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Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an actor, screenwriter, director, composer, and lawyer. He was inducted in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973. Muse was the first African American to "star" in a film. He acted for more than sixty years, and appeared in more than 150 movies. ==Life and career== Born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Alexander and Mary Muse,〔Sampson, Henry T. ''Blacks in Black and White'', The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1995; ISBN 0-8108-2605-4〕 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.〔Peterson, Bernard L. ''The African American Theatre Directory'', 1816-1960: A Comprehensive Guide to Early Black Theatre, Greenwood Press, 1997; ISBN 0-313-29537-9〕 Muse moved to Chicago for a while, and then moved to Hollywood and performed in ''Hearts in Dixie'' (1929),〔(''Hearts in Dixie'' (1929) profile ), imdb.com; accessed July 9, 2015.〕 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.".〔Penn, Arthur S. ''Before the Harlem Renaissance''. Collodion Press: New York. 2010.〕 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''.〔(Clarence Muse at Encyclopedia )〕 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),〔(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 Clarence Muse), the film's early scenes focused in a highly realistic manner on the incredible hardship of black farmers, with plowing scenes. Muse and Langston Hughes wrote the script for ''Way Down South'' (1939).〔Belton, John. ''Movies and Mass Culture'', Rutgers University Press, 1996 – ISBN 0-8135-2228-5〕 The film was notable for its casting of African-American actors in central roles, and for tackling racial issues in the South. Muse also performed in ''Broken Strings'' (1940), as a concert violinist who opposes the desire of his son to play "swing".〔Gabbard, Krin. ''Jammin' at the Margins: Jazz and the American Cinema'', University of Chicago Press, p. 109, 1996; ISBN 0-226-27788-7〕 From 1955 to 1956, 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 the film ''Porgy and Bess'', with Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge and Sammy Davis Jr. 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). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Clarence Muse」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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