Clarence Muse
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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
Unconquered
Jason
Four Star Playhouse
Phil
Silver River
Servant (uncredited)
Broadway Bill
Whitey
Riding High
Whitey
Night World
Tim Washington, the Doorman
Scarlet Street
Ben - Bank Janitor (uncredited)
The Woman from Monte Carlo
Tombeau
The Talk of the Town
Supreme Court Doorkeeper (uncredited)
Show Boat
Sam
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
Masseur
The Black Stallion
Snoe
Massacre
Sam
The Sky's the Limit
Colonial Club Doorman (uncredited)
Passing Through
Papa Harris
Belle Starr
Bootblack in Saloon (uncredited)
Honeymoon Lodge
Porter
Black Moon
'Lunch' McClaren
Frisco Jenny
Voice of Singer (uncredited)
The Thin Man Goes Home
Porter on Train (uncredited)
Harmony Lane
Old Joe
The Flame of New Orleans
Samuel, Carriage Driver
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Jungle Menace
Lightning
Flying Down to Rio
Caddy in Haiti (uncredited)
High Hat
Congo MacRosenbloom
Murder Over New York
Party Server
Invisible Ghost
Evans the Butler
Guilty?
Jefferson
Secret Service
Jonas Polk
Watch on the Rhine
Horace
Adam Had Four Sons
Sam (uncredited)
Deep South
Welcome Stranger
Clarence, Train Waiter (uncredited)
Lena Rivers
Curfew
Kid Millions
Native (uncredited)
Dirigible
Clarence
Spendthrift
Restaurant Table Captain
God Is My Co-Pilot
Frank (uncredited)
Tales of Manhattan
Grandpa
Shadow of a Doubt
Pullman Porter
Jamaica Run
Mose
A Dream for Christmas
Donald Freeland
Caribbean
Quashy
The Death Kiss
Shoeshine Man
Heaven Can Wait
Jasper (uncredited)
Lux Video Theatre
Albert
Derelict
Driver (uncredited)
Maryland
Reverend Bitters
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
George
The Cabin in the Cotton
A Blind Negro
The Las Vegas Story
Train Porter (uncredited)
Among the Living
Without Love
Train Porter
If I Had a Million
Death Row Singing Prisoner (uncredited)
The Sun Shines Bright
Uncle Zack
Porgy and Bess
Peter
Sporting Blood
Jeff
White Zombie
Coach Driver
The World's Greatest Athlete
Gazenga's Assistant
Big City Blues
Nightclub Singer (uncredited)
Chad Hanna
Henry Prince
The Secret Witness
Jeff - Building Janitor
A Very Honorable Guy
Black Man
Prison Train
Train Steward / Sam
Alias Mary Dow
'Rufe'
The Personality Kid
Shamrock
Honey
Black Revivalist
Two Smart People
Train Porter
Way Down South
Uncle Caton
Jam Session
Henry
O'Shaughnessy's Boy
Jeff
Beautiful Dreamer
Outside the Law
Party Guest (uncredited)
Washington Merry-Go-Round
Clarence
The Toy Wife
Brutus
Alice in Movieland
Train Porter
The Green Pastures
Angel (uncredited)
Jungle Queen
Kyba
Flesh and Fantasy
Jeff (uncredited)
The Mind Reader
Sam
Attorney for the Defense
Jefferson Q. Leffingwell
Double Indemnity
Man (uncredited)
Laughter in Hell
Abraham Jackson
Election Day
Farina's father
Safe in Hell
Newcastle
San Diego I Love You
Porter (uncredited)
Kisses for Breakfast
Old Jeff
In the Meantime, Darling
Henry
Secrets of a Nurse
'Tiger', Lee's Handler
Buck and the Preacher
Cudjo
Daniel Boone
Pompey
She Wouldn't Say Yes
Porter (uncredited)
East of Java
First Mate Johnson
The Soul of a Monster
Entertainer (uncredited)
Broken Strings
Arthur Williams
Tough as They Come
Eddie
An Act of Murder
Mr. Pope
Johnny Come Lately
Butler
My Favorite Brunette
Second Man on Death Row (uncredited)
New York Nights
Cabaret Singer (uncredited)
Strictly in the Groove
Durham's Valet (uncredited)
Over the Wall
Sam
Hell's Highway
Rascal
The Peanut Man
Dr. George Washington Carver
That Gang of Mine
Ben
She Couldn't Say No
Diaper Delivery Man
From Hell to Heaven
Sam
The Great Dan Patch
Voodoo
My Forbidden Past
Pompey
The Wet Parade
Taylor Tibbs
Rain or Shine
Nero
X Marks the Spot
Eustace Brown
Gentleman from Dixie
Jupe
Fury of the Jungle
Sunrise
Jungle Safari
Kyba
So Red the Rose
Cato
Laughing Irish Eyes
Deacon
Man Against Woman
Smoke Johnson
Winner Take All
Rosebud, the Trainer
The Last Parade
Alabam' / Singing Voice of Condemned Man (uncredited)
Twin Beds
George
Is My Face Red?
Horatio
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
Self (archive footage)
Red Hot Tires
Bud's Truck Partner
Car Wash
Snapper
The Black Swan
Margaret's Servant (uncredited)
Hearts in Dixie
Nappus
Casablanca
Stars on Parade
Carter (uncredited)
Hollywood on Parade No. A-12
Self
Huckleberry Finn
Jim
Hallelujah
Church Member (uncredited)
Love Crazy
Robert - Hat Check Man at Party
Apache Drums
Jehu
The Racket Man
George the Butler
Prestige
Nham
The Broken Earth
The Farmer
A Likely Story
Porter (uncredited)
A Royal Romance
Rusty
Jungle Terror
Lightin'
Mysterious Crossing
Lincoln
After the Dance
Cook
Muss 'em Up
William
The Fighting Sheriff
Curfew
The Wrecker
Chauffeur
Swing High
Singer
Joe Palooka in the Knockout
Smoky
Katie Did It
Mose
The Thoroughbred
Stablehand
Zanzibar
Bino
Spirit of Youth
Frankie Walburn