Late one night recently, I was watching an old film and out of nowhere it seems this Black man commanded the screen. When it was over, I watched for the credits to determine who it was but his character wasn’t listed, and that was often the fate of actor Clarence Muse. Even so, there were countless number of movies in which he was credited—from “Hearts of Dixie,” in 1929 to “The Black Stallion” in 1979. During these 50 years on the screen Muse played a variety of roles and many of you may remember him in as Cudjo in “Buck and the Preacher,” or as Snapper in “Car Wash.”
Born Clarence Edouard Muse on October 14, 1889 in Baltimore, his parents were Alexander and Mary Muse. After high school he studied at Dickenson College in Carlisle, Pa., for one year. (There is some discrepancy on this fact and at least two other authorities on his life suggest he actually graduated from the law school.) In any event, sensing that his chances were limited to becoming a successful lawyer, Muse took to the stage and joined the Lincoln Players and Lafayette Players, both based in Harlem in the 1920s. Working with producer Robert Levy, he learned his way around the theater and the backstage, eventually becoming so efficient that he was able to assist other actors in perfecting their craft.
He was particularly helpful in a production of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” which he deemed, in regards to the man’s split personality, in keeping with the experience of Black people in America, or as he put it “split creatures inhabiting one body.”
Before moving to Hollywood, Muse made a pit stop in Chicago. He got there just in time to secure a role in “Hearts in Dixie,” in 1929, the first all-Black film. Initially, he was not interested in a role in the musical, but after being offered $1,250 a week, he quickly changed his mind, according to the esteemed film authority Donald Bogle. Any listing of the roles he had in films, especially bit parts, would be a lengthy discourse. But as Bogle notes his portrayal of the renegade slave, Cato, in King Vidor’s Civil War drama “So Red the Rose” in 1935, was compelling, particularly his speech arousing the slaves to rebellion.
Equally powerful was his role as Nigger Jim in “Huckleberry Finn” in 1931, in which, for the demeaning aspect of his name, Muse delivered the character with dignity. And this dignified approach, the perfect pitch of his voice depending on the part, was customary of Muse, and here’s how Bogle summed up this trait: “Muse,” Bogle wrote, “is best remembered today as an actor who repeatedly sought to invest his servant roles of the 1930s with a semblance of dignity and a degree of seriousness. The fact that he played tom characters in scores of films cannot be denied. The fact that he played those figures with great intelligence and thoughtfulness has often been overlooked.”
In his own words, Muse had this to say, in Gary Null’s book on Black Hollywood: “The setup on Hollywood is highly commercial, and I don’t believe the film city is any sense truly creative. I think they reach out for successful books, plays, even people, to build up their great industry, and in the material which they buy, the Negro is invariably a stereotype.”
Moreover, he added, “The actor is the highly finished tool of the author. What we need are more Negro authors and screenwriters…The Negro has lived in a world conflict and struggle for generations and of such influences are sublime works created.”
Muse did all he could to remedy the effects of a Jim Crow system that existed in Hollywood, even rewriting scripts that he found hopelessly mired in disgusting racism and disparaging terms. Frustrated by these encounters, he decided to work outside of Hollywood as an independent and in 1940 produced and co-wrote “Broken Strings,” about “a stodgy classical musician who learns the fun of swing music,” Bogle opined. The film also included Stymie Beard, who was a member of the “Our Gang” series. As Bogle noted, the film is fast-moving, though rather corny and hokey.
Muse was never corny or hokey when it came to expressing his views about the conditions facing Black actors in Hollywood. In “The Dilemma of the Negro Actor,” a pamphlet he wrote in 1932, he expounded on the challenges and obstacles that Black actors had to overcome or endure if they were to survive in the industry. He admired Stepin Fetchit, the comedian who managed to take derogatory roles and infuse them with dignity and respect.
Music was also something Muse dabbled in with a bit of success, including a composition he co-wrote, “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” popularized by Louis Armstrong. In 1943, he became the first African American director on Broadway with “Run Little Chillun.” This gospel musical that takes place in a small southern town where religious forces battle paganism was composed and written by Hall Johnson, who gained fame with his orchestral choir.
During World War II, Muse was a member of the Hollywood Victory Committee that arranged the appearances of stars overseas. Also, he often visited hospitals to entertain wounded soldiers. For the remaining days of his life, he took whatever roles he could in countless number of films, more often than not small, cameo roles. Even so, he did his best to always invest them with respect and humanity, and this included several television appearances.
Muse was 89 when he died on October 14, 1979. Six years before his death, he was inducted into Black Hollywood Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and in 1980 a documentary by Thurman White and Woodi Webb covered his highly productive life and legacy, including the honorary degrees.
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