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).
151 movies · 4 shows
The Black Stallion
1979·7.0
Passing Through
1977·6.0
Car Wash
1976·6.0
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
1975·0.0
A Dream for Christmas
1973·7.3
The World's Greatest Athlete
1973·5.5
Buck and the Preacher
1972·6.3
Porgy and Bess
1959·6.3
Jungle Safari
1956·6.0
She Couldn't Say No
1954·5.7
The Sun Shines Bright
1953·6.5
Jamaica Run
1953·5.8
Caribbean
1952·6.3
The Las Vegas Story
1952·6.0
My Forbidden Past
1951·5.5
Apache Drums
1951·6.3
Katie Did It
1950·7.3
County Fair
1950·8.0
Riding High
1950·6.1
The Great Dan Patch
1949·5.5
An Act of Murder
1948·6.9
Silver River
1948·6.2
Unconquered
1947·6.5
Joe Palooka in the Knockout
1947·8.0
Welcome Stranger
1947·6.9
The Peanut Man
1947·7.0
A Likely Story
1947·4.8
My Favorite Brunette
1947·6.6
Two Smart People
1946·6.6
Jungle Terror
1946·7.0
Scarlet Street
1945·7.6
She Wouldn't Say Yes
1945·6.4
God Is My Co-Pilot
1945·7.1
Without Love
1945·7.0
Jungle Queen
1945·5.5
The Thin Man Goes Home
1944·7.1
San Diego I Love You
1944·6.8
In the Meantime, Darling
1944·6.8
The Soul of a Monster
1944·5.5
Double Indemnity
1944·8.1
Stars on Parade
1944·8.0
Follow the Boys
1944·5.7
Jam Session
1944·7.0
The Racket Man
1944·7.7
Over the Wall
1943·8.0
Flesh and Fantasy
1943·7.1
Johnny Come Lately
1943·7.0
Watch on the Rhine
1943·6.9
Heaven Can Wait
1943·6.9
Honeymoon Lodge
1943·6.5
The Sky's the Limit
1943·6.3
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
1943·6.8
Shadow of a Doubt
1943·7.5
The Black Swan
1942·6.5
Strictly in the Groove
1942·9.0
The Talk of the Town
1942·7.3
Tales of Manhattan
1942·6.4
Tough as They Come
1942·9.0
Twin Beds
1942·3.8
Among the Living
1941·6.1
Belle Starr
1941·5.9
Gentleman from Dixie
1941·8.0
The Flame of New Orleans
1941·6.5
Kisses for Breakfast
1941·6.3
Love Crazy
1941·6.8
Invisible Ghost
1941·5.3
Adam Had Four Sons
1941·5.9
Chad Hanna
1940·7.3
Murder Over New York
1940·6.2
That Gang of Mine
1940·5.8
Maryland
1940·6.5
Sporting Blood
1940·4.2
Broken Strings
1940·4.8
Zanzibar
1940·9.0
Alice in Movieland
1940·6.4
Way Down South
1939·6.4
Secrets of a Nurse
1938·5.5
Prison Train
1938·7.3
The Toy Wife
1938·5.0
Spirit of Youth
1938·6.1
Jungle Menace
1937·7.0
High Hat
1937·5.8
Deep South
1937·7.3
Mysterious Crossing
1936·10.0
Daniel Boone
1936·4.9
The Green Pastures
1936·6.3
Spendthrift
1936·6.0
Show Boat
1936·6.7
The Broken Earth
1936·4.5
Laughing Irish Eyes
1936·10.0
Muss 'em Up
1936·6.2
So Red the Rose
1935·7.7
Beautiful Dreamer
1935·0.0
East of Java
1935·7.5
Harmony Lane
1935·4.5
O'Shaughnessy's Boy
1935·6.2
After the Dance
1935·6.5
Alias Mary Dow
1935·7.2
Red Hot Tires
1935·6.0
Broadway Bill
1934·6.0
Kid Millions
1934·6.7
Black Moon
1934·5.5
The Personality Kid
1934·4.4
A Very Honorable Guy
1934·6.0
Massacre
1934·5.5
Flying Down to Rio
1933·6.3
Fury of the Jungle
1933·7.0
The Wrecker
1933·3.7
Hollywood on Parade No. A-12
1933·0.0
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
1933·6.2
The Mind Reader
1933·6.3
From Hell to Heaven
1933·7.8
Frisco Jenny
1933·6.7
Laughter in Hell
1933·3.7
The Death Kiss
1932·5.3
If I Had a Million
1932·6.5
Man Against Woman
1932·5.0
Washington Merry-Go-Round
1932·7.5
The Cabin in the Cotton
1932·6.3
Hell's Highway
1932·6.1
Big City Blues
1932·5.8
White Zombie
1932·6.0
Winner Take All
1932·5.4
Is My Face Red?
1932·5.0
Attorney for the Defense
1932·6.3
Night World
1932·6.8
Lena Rivers
1932·7.0
The Wet Parade
1932·6.2
Prestige
1932·7.0
The Woman from Monte Carlo
1932·6.3
X Marks the Spot
1931·6.5
Safe in Hell
1931·6.7
The Secret Witness
1931·4.3
Secret Service
1931·6.7
Huckleberry Finn
1931·7.0
The Fighting Sheriff
1931·10.0
Dirigible
1931·5.5
The Last Parade
1931·9.0
Derelict
1930·9.0
Outside the Law
1930·5.2
Rain or Shine
1930·6.5
The Thoroughbred
1930·5.4
Swing High
1930·7.7
Honey
1930·5.7
A Royal Romance
1930·7.0
Guilty?
1930·9.0
New York Nights
1929·5.5
Hallelujah
1929·6.7
Election Day
1929·7.0
Hearts in Dixie
1929·5.0
The Custard Nine
1921·8.0