Clarence Muse
Personal Info
Known For Actor
Gender Male
Birthday 1889-10-13
Deathday 1979-10-13 (90 years old)
Place of Birth Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Also Known As Clarence Muese
Clarence Muse
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).
Known For
Actor
as Snoe
as Papa Harris
as Snapper
as Self (archive footage)
as Donald Freeland
as Gazenga's Assistant
as Cudjo
as Peter
as Kyba
as Diaper Delivery Man
as Uncle Zack
as Mose
as Quashy
as Train Porter (uncredited)
as Phil
as Pompey
as Jehu
as Mose
as Whitey
as Albert
as Voodoo
as Mr. Pope
as Jason
as Smoky
as Clarence, Train Waiter (uncredited)
as Dr. George Washington Carver
as Porter (uncredited)
as Second Man on Death Row (uncredited)
as Train Porter
as Lightin'
as Ben - Bank Janitor (uncredited)
as Porter (uncredited)
as Frank (uncredited)
as Train Porter
as Kyba
as Porter (uncredited)
as Henry
as Entertainer (uncredited)
as Man (uncredited)
as Carter (uncredited)
as Henry
as George the Butler
as Sam
as Jeff (uncredited)
as Butler
as Horace
as Jasper (uncredited)
as Porter
as Colonial Club Doorman (uncredited)
as George
as Pullman Porter
as Margaret's Servant (uncredited)
as Durham's Valet (uncredited)
as Supreme Court Doorkeeper (uncredited)
as Grandpa (Robeson sequence)
as Eddie
as George
as Bootblack in Saloon (uncredited)
as Jupe
as Samuel, Carriage Driver
as Old Jeff
as Robert - Hat Check Man at Party
as Evans the Butler
as Sam (uncredited)
as Henry Prince
as Party Server
as Ben
as Reverend Bitters
as Jeff
as Bino
as Train Porter
as Arthur Williams
as Uncle Caton
as 'Tiger', Lee's Handler
as Train Steward / Sam
as Brutus
as Frankie Walburn
as Lightning
as Congo MacRosenbloom
as Lincoln
as Pompey
as Angel (uncredited)
as Restaurant Table Captain
as Sam
as The Farmer
as Deacon
as William
as Cato
as First Mate Johnson
as Old Joe
as Jeff
as Cook
as 'Rufe'
as Bud's Truck Partner
as Whitey
as Native (uncredited)
as 'Lunch' McClaren
as Shamrock
as Black Man
as Sam
as Caddy in Haiti (uncredited)
as Sunrise
as Chauffeur
as Self
as Masseur
as Sam
as Sam
as Voice of Singer (uncredited)
as Abraham Jackson
as Shoeshine Man
as Death Row Singing Prisoner (uncredited)
as Smoke Johnson
as Clarence
as A Blind Negro
as Rascal
as Nightclub Singer (uncredited)
as Coach driver
as Rosebud, the Trainer
as Horatio
as Jefferson Q. Leffingwell
as Tim Washington, the Doorman
as Curfew
as Taylor Tibbs
as Tombeau
as Nham
as Eustace Brown
as Newcastle
as Jeff - Building Janitor
as Jonas Polk
as Jim
as Curfew
as Clarence
as Alabam' / Singing Voice of Condemned Man (uncredited)
as Driver (uncredited)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
as Nero
as Stablehand
as Singer
as Black Revivalist
as Rusty
as Jefferson
as Cabaret Singer (uncredited)
as Church Member (uncredited)
as Farina's father
as Nappus
Sound
as Original Music Composer
as Original Music Composer
Writer
as Writer
Crew
as Additional Dialogue
Producer
as Producer