CM
Clarence Muse
Actor, Writer
Died October 13, 1979 (89 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, composer, and lawyer. He was inducted in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973. Muse was the first Negro to "star" in a film. He acted for more than sixty years appearing in more than 150 movies.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Alexander and Mary Muse, he studied at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received an international law degree in 1911. He was acting in New York by the 1920s, during the Harlem Renaissance with two Harlem theatres, Lincoln Players and Lafayette Players.
Muse moved to Chicago for a while, and then moved to Hollywood and performed in Hearts in Dixie (1929), the first all-black movie. For the next fifty years, he worked regularly in minor and major roles. While with the Lafayette Players, Muse worked under the management of producer Robert Levy on productions that helped black actors to gain prominence and respect. In regards to the Lafayette Theatre's staging of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Muse said the play was relevant to black actors and audiences "because, in a way, it was every black man's story. Black men too have been split creatures inhabiting one body.". Muse appeared as an opera singer, minstrel show performer, vaudeville and Broadway actor; he also wrote songs, plays, and sketches. In 1943, he became the first African American Broadway director with Run Little Chillun.
Muse was also the co-writer of several notable songs. In 1931, with Leon René and Otis René, Muse wrote "When It's Sleepy Time Down South", also known as "Sleepy Time Down South". The song was sung by Nina Mae McKinney in the movie Safe in Hell (1931), and later became a signature song of Louis Armstrong.
He was the major star in Broken Earth (1936), which related the story of a black sharecropper whose son miraculously recovers from fever through the father's fervent prayer. Shot on a farm in the South with nonprofessional actors (except for Muse), the film's early scenes focused in a highly realistic manner on the incredible hardship of black farmers, with plowing scenes. In 1938, Muse co-starred with boxer Joe Louis in Spirit of Youth, the fictional story of a champion boxer which featured an all black cast. Muse and Langston Hughes wrote the script for Way Down South (1939).
Muse performed in Broken Strings (1940), as a concert violinist who opposes the desire of his son to play "swing". From 1955-56, Muse was a regular on the weekly TV version of Casablanca, playing Sam the pianist (a part he was under consideration for in the original Warner Brothers film), and in 1959, he played Peter, the Honey Man, in Porgy and Bess.
He appeared on Disney's TV miniseries The Swamp Fox. Other film credits include Buck and the Preacher (1972), The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) and as Gazenga's Assistant, "Snapper" in Car Wash (1976). His last acting role was in The Black Stallion (1979).
Filmography
| 1979 | The Black Stallion · as Snoe |
| 1976 | Car Wash · as Snapper |
| 1973 | The World's Greatest Athlete · as Gazenga's Assistant |
| 1972 | Buck and the Preacher · as Cudjo |
| 1966 | Daktari (TV Series) · as Chief Warloo |
| 1959 | Porgy and Bess · as Peter |
| 1954 | Disneyland (TV Series) · as Joseph |
| 1953 | The Sun Shines Bright · as Uncle Zack |
| 1953 | She Couldn't Say No · as Diaper Delivery Man |
| 1953 | Jamaica Run · as Mose |
| 1952 | The Las Vegas Story · as Train Porter (uncredited) |
| 1952 | Caribbean · as Quashy |
| 1952 | Four Star Playhouse (TV Series) · as Phil |
| 1951 | My Forbidden Past · as Pompey |
| 1950 | Riding High · as Whitey |
| 1950 | County Fair · as Romulus |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Albert |
| 1949 | The Great Dan Patch · as Voodoo |
| 1947 | Unconquered · as Jason |
| 1947 | A Likely Story · as Porter |
| 1947 | My Favorite Brunette · as Second Man on Death Row (uncredited) |
| 1946 | Night and Day · as Porter |
| 1946 | Two Smart People · as Train Porter |
| 1945 | Scarlet Street · as Ben - Bank Janitor (uncredited) |
| 1945 | Without Love · as Train Porter |
| 1945 | God Is My Co-Pilot · as Frank |
| 1944 | Double Indemnity · as Man (uncredited) |
| 1944 | The Thin Man Goes Home · as Porter on Train |
| 1943 | Shadow of a Doubt · as Pullman Porter |
| 1943 | The Sky's the Limit · as Colonial Club Doorman (uncredited) |
| 1943 | Sherlock Holmes in Washington · as George |
| 1943 | Watch on the Rhine · as Horace |
| 1943 | Johnny Come Lately · as Butler |
| 1943 | Heaven Can Wait · as Jasper (uncredited) |
| 1942 | The Black Swan · as Margaret's Servant (uncredited) |
| 1942 | The Talk of the Town · as Supreme Court Doorkeeper (uncredited) |
| 1941 | Love Crazy · as Robert - Hat Check Man at Party |
| 1941 | Invisible Ghost · as Evans the Butler |
| 1941 | Belle Starr · as Bootblack in Saloon (uncredited) |
| 1941 | Adam Had Four Sons · as Sam (uncredited) |
| 1940 | That Gang of Mine · as Ben |
| 1940 | Broken Strings · as Arthur Williams |
| 1939 | Way Down South · as Uncle Caton |
| 1938 | Prison Train · as Train Steward / Sam |
| 1938 | Spirit of Youth · as Frankie Walburn |
| 1936 | The Green Pastures · as Angel |
| 1936 | Daniel Boone · as Pompey |
| 1936 | Follow Your Heart · as Choir Leader |
| 1935 | Harmony Lane · as Old Joe |
| 1935 | East of Java · as First Mate Johnson |
| 1934 | The Count of Monte Cristo · as Ali |
| 1934 | Broadway Bill · as Whitey |
| 1934 | Kid Millions · as Native (uncredited) |
| 1934 | Operator 13 · as Slave at Medicine Show |
| 1933 | Flying Down to Rio · as Caddy in Haiti (uncredited) |
| 1933 | The Mind Reader · as Sam |
| 1932 | White Zombie · as Coach driver |
| 1932 | Blonde Venus · as Charlie, the Bartender (unconfirmed) |
| 1932 | The Death Kiss · as Shoeshine Man |
| 1932 | Frisco Jenny · as Voice of Singer (uncredited) |
| 1932 | The Woman from Monte Carlo · as Tombeau |
| 1932 | If I Had a Million · as Death Row Singing Prisoner (uncredited) |
| 1932 | Washington Merry-Go-Round · as Clarence |
| 1932 | Lena Rivers · as Curfew |
| 1932 | Is My Face Red? · as Horatio |
| 1931 | Safe in Hell · as Newcastle |
| 1931 | Dirigible · as Clarence |
| 1930 | Rain or Shine · as Nero |
| 1929 | Hallelujah · as Church Member (uncredited) |