Ernest Anderson (actor)
Ernest Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Ernest Anderson in In This Our Life, 1942 | |
| Born | August 25, 1915 |
| Died | March 5, 2011 (aged 95) |
| Occupation | Actor |
Ernest Anderson (August 25, 1915 – March 5, 2011) was an American actor. He became known for his role as an African American paralegal and law student who is falsely accused of manslaughter by a white woman in the Warner Bros. film In This Our Life in 1942.[1][2][3] For his performance, he received a National Board of Review Award for Best Actor in 1942.[4]
Biography
Anderson attended Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C.[5] and later earned a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University School of Drama and Speech.[6][7]
Anderson moved to Hollywood, taking a non-acting service position at Warner Brothers before being signed by them for his first screen role, In This Our Life (1942).[8] Bette Davis had arranged Anderson's interview for the part of Parry Clay in that film.[9][10]
He began his World War II Army service by December 1942. That Christmas Eve, Bette Davis introduced Corporal Anderson to servicemen guests at the Hollywood Canteen.[11] He returned to Warner Bros. after his service.[12]
Selected filmography
- In This Our Life (1942) - Parry Clay
- The Peanut Man (1947)
- The Well (1952) - Mr. Crawford
- 3 for Bedroom C - Train Porter[13]
- Band Wagon (1953) - Train Porter
- North by Northwest (1959) - Porter
- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) - Ice cream cone seller
- Tick, Tick, Tick (1970) - Homer
- Coma (1978) - First Doctor
- Last of the Good Guys (1978) - Uncle Stan
- The Return (1980) - Dr. Mortorff
References
- ↑ Wartts, Adrienne (2008-12-25). "Ernest Anderson (1916-2011) •". Retrieved 2020-07-26.
- ↑ Michaels, Camille R. (2017-07-15). African Americans in Film: Issues of Race in Hollywood. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-5345-6082-6.
- ↑ Tracy, Tony; Flynn, Roddy (2014-01-10). John Huston: Essays on a Restless Director. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5993-3.
- ↑ National Board of Review Awards 1942
- ↑ Cripps, Thomas (1993-05-20). Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message Movie from World War II to the Civil Rights Era. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-536034-9.
- ↑ Cripps, Thomas (1993). Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American Film, 1900-1942. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-502130-1.
- ↑ "Actor." Pittsburgh Courier, 8 November 1941, 21.
- ↑ "A Real Actor Now." Brooklyn Eagle, 13 January 1942, 5.
- ↑ Stern, Julia A. (2022-01-19). Bette Davis Black and White. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-81386-8.
- ↑ "Entertainment--Virginia Wright, Drama Editor." Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), 8 May 1942, 31.
- ↑ Skolsky, Sidney. "The Week in Review." Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, 26 December 1942, 7.
- ↑ Six New Films Sprinkled with Negro Stars. Jet. 1952-10-02.
- ↑ Russell, Nell Dodson. "The Way I See It." Minneapolis Spokesman, 1 August 1952, 7.