Butterbeans and Susie were a comedy duo made up of Jodie Edwards (July 19, 1895 – October 28, 1967) and Susie Edwards, née Susie Hawthorne (1896 – 1963). Edwards began his career in 1910 as a singer and dancer. Meanwhile, Hawthorne performed in African-American theater. The two met in 1916 when Hawthorne was in the chorus of the Smart Set show. They married on stage the next year.

The two did not perform as a comic team until the early 1920s. They had been touring with the Theater Owners Bookers Association (TOBA) with a black husband-and-wife comedy team known as Stringbeans and Sweetie May. Upon the death of Stringbeans (Butler May or Budd LeMay), a TOBA promoter asked Edwards to take the stage name "Butterbeans" and for him and his wife to take over Stringbeans and Sweetie May's act. "Butterbeans and Susie" appeared for the first time shortly thereafter.