Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American actor and comedian. To a generation of early radio and television comedy audiences, he was known as "Rochester".

Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudeville circuit. In the early 1930s, he transitioned into films and radio. In 1937, he began his role of Rochester van Jones, usually known simply as Rochester, the valet of Jack Benny on the NBC radio show The Jack Benny Program. Anderson became the first African American to have a regular role on a nationwide radio program. When the series moved to CBS television in 1950, Anderson continued in the role until the series ended in 1965.

After the series ended, Anderson remained active with guest-starring roles on television and voice work in animated series. He was also an avid horse-racing fan who owned several race horses and worked as a horse trainer at the Hollywood Park Racetrack. He was married twice and had four children. He died of heart disease in February 1977 at the age of 71.

Anderson was born in Oakland, California. His father, "Big Ed" Anderson, was a minstrel performer, while his mother Ella Mae had been a tightrope walker until her career was ended by a fall. He described himself as a descendant of slaves who were able to leave the South during the Civil War through the Underground Railroad. At the age of 10, Anderson and his family moved from Oakland to San Francisco. He left school when he was 14 to work as an errand boy to help his family.

Stagestruck at an early age, he spent much of his free time waiting at stage doors and playing on street corners with his friend and brother, Cornelius. Anderson briefly tried being a jockey, but had to abandon it when he became too heavy. Anderson started in show business as part of an all-African-American revue at the age of 14; he had previously won an amateur contest at a vaudeville theater in San Francisco. Anderson joined the cast of Struttin' Along in 1923 and was part of Steppin' High both as a dancer and as one of the Three Black Aces with his brother Cornelius in 1924. He later worked in vaudeville with Cornelius. Anderson began adding comedy to his song-and-dance act in 1926. During one of his vaudeville tours to the East Coast, Anderson first met Jack Benny, but they only exchanged greetings and shook hands.

Anderson ruptured his vocal cords when he was a youngster selling newspapers in San Francisco, a job that required loud shouting. The permanent damage left him with his trademark gravelly voice. Anderson started in show business as a dancer, but it was his uniquely recognizable voice that brought him to stardom.

Anderson's first appearance on The Jack Benny Program was on March 28, 1937. He was originally hired to play the one-time role of a redcap for a storyline in which the show traveled from Chicago to California by train, which coincided with the show's actual return to NBC's Radio City West in Hollywood after a brief stint in New York. Anderson, who was working as a comedian in Los Angeles, won the role after an audition.

Five weeks after Anderson's first appearance on the Benny program, he was called for another role on the show, this time as a waiter in a restaurant serving the cast. Several weeks later, Anderson was called back once again for the part of a man who had a financial disagreement with Benny.