Canada Lee

Born: 1907-03-03

Canada Lee (born Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata; March 3, 1907 – May 9, 1952) was an American professional boxer and then an actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he became an actor in the Federal Theatre Project, including the 1936 production of Macbeth adapted and directed by Orson Welles. A champion of civil rights in the 1930s and 1940s, Lee was blacklisted and died shortly before he was scheduled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He advanced the African American tradition in theatre pioneered by such actors as Paul Robeson. Description above from the Wikipedia article Canada Lee , licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Lifeboat

as Joe Spencer
Released: 1944-01-28

During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the...

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Body and Soul

as Ben Chaplin
Released: 1947-11-11

Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful...

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Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

as Stephen Kumalo (archive footage)
Released: 1998-01-01

A documentary look at the confluence of the Red scare, McCarthyism, and blacklists with the...

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Lost Boundaries

as Lt. 'Dixie' Thompson
Released: 1949-07-02

A light-skinned African-American family are "passing" in an all-white New England town. When the...

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Cry, the Beloved Country

as Stephen Kumalo
Released: 1951-11-16

In the back country of South Africa, black minister Stephen Kumalo journeys to the city to...

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Keep Punching

as Speedy Joe Williams (Henry's Trainer)
Released: 1939-01-02

Henry Jackson, known as Little Dynamite, is a Golden Gloves champion, who agrees to turn...

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Henry Browne, Farmer

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1942-11-15

Henry Browne, an African American farmer, and his family are profiled in this film. The...

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