Film Snail

Clarence Muse

Born · October 13, 1889

Died · October 13, 1979 (90 years old)

Known For: Acting

Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Bio

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).

Known for

The Black Stallion

Snoe

7.0

1979

Passing Through

Papa Harris

5.0

1977

Car Wash

Snapper

6.0

1976

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

Self (archive footage)

0.0

1975

A Dream for Christmas

Donald Freeland

6.0

1973

The World's Greatest Athlete

Gazenga's Assistant

5.3

1973

Buck and the Preacher

Cudjo

6.2

1972

Porgy and Bess

Peter

6.1

1959

Jungle Safari

Kyba

4.0

1956

The 20th Century Fox Hour

(1 episode)

5.2

1955

Casablanca

(10 episodes)

10.0

1955

She Couldn't Say No

Diaper Delivery Man

5.6

1954

The Sun Shines Bright

Uncle Zack

6.5

1953

Jamaica Run

Mose

5.0

Henry

5.0

1944

The Soul of a Monster

Belle Starr

Bootblack in Saloon (uncredited)

5.6

1941

Gentleman from Dixie

Jupe

6.0

1941

The Flame of New Orleans

Samuel, Carriage Driver

6.0

1941

Kisses for Breakfast

Old Jeff

5.5

1941

Love Crazy

Robert - Hat Check Man at Party

7.1

1941

Invisible Ghost

Evans the Butler

5.2

1941

Adam Had Four Sons

Sam (uncredited)

6.0

1941

Chad Hanna

Henry Prince

6.0

1940

Murder Over New York

Party Server

6.1

1940

That Gang of Mine

Ben

5.6

1940

Maryland

Reverend Bitters

6.2

1940

Sporting Blood

Jeff

4.3

1940

Zanzibar

Bino

0.0

1940

Alice in Movieland

Train Porter

6.3

1940

Broken Strings

Arthur Williams

4.5

1940

Way Down South

Uncle Caton

5.4

1939

Secrets of a Nurse

'Tiger', Lee's Handler

3.0

1938

Prison Train

Train Steward / Sam

6.0

1938

The Toy Wife

Brutus

4.8

1938

Spirit of Youth

Frankie Walburn

5.5

1938

Jungle Menace

Lightning

5.0

1937

High Hat

Congo MacRosenbloom

5.0

1937

Deep South

6.0

1937

Mysterious Crossing

Lincoln

0.0

1936

Daniel Boone

Pompey

4.8

1936

The Green Pastures

Angel (uncredited)

6.3

1936

Spendthrift

Restaurant Table Captain

5.0

1936

Show Boat

Sam

6.8

1936

The Broken Earth

The Farmer

1.0

1936

Laughing Irish Eyes

Deacon

0.0

1936

Muss 'em Up

William

5.5

1936

So Red the Rose

Cato

6.0

1935

East of Java

First Mate Johnson

6.0

1935

Harmony Lane

Old Joe

3.5

1935

O'Shaughnessy's Boy

Jeff

6.0

1935

After the Dance

Cook

6.0

1935

Alias Mary Dow

'Rufe'

6.2

1935

Red Hot Tires

Bud's Truck Partner

5.8

1935

Broadway Bill

Whitey

6.1

1934

Kid Millions

Native

6.5

1934

Black Moon

'Lunch' McClaren

5.1

1934

The Personality Kid

Shamrock

4.2

1934

A Very Honorable Guy

Black Man

2.0

1934

Massacre

Sam

5.8

1934

Flying Down to Rio

Caddy in Haiti (uncredited)

6.2

1933

Fury of the Jungle

Sunrise

0.0

1933

The Wrecker

Chauffeur

1.0

1933

Hollywood on Parade No. A-12

Self

0.0

1933

The Life of Jimmy Dolan

Masseur

6.1

1933

The Mind Reader

Sam

6.3

1933

From Hell to Heaven

Sam

7.2

1933

Frisco Jenny

Voice of Singer (uncredited)

6.3

1933

Laughter in Hell

Abraham Jackson

1.0

1933

The Death Kiss

Shoeshine Man

5.3

1932

If I Had a Million

Death Row Singing Prisoner (uncredited)

6.5

1932

Man Against Woman

Smoke Johnson

3.5

1932

Washington Merry-Go-Round

Clarence

6.7

1932

The Cabin in the Cotton

A Blind Negro

6.3

1932

Hell's Highway

Rascal

6.1

1932

Big City Blues

Nightclub Singer (uncredited)

5.3

1932

White Zombie

Coach driver

5.9

1932

Winner Take All

Rosebud, the Trainer

5.3

1932

Is My Face Red?

Horatio

5.0

1932

Attorney for the Defense

Jefferson Q. Leffingwell

6.0

1932

Night World

Tim Washington, the Doorman

6.7

1932

Lena Rivers

Curfew

5.5

1932

The Wet Parade

Taylor Tibbs

5.8

1932

The Woman from Monte Carlo

Tombeau

5.0

1932

Prestige

Nham

5.5

1931

X Marks the Spot

Eustace Brown

6.0

1931

Safe in Hell

Newcastle

6.7

1931

The Secret Witness

Jeff - Building Janitor

3.0

1931

Secret Service

Jonas Polk

6.0

1931

Huckleberry Finn

Jim

8.0

1931

The Fighting Sheriff

Curfew

0.0

1931

Dirigible

Clarence

5.2

1931

The Last Parade

Alabam' / Singing Voice of Condemned Man (uncredited)

0.0

1931

Derelict

Driver (uncredited)

10.0

1930

Outside the Law

Party Guest (uncredited)

4.7

1930

Rain or Shine

Nero

5.7

1930

The Thoroughbred

Stablehand

4.6

1930

Swing High

Singer

6.5

1930

Honey

Black Revivalist

5.0

1930

A Royal Romance

Rusty

0.0

1930

Guilty?

Jefferson

0.0

1930

New York Nights

Cabaret Singer (uncredited)

4.8

1929

Hallelujah

Church Member (uncredited)

6.6

1929

Election Day

Farina's father

7.0

1929

Hearts in Dixie

Nappus

3.0

1929

The Custard Nine

0.0

1921