Clarence Muse
Age: 89 | From: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Person Details
Birthday: 1889-10-14 07:18:43
Death: 1979-10-13 07:18:43
Aliases: Clarence Muese
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 99
TV Involvements: 1
Most Famous Work
Biography
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).
Most Famous Work
Lux Video Theatre
(1950) Albert
Double Indemnity
(1944) Man (uncredited)
The Black Swan
(1942) Margaret's Servant (uncredited)
Shadow of a Doubt
(1943) Pullman Porter
White Zombie
(1932) Coach driver
Scarlet Street
(1945) Ben - Bank Janitor (uncredited)
The Black Stallion
(1979) Snoe
Blonde Venus
(1932) Charlie, the Bartender (unconfirmed)Acting
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Snoe | |
| 1977 | Papa Harris | |
| 1976 | Snapper | |
| 1975 | Self (archive footage) | |
| 1973 | Donald Freeland | |
| Gazenga's Assistant | ||
| 1972 | Cudjo | |
| 1959 | Peter | |
| 1956 | Kyba | |
| 1955 | N/A | |
| N/A | ||
| 1954 | Diaper Delivery Man | |
| 1953 | Uncle Zack | |
| Mose | ||
| 1952 | Phil | |
| Quashy | ||
| Train Porter (uncredited) | ||
| 1951 | Pompey | |
| Jehu | ||
| 1950 | Mose | |
| Albert | ||
| Whitey | ||
| 1949 | Voodoo | |
| 1948 | Mr. Pope | |
| 1947 | Jason | |
| Smoky | ||
| Clarence, Train Waiter (uncredited) | ||
| Porter (uncredited) | ||
| Second Man on Death Row (uncredited) | ||
| 1946 | Train Porter | |
| Lightin' | ||
| 1945 | Ben - Bank Janitor (uncredited) | |
| Porter (uncredited) | ||
| Frank (uncredited) | ||
| Train Porter | ||
| Kyba | ||
| 1944 | Porter (uncredited) | |
| Henry | ||
| Entertainer (uncredited) | ||
| Man (uncredited) | ||
| Carter (uncredited) | ||
| Henry | ||
| George the Butler | ||
| 1943 | Sam | |
| Jeff (uncredited) | ||
| Butler | ||
| Jasper (uncredited) | ||
| Porter | ||
| Colonial Club Doorman (uncredited) | ||
| George | ||
| Pullman Porter | ||
| 1942 | Margaret's Servant (uncredited) | |
| Durham's Valet (uncredited) | ||
| Supreme Court Doorkeeper (uncredited) | ||
| Grandpa (Robeson sequence) | ||
| Eddie | ||
| George | ||
| 1941 | N/A | |
| Bootblack in Saloon (uncredited) | ||
| Jupe | ||
| Samuel, Carriage Driver | ||
| Old Jeff | ||
| Robert - Hat Check Man at Party | ||
| Evans the Butler | ||
| Sam (uncredited) | ||
| 1940 | Henry Prince | |
| Party Server | ||
| Ben | ||
| Reverend Bitters | ||
| Jeff | ||
| Bino | ||
| Train Porter | ||
| Arthur Williams | ||
| 1939 | Uncle Caton | |
| 1938 | 'Tiger', Lee's Handler | |
| Train Steward / Sam | ||
| Brutus | ||
| Frankie Walburn | ||
| 1937 | Lightning | |
| Congo MacRosenbloom | ||
| N/A | ||
| 1936 | Lincoln | |
| Pompey | ||
| Restaurant Table Captain | ||
| Sam | ||
| The Farmer | ||
| Deacon | ||
| William | ||
| 1935 | Cato | |
| First Mate Johnson | ||
| Old Joe | ||
| Jeff | ||
| Cook | ||
| 'Rufe' | ||
| Bud's Truck Partner | ||
| 1934 | Whitey | |
| Native (uncredited) | ||
| 'Lunch' McClaren | ||
| Shamrock | ||
| Black Man | ||
| Sam | ||
| 1933 | Caddy in Haiti (uncredited) | |
| Sunrise | ||
| Chauffeur | ||
| Self | ||
| Masseur | ||
| Sam | ||
| Sam | ||
| Voice of Singer (uncredited) | ||
| Abraham Jackson | ||
| 1932 | Shoeshine Man | |
| Death Row Singing Prisoner (uncredited) | ||
| Smoke Johnson | ||
| Clarence | ||
| A Blind Negro | ||
| Rascal | ||
| Nightclub Singer (uncredited) | ||
| Coach driver | ||
| Rosebud, the Trainer | ||
| Horatio | ||
| Jefferson Q. Leffingwell | ||
| Tim Washington, the Doorman | ||
| Curfew | ||
| Taylor Tibbs | ||
| Tombeau | ||
| 1931 | Nham | |
| Eustace Brown | ||
| Jeff - Building Janitor | ||
| Newcastle | ||
| Jonas Polk | ||
| Jim | ||
| Curfew | ||
| Clarence | ||
| Alabam' / Singing Voice of Condemned Man (uncredited) | ||
| 1930 | Driver (uncredited) | |
| N/A | ||
| Party Guest (uncredited) | ||
| Nero | ||
| Stablehand | ||
| Singer | ||
| Black Revivalist | ||
| Rusty | ||
| Jefferson | ||
| 1929 | Cabaret Singer (uncredited) | |
| Church Member (uncredited) | ||
| Farina's father | ||
| Nappus | ||
| 1921 | N/A | |
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
Crew
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Additional Dialogue | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
Writing
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Writer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
Sound
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Original Music Composer | |
| 1932 | Original Music Composer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
Production
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1921 | Producer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |