifes Billy Batts to death for insulting him about being a shoeshine boy in Tommy's younger days. This would eventually get Tommy killed, as Batts was a made man. \\

-->Is that the Chattanooga choo choo?

* ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' features a scene in which Tommy [=DeVito=] (JoePesci), brutally beats and knifes Billy Batts to death for insulting him about being a shoeshine boy in Tommy's younger days. This would eventually get Tommy killed, as Batts was a made man. \\

* As mentioned above in the film entry for ''Young Frankenstein'', the song "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga_Choo_Choo Chattanooga Choo Choo]]" mentions a shoe shiner:

* As mentioned above in the film entry for ''YoungFrankenstein'', the song "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga_Choo_Choo Chattanooga Choo Choo]]" mentions a shoe shiner:

** MalcolmX – worked as a shoeshine boy at a Lindy Hop nightclub in New York City.

[[folder:RealLife]]
* [[http://www.springerlink.com/content/2580172652228867/ This article written in 1968]] explains the job of being a shoeshine boy.
* Some famous RealLife shoeshiners:
** JamesBrown – "The Godfather of Soul". He used to shine shoes and sing and dance on Ninth Street in Augusta, Georgia; in 1993 the road was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" in his honour.
** RushLimbaugh– conservative radio talk show host and pundit, shined shoes as a young boy to make spending money.
** MalcolmX – worked as a shoeshine boy at a Lindy Hop nightclub in New York City.
** Rod Blagojevich – later governor of Illinois.
[[/folder]]

* ''TheLegendOfKorra'': Hiroshi Sato got his start as a shoeshiner, before finding a backer for his "automobile" idea.

* In ''SilverStreak'', the police are looking for George, so Grover buys some shoe polish from a shoeshiner at a stand at the train station to use to disguise him as a black man.
* ''{{Goodfellas}}'' features a scene in which Tommy [=DeVito=] (JoePesci), brutally beats and knifes Billy Batts to death for insulting him about being a shoeshine boy in Tommy's younger days. This would eventually get Tommy killed, as Batts was a made man. \\

* ''YoungFrankenstein''. When Frederick's train pulls in, he asks a shoeshine boy, "Pardon me boy, is this the Transylvania Station?" The boy replies "Ja, ja. Track 29. Oh, can I give you a shine?" This is a ShoutOut to the 1941 song "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattanooga_Choo_Choo Chattanooga Choo Choo]]".
* ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'': While JamesBond is trailing Kananga's car in Harlem, he's spotted by a black shoeshine man, who calls Mr. Big on a radio inside his shoeshine kit.
* In ''TheBandWagon'', Fred Astaire sings and dances [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4UUkui545I#t=1m20s "Shine on your Shoes"]] with the shoe shiner. He was a real dancing shoe shiner rather than an actor/dancer, and the inspiration for the song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEClMiOp6OY "Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy"]]. A {{BLAM}} song.
* PrinceOfSpace is a shoeshine boy.
* In ''ThatManFromRio'', Adrian chases his girlfriend and her kidnappers from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. As he's lost them and is at loose ends, a street kid comes up and shines his shoes. Adrian has no money, so he shines the kid's shoes in return. They befriend each other, and the kid turns out to be pretty resourceful, saving Adrian in a couple of dangerous situations.

** Also featuring Johnny Depp is ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory''; toward the end, after [[spoiler: rejecting Wonka's desire to have him take over the factory and abandon his family]], Charlie is shining the shoes of an unknown man and insults Wonka. The man promptly drops the newspaper from in front of his face, revealing a rather offended Wonka.