Leigh Whipper
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.
The Ox-Bow Incident
as Sparks (uncredited)A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between...
Movie page
Of Mice and Men
as CrooksAn intellectually disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's...
Movie page
King of the Zombies
as MombaDuring World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown...
Movie page
Undercurrent
as GeorgeAfter a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of...
Movie page
Within Our Gates
as uncreditedAbandoned by her fiancé, an educated black woman with a traumatizing past dedicates herself to...
Movie page
Road to Zanzibar
as ScarfaceStranded in Africa, Chuck and his pal Fearless have comic versions of jungle adventures,...
Movie page
Mission to Moscow
as Haile Selassie (uncredited)Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns...
Movie page
The Shrike
as Mr. CarlisleFilm version of Joseph Kramm's Pulitzer Prize play, about a Broadway playwright driven to a...
Movie page
Happy Land
as Old Ben (uncredited)An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist...
Movie page
Young Widow
as Nate (Uncredited)A young bride tries to rebuild her life after she learns her husband has been killed in the war.
Movie page
Heart of the Golden West
as RangoLambert owns the trucking line that ships cattle to market. When he raises his rates Roy decides...
Movie page
The Hidden Eye
as AlistairA perfumed message provides the only clue for a blind detective bent on clearing a man accused...
Movie page
Untamed Fury
as Uncle GabeThe swamp folk of the deep Okefenokee live a brutal primitive life untouched by modern times -...
Movie page
The Vanishing Virginian
as Uncle JoshThe perineal District Attorney and conservative southern patriarch cherishes the old ways and...
Movie page
The Young Don't Cry
as DoosyAn orphaned teen gets involved with some chain-gang convicts.
Movie page
White Cargo
as Jim FishIn Africa early in World War II, a British rubber plantation executive reminisces about his...
Movie page
Virginia
as EzechialPost-Civil War romantic drama about defeated Southerners, starring Madeleine Carroll and Fred...
Movie page
Bahama Passage
as MoralesA girl, Carol whom the audience is quickly informed "has been around," and her father arrive to...
Movie page
Robin Hood of the Pecos
as KezeyeRobin Hood of the Pecos is a 1941 American film starring Roy Rogers and directed by Joseph Kane....
Movie page
The Symbol of the Unconquered
as Tugi - an Indian FakirEve Mason, a white-passing black woman, moves to a remote cottage she inherited from her late...
Movie page
The Negro Sailor
as EditorUS Navy produced short stars Joel Fluellen as a draftee from his civilian job at a black...
Movie page