Leigh Whipper

Leigh Whipper

Born: October 29, 1876
Died: July 26, 1975
in Charleston, South Carolina, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leigh Rollin Whipper (October 29, 1876 – July 26, 1975) was an American actor on the stage and in motion pictures. He was the first African American to join the Actors' Equity Association, and one of the founders of the Negro Actors Guild of America. He is best known for creating the role of Crooks in the original Broadway production of Of Mice and Men, which he reprised in the 1939 film version.

Educated at Howard University Law School, he left in 1895 and never practiced as a lawyer. Without any dramatic training, he made his first Broadway appearance in Georgia Minstrels. His first film role was in the 1920 silent film The Symbol of the Unconquered.

During the Second World War, Whipper was a member of the steering committee of Negro Division the Hollywood Victory Committee.

Movies for Leigh Whipper...

The Young Don't Cry
Title: The Young Don't Cry
Character: Doosy
Released: July 26, 1957
Type: Movie
An orphaned teen gets involved with some chain-gang convicts.
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The Shrike
Title: The Shrike
Character: Mr. Carlisle
Released: June 16, 1955
Type: Movie
Film version of Joseph Kramm's Pulitzer Prize play, about a Broadway playwright driven to a nervous breakdown by his shrewish wife.
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Untamed Fury
Title: Untamed Fury
Character: Uncle Gabe
Released: March 22, 1947
Type: Movie
The swamp folk of the deep Okefenokee live a brutal primitive life untouched by modern times - they support themselves by hunting alligators and selling them to the outside world. Jeff returns home from college with an engineering degree and dreams of bringing modern medical care and education to the swamps. He is immediately confronted by his old boyhood rival, "Gator-Bait" Blair, who thinks things are just fine the way the are. "Gator" whips the ignorant locals into a frenzy of fear and resistance. When Jeff is unintimidated by their threats, Blair sets out to stop his plans once and for all - with a rifle.
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Undercurrent
Title: Undercurrent
Character: George
Released: November 11, 1946
Type: Movie
After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant society wife, but becomes enraged whenever she asks about Michael, his mysterious long-lost brother.
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Young Widow
Title: Young Widow
Character: Nate (Uncredited)
Released: March 1, 1946
Type: Movie
A young bride tries to rebuild her life after she learns her husband has been killed in the war.
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The Negro Sailor
Title: The Negro Sailor
Character: Editor
Released: December 13, 1945
Type: Movie
US Navy produced short stars Joel Fluellen as a draftee from his civilian job at a black newspaper through boot camp and an assignment in the Pacific. Completed after the surrender of Japan, the film celebrates the teamwork, diversity, and the actions of several distinguished African American sailors.
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The Hidden Eye
Title: The Hidden Eye
Character: Alistair
Released: August 31, 1945
Type: Movie
A perfumed message provides the only clue for a blind detective bent on clearing a man accused of murder.
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Happy Land
Title: Happy Land
Character: Old Ben (uncredited)
Released: November 10, 1943
Type: Movie
An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence.
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Mission to Moscow
Title: Mission to Moscow
Character: Haile Selassie (uncredited)
Released: April 29, 1943
Type: Movie
Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to America as an advocate of Stalinism.
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The Ox-Bow Incident
Title: The Ox-Bow Incident
Character: Sparks (uncredited)
Released: March 11, 1943
Type: Movie
A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.
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White Cargo
Title: White Cargo
Character: Jim Fish
Released: December 12, 1942
Type: Movie
In Africa early in World War II, a British rubber plantation executive reminisces about his arrival in the Congo in 1910. He tells the story of a love-hate triangle involving Harry Witzel, an in-country station superintendent who'd seen it all, Langford, a new manager sent from England for a four-year stint, and Tondelayo, a siren of great beauty who desires silk and baubles. Witzel is gruff and seasoned, certain that Langford won't be able to cut it. Langford responds with determination and anger, attracted to Tondelayo because of her beauty, her wiles, and to get at Witzel. Manipulation, jealousy, revenge, and responsibility play out as alliances within the triangle shift.
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Heart of the Golden West
Title: Heart of the Golden West
Character: Rango
Released: November 16, 1942
Type: Movie
Lambert owns the trucking line that ships cattle to market. When he raises his rates Roy decides to ship the cattle on the River Boat. When Lambert and his men are unable to stop the boat, they rustle the cattle.
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The Vanishing Virginian
Title: The Vanishing Virginian
Character: Uncle Josh
Released: February 1, 1942
Type: Movie
The perineal District Attorney and conservative southern patriarch cherishes the old ways and does his best to adjust to change.
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Bahama Passage
Title: Bahama Passage
Character: Morales
Released: December 10, 1941
Type: Movie
A girl, Carol whom the audience is quickly informed "has been around," and her father arrive to take over the business management of an island in the Bahamas owned by Adrian Ainsworth, descendant of many ancestors who have handled it over the years to the satisfaction of its 250 native residents. He is married to a woman who stays away from the island because she is lonely when there. Adrian doesn't want Carol or her father there, and they don't want to be there. Romance can't be lurking far behind the beautiful sunset.
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King of the Zombies
Title: King of the Zombies
Character: Momba
Released: May 14, 1941
Type: Movie
During World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. Guided by a faint radio signal, they crash-land on an island. The passenger, his manservant and the pilot take refuge in a mansion owned by a doctor. The quick-witted yet easily-frightened manservant soon becomes convinced the mansion is haunted by zombies and ghosts.
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Road to Zanzibar
Title: Road to Zanzibar
Character: Scarface
Released: April 11, 1941
Type: Movie
Stranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures, featuring two attractive con-women.
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Virginia
Title: Virginia
Character: Ezechial
Released: January 28, 1941
Type: Movie
Post-Civil War romantic drama about defeated Southerners, starring Madeleine Carroll and Fred MacMurray.
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Robin Hood of the Pecos
Title: Robin Hood of the Pecos
Character: Kezeye
Released: January 14, 1941
Type: Movie
Robin Hood of the Pecos is a 1941 American film starring Roy Rogers and directed by Joseph Kane. Following the Civil War, the South still faced many dangers not the least of which were the armies of carpetbaggers that descended on impoverished towns, intent on making a fast greenback at the expense of the local populace.
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Of Mice and Men
Title: Of Mice and Men
Character: Crooks
Released: December 24, 1939
Type: Movie
An intellectually disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America.
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The Symbol of the Unconquered
Title: The Symbol of the Unconquered
Character: Tugi - an Indian Fakir
Released: November 28, 1920
Type: Movie
Eve Mason, a white-passing black woman, moves to a remote cottage she inherited from her late father. She makes the acquaintance of her neighbor, a dashing black settler named Hugh Van Allen, and quickly falls for him. Trouble brews as the local cadre of racist hucksters want the valuable land Van Allen lives on, and will do anything to take it from him.
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Within Our Gates
Title: Within Our Gates
Released: January 12, 1920
Type: Movie
Abandoned by her fiancé, an educated black woman with a traumatizing past dedicates herself to helping a near bankrupt school for impoverished black children.