Ernest Anderson

Ernest Anderson

Born: August 25, 1915
Died: March 5, 2011
in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA
Ernest Anderson was born in Lynn MA and earned his high school diploma in Washington D.C. at Dunbar High School, formerly named The Preparatory High School for Colored Youth. Founded in 1891, it was America's first public high school for black students. He earned his bachelor's degree at Northwestern University's School of Drama and Speech. He moved to Hollywood and was working in the service department when Bette Davis arranged for him to interview for the role of Perry Clay in the film "In This Our Life" (1942). Mr. Anderson persuaded the director, John Huston, to change the racist dialog of his character typical of Hollywood in that era, to one of dignified intelligence and emotion. After serving his country in WWII, he returned to Warner Brothers where he continued to humanize the roles of America's black performers. He remained active in film until the late 1960's. He died in DeLand, Florida, on March 5, 2011.

Movies for Ernest Anderson...

Last of the Good Guys
Title: Last of the Good Guys
Character: Uncle Stan
Released: March 7, 1978
Type: Movie
Comedy-drama about a bunch of police rookies who conspire to convince their hard-nosed sergeant that a seriously ill fellow officer, two weeks away from retirement, is on the job, and who, when he suddenly dies, try to hide the fact so that his family can collect his full benefits.
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Tick... Tick... Tick...
Title: Tick... Tick... Tick...
Character: Homer
Released: January 9, 1970
Type: Movie
Racial tensions threaten to explode when a black man is elected sheriff of a small, racially divided town in the Deep South.
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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Title: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Character: Ernie, Ice Cream Vendor at Beach (uncredited)
Released: October 12, 1962
Type: Movie
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
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North by Northwest
Title: North by Northwest
Character: Porter on Twentieth Century Ltd. (uncredited)
Released: July 8, 1959
Type: Movie
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
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The Iron Mistress
Title: The Iron Mistress
Character: Riverboat Cabin Boy
Released: November 19, 1952
Type: Movie
In this biopic, Jim Bowie goes to New Orleans, where he falls for Judalon and befriends her brother, Narcisse. Soon, Jim is forced to avenge Narcisse's murder, but Judalon takes up with another man. Jim eventually has another romantic interlude with Judalon and is forced to kill one of her suitors in self-defense. Jim leaves town, and falls for the daughter of a Texas politician, but his entanglement with Judalon continues to bedevil him.
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Title: Four Star Playhouse
Character: George
Released: September 25, 1952
Type: TV
Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.
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Three for Bedroom C
Title: Three for Bedroom C
Character: Fred Johnson
Released: June 26, 1952
Type: Movie
After beginning their train trip to California, a famous film actress and her daughter discover their compartment has also been assigned to a handsome biology professor. Comedy.
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The Well
Title: The Well
Character: Ralph Crawford
Released: September 24, 1951
Type: Movie
In a racially mixed American town, a five-year-old black girl falls unnoticed into a hidden, forgotten well on her way to school. Having nothing better to go on, the police follow up a report that the child was seen with a white stranger, and rumors run wild. Before hapless, innocent Claude Packard is even found, popular hysteria has him tried and convicted. But is he guilty?
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No Way Out
Title: No Way Out
Character: School Teacher (uncredited)
Released: August 16, 1950
Type: Movie
Two hoodlum brothers are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies the other accuses their black doctor of murder.
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Buccaneer's Girl
Title: Buccaneer's Girl
Character: Footman
Released: March 1, 1950
Type: Movie
A New Orleans performer loves a pirate who robs only from the shipowner who ruined his father.
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Backfire
Title: Backfire
Released: January 26, 1950
Type: Movie
When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey goes on a search for his army buddy Steve Connolly. A reformed crook, Connolly is on the lam from a trumped-up murder rap, and Corey hopes to clear his pal. Tagging along is Army nurse Julie Benson, who has fallen for Corey.
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East Side, West Side
Title: East Side, West Side
Released: December 22, 1949
Type: Movie
A vain businessman puts strains on his happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite by allowing himself to be seduced by a former girlfriend.
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Riff-Raff
Title: Riff-Raff
Character: Wong - Houseboy (uncredited)
Released: June 28, 1947
Type: Movie
A private detective foils the plans of villains attempting to take over Panamanian oilfields when he hides a valuable map in plain sight.
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Sport of Kings
Title: Sport of Kings
Character: Alf
Released: June 26, 1947
Type: Movie
Two brothers from the North try to gain favor in the South after they inherit a horse farm in Kentucky.
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Without Reservations
Title: Without Reservations
Character: Dining Car Waiter (uncredited)
Released: May 13, 1946
Type: Movie
Kit Madden is traveling to Hollywood, where her best-selling novel is to be filmed. Aboard the train, she encounters Marines Rusty and Dink, who don't know she is the author of the famous book, and who don't think much of the ideas it proposes. She and Rusty are greatly attracted, but she doesn't know how to deal with his disdain for the book's author.
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Lady on a Train
Title: Lady on a Train
Released: August 3, 1945
Type: Movie
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.
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Princess O'Rourke
Title: Princess O'Rourke
Character: Messenger (uncredited)
Released: October 23, 1943
Type: Movie
A down-to-earth pilot charms a European princess on vacation in the United States.
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In This Our Life
Title: In This Our Life
Character: Parry Clay
Released: May 8, 1942
Type: Movie
An unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining the lives of those around her.
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Lost in the Jungle
Title: Lost in the Jungle
Character: Hans
Released: October 25, 1911
Type: Movie
Jan Kruga and his daughter Meta live on a farm in the Transvaal. The nearest neighbor, Sir John Morgan, lives 20 miles away, and it is only on rare intervals that she ever goes even that far away from her isolated home. Toddles, a work elephant on her father's farm, is her only pet and in the first part of our story we see her befriend him from a cruel keeper. Hans, a neighboring Boer farmer calls and asks for Meta's hand in marriage. The girl is ordered by her father to accept Hans' attentions. She has been taught to obey and when Hans gives her a love offering, a huge necklace of beads, she meekly offers her cheek for the betrothal kiss. Sir John's nephew, Hirshal, comes for a visit from England and Sir John brings him for a friendly call on the Krugas. Meta's heart awakens at the sight of the handsome, young Englishman, and she returns Hans's necklace. The father, however, orders her to marry Hans, or never darken his door again.