Clarence Muse

Acting · 0.7 popularity

Age

136

Movies

151

Born: October 13, 1889 – October 13, 1979
From: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

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).

Works

151 films

Shadow of a Doubt

19437.5

Double Indemnity

19448.1

The Black Swan

19426.5

Unconquered

19476.5

The Black Stallion

19797.0

Scarlet Street

19457.6

Car Wash

19766.0

Hallelujah

19296.7

Buck and the Preacher

19726.3

Belle Starr

19415.9

Heaven Can Wait

19436.9

The Toy Wife

19385.0

The Sun Shines Bright

19536.5

The Flame of New Orleans

19416.5

The World's Greatest Athlete

19735.5

My Favorite Brunette

19476.6

The Talk of the Town

19427.3

Silver River

19486.2

Flesh and Fantasy

19437.1

White Zombie

19326.0

God Is My Co-Pilot

19457.1

Show Boat

19366.7

Broadway Bill

19346.0

Sherlock Holmes in Washington

19436.8

Welcome Stranger

19476.9

Safe in Hell

19316.7

The Thin Man Goes Home

19447.1

Love Crazy

19416.8

The Wet Parade

19326.2

If I Had a Million

19326.5

Prestige

19327.0

Apache Drums

19516.3

Without Love

19457.0

The Broken Earth

19364.5

The Death Kiss

19325.3

Flying Down to Rio

19336.3

Follow the Boys

19445.7

Tales of Manhattan

19426.4

Watch on the Rhine

19436.9

Way Down South

19396.4

Adam Had Four Sons

19415.9

Dirigible

19315.5

Porgy and Bess

19596.3

Laughing Irish Eyes

193610.0

Maryland

19406.5

Twin Beds

19423.8

Huckleberry Finn

19317.0

Riding High

19506.1

So Red the Rose

19357.7

The Las Vegas Story

19526.0

She Couldn't Say No

19545.7

Among the Living

19416.1

Black Shadows on a Silver Screen

1975

The Wrecker

19333.7

The Racket Man

19447.7

Invisible Ghost

19415.3

A Likely Story

19474.8

Jungle Menace

19377.0

Caribbean

19526.3

My Forbidden Past

19515.5

The Personality Kid

19344.4

Black Moon

19345.5

Muss 'em Up

19366.2

Big City Blues

19325.8

Alice in Movieland

19406.4

Kid Millions

19346.7

Daniel Boone

19364.9

The Soul of a Monster

19445.5

The Green Pastures

19366.3

Massacre

19345.5

The Sky's the Limit

19436.3

That Gang of Mine

19405.8

Winner Take All

19325.4

The Life of Jimmy Dolan

19336.2

Jungle Queen

19455.5

Spendthrift

19366.0

Chad Hanna

19407.3

Sporting Blood

19404.2

Alias Mary Dow

19357.2

Joe Palooka in the Knockout

19478.0

The Woman from Monte Carlo

19326.3

Swing High

19307.7

Hell's Highway

19326.1

Jamaica Run

19535.8

San Diego I Love You

19446.8

Murder Over New York

19406.2

After the Dance

19356.5

From Hell to Heaven

19337.8

Rain or Shine

19306.5

Night World

19326.8

In the Meantime, Darling

19446.8

Frisco Jenny

19336.7

Zanzibar

19409.0

O'Shaughnessy's Boy

19356.2

Stars on Parade

19448.0

The Cabin in the Cotton

19326.3

East of Java

19357.5

Fury of the Jungle

19337.0

Red Hot Tires

19356.0

Lena Rivers

19327.0

Kisses for Breakfast

19416.3

Laughter in Hell

19333.7

Washington Merry-Go-Round

19327.5

Two Smart People

19466.6

A Very Honorable Guy

19346.0

The Mind Reader

19336.3

Prison Train

19387.3

An Act of Murder

19486.9

Honeymoon Lodge

19436.5

Secret Service

19316.7

Johnny Come Lately

19437.0

Jungle Terror

19467.0

Mysterious Crossing

193610.0

Strictly in the Groove

19429.0

Broken Strings

19404.8

The Secret Witness

19314.3

High Hat

19375.8

Gentleman from Dixie

19418.0

The Great Dan Patch

19495.5

A Dream for Christmas

19737.3

Tough as They Come

19429.0

Jam Session

19447.0

Secrets of a Nurse

19385.5

Is My Face Red?

19325.0

Katie Did It

19507.3

Honey

19305.7

The Custard Nine

19218.0

Over the Wall

19438.0

Harmony Lane

19354.5

She Wouldn't Say Yes

19456.4

Election Day

19297.0

The Last Parade

19319.0

Man Against Woman

19325.0

Derelict

19309.0

Attorney for the Defense

19326.3

Passing Through

19776.0

County Fair

19508.0

Spirit of Youth

19386.1

Jungle Safari

19566.0

The Thoroughbred

19305.4

Beautiful Dreamer

1935

Guilty?

19309.0

The Fighting Sheriff

193110.0

A Royal Romance

19307.0

New York Nights

19295.5

Outside the Law

19305.2

Hollywood on Parade No. A-12

1933

Hearts in Dixie

19295.0

The Peanut Man

19477.0

X Marks the Spot

19316.5

Deep South

19377.3