(This pseudo-novel's co-author, David Arlen, was famed Afr...)
This pseudo-novel's co-author, David Arlen, was famed African-American entertainer Clarence Muse's press representative. As such, he continually goaded his client to recall, in book form, his recollections of touring the early 20th Century southern Black vaudeville circuit. However, Muse — in the words of the old saying — was, apparently, too close to the forest to see the trees. Eventually, however, Arlen made a deal with his client; he would invite a roomful of mostly “civilian” (non-show biz) friends of his to assemble in Muse's digs, where the latter would recount anecdotes and perform songs from his earlier life on the road. If the gathering reacted in the positive fashion that Arlen expected, Muse would agree to collaborate with him on a book. And so, it went; the ad hoc performance was a hit. The result was this fascinating 1932 roman à clef.
When It's Sleepy Time Down South (''Fats'' Waller's Conception)
(
Digital Sheet Music of When It's Sleepy Time Down South...)
Digital Sheet Music of When It's Sleepy Time Down South (''Fats'' Waller's Conception)
Composed by: Clarence Muse;Leon Rene;Otis Rene
Performed by: Fats Waller
Arranged by: Fats Waller
Clarence Muse was an American actor, screenwriter, director, composer, and lawyer.
Background
Clarence Muse was born on October 14, 1889, in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He was the son of Alexander Muse, a shoe-shine man, and Mary Kellams, a homemaker who raised her son to appreciate the benefits of a strong educational background.
Education
Muse was educated in the Maryland school system. After completing his secondary education, he enrolled at Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received an international law degree in 1911. He also received an honorary doctor of humanities degree from Bishop College, Dallas, Texas, in 1972.
Career
About 1972 Muse moved to Washington, D. C. , where he tried to establish a law practice but found that few African-American attorneys were able to practice or to appear in court. Undaunted and determined to make a living, in 1912 Muse began his show-business career as a singer on the Hudson River showboats in New York and at Palm Beach, Florida, cafés and resorts. As a young man who had sung while in law school in order to pay the tuition, Muse was no stranger to the stage.
After the season's end in Palm Beach, he traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, where he met Tim Moore, who had his own touring stock company. Muse traveled with this group of actors for about seven years before he eventually settled in New York City in 1912. There he joined the Lincoln Players, with whom he performed for about three years.
Muse left the Lincoln Players in 1916 to become one of the founding members of the Lafayette Players. Not long after joining its ranks, he became one of the troupe's most prominent actors. Starring in several critically acclaimed productions from 1916 to 1923 - including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Master Mind, and Fine Feathers - Muse was a pioneer in the creation of black theater that challenged the stereotypically degrading parody of African-American life that was popular at the time - the minstrel show.
Following his years as an actor on the New York stage, Muse lived from 1923 to 1929 in Chicago, where he was the founder and manager of the Chicago School of Dramatic Art. He also organized shows for the Royal Gardens Theatre. In 1929, Muse was hired by William Fox of Hollywood's Fox Studios to play the leading role of Uncle Napus in Hearts in Dixie, the second talking film and the first all-black musical. Following this performance, Muse went on to star in a total of 219 Hollywood productions, including Huckleberry Finn (1931); The Count of Monte Cristo (1934); Broadway Bill (1934); So Red the Rose (1935); Way Down South (1939); Broken Strings (1940); Heaven Can Wait (1943); and Porgy and Bess (1959).
In 1934, Muse moved to Perris, California, where he became involved in community affairs. With the Perris Valley Chamber of Commerce, he founded the Perris Valley Activities Committee, which sponsored local charitable functions. In 1939, Muse collaborated with Langston Hughes and cowrote the screenplay for Way Down South. He composed the film's theme song, "When It's Sleepy Time Down South, " which became a hit after Louis Armstrong recorded it two years later. Muse also wrote eleven spirituals for the film, which were recorded by the Hall Johnson Choir.
One year later Muse independently produced, wrote, and starred in Broken Strings (1940), the story of a black classical violinist who loses the use of his left hand, then regains it by enthusiastically applauding his son's performance at a "swing" music recital. In 1943, Muse returned to the stage and became the first African American to direct a Broadway show, his production of Run, Little Chillun. This folk play was one of the most popular artistic undertakings commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Federal Theatre Project.
During the 1950's, Muse starred in the films County Fair (1950); My Forbidden Past (1951), and So Bright the Flame (1952). He also hosted a radio show in Los Angeles called "Night Owl Roost. "
After taking a hiatus from acting in the 1960's, he appeared in films of the 1970's that included Buck and the Preacher, with Sidney Poitier (1972); and Car Wash (1976). Muse's final film appearance was in 1979, in Francis Ford Coppola's The Black Stallion. Clarence Muse died on October 13, 1979, in Perris, California.
(This pseudo-novel's co-author, David Arlen, was famed Afr...)
Politics
At the peak of his film career in the 1940's, Clarence Muse became involved in the international movement against fascism by articulating the connection between racism at home and totalitarianism abroad.
Views
Quotations:
"Discrimination is part of the evil of fascism which we are fighting on a worldwide scale. The day of master and slave is over. We win the war and it's out - there'll be no more lynching anywhere. "
Membership
Clarence Muse was an early member of the Screen Actors' Guild, and was active in the African-American Actors' Guild. In addition, he was a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, Omega Chapter, and of the Perris Valley Activities Committee.
Connections
Clarence Muse was married to Willabelle Marshbanks, by whom he had three children. Later the two ultimately divorced. In August 1954, Clarence Muse married Irene "Ena" Claire Kellman.