Canada Lee, born Lionel Cornelius Canegata, (March 3, 1907– May 9, 1952) was an American actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. A champion of civil rights in the 1930s and '40s, he died shortly before he was scheduled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Coming to acting after careers as a jockey, boxer, and musician, Lee furthered the African-American tradition in theater pioneered by such older actors as Paul Robeson. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II war film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. ... is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the state. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the state. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... HUAC hearings House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC or HCUA) (1938–1975) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. ... The racecourse in Chester. ... For other senses of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson (April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was a multi-lingual American actor, athlete, bass-baritone concert singer, writer, civil rights activist, fellow traveler, Spingarn Medal winner, and Stalin Peace Prize laureate. ...

Biography

Lee's life evidences his roving ambition, varied skills, and ability to master vastly different disciplines.

Early life

Growing up to West Indian parents in New York City, Lee tried his hand at many things. He was a concert violinist at the age of twelve. In his early teens, he ran away from home to become a professional jockey, and after growing too large to ride, he decided to try boxing. Before one match an announcer, stumbling over Lionel’s surname, accidentally christened him ‘Canada Lee.’ Lee adopted the mistake as his own, and he quickly rose through the ranks for a chance and file, positioning himself for a shot at the Welterweight title. For the album by The Cure, see Concert (album). ... A violinist is an instrumentalist who plays the violin. ... The racecourse in Chester. ... For other senses of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. ...

A glancing blow to his right eye detached his retina and ended his career as a boxer. Canada left the ring and began to conduct a fifteen-piece orchestra at a nightclub in Harlem, The Jitterbug, which he also managed. Neither the band nor the nightclub could survive the Great Depression; by the mid-30s, Lee was impoverished. Human eye cross-sectional view. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

Theater career

Lee's acting career began by accident. While at a YMCA to apply for a job as a laborer, Lee stumbled upon an audition in progress and was invited to audition. He earned a supporting role in Frank Wilson’s 1934 production of Brother Moses, which played to a crowd of ten thousand in Central Park. Lee, who received favorable reviews, settled on acting as a new career. Not to be confused with YWCA. This article is about the association. ... Central Park is a large public, urban park (843 acres, 3. ...

This career brought him into contact with many of the most famous actors and directors of the late 1930s. Working with the Federal Theater Project, he appeared in Stevedore in 1934, with various small roles following. His first major role in a seminal production came in Orson Welles's so-called "voodoo" Macbeth (1936) at the American Negro Theater. Lee played Banquo in this controversial production, which featured a Haitian motif in the set, African-themed drumming and a black cast of over two hundred actors. The play's treatment of African-Americans proved controversial, and Lee is reported to have rescued Welles from angry protestors on two occasions. Scene from Orson Welles Voodoo Macbeth The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was a project to fund theater performances in the United States during the Great Depression. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches on the heath by Théodore Chassériau. ... The American Negro Theater (ANT) was formed in Harlem on June 5, 1940 by writer Abram Hill and actor Frederick ONeal. ...

After two more years of work in black theater and Theater Project productions, including the lead role in The Big White Fog, Lee reunited with Welles for the stage production of Richard Wright's Native Son. The 1941 production was a spectacular hit, both for Welles and for Lee, whom the The New York Times called "the greatest Negro actor of his era and one of the finest actors in the country." Wright also applauded the performance, noting the contrast between Lee's affable personality and his intensity as Bigger Thomas. For other persons of the same name, see Richard Wright. ... For other uses, see Native Son (disambiguation). ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ...

During World War II, Lee continued to act in plays and in films. In 1942, he played in two comedies by William Saroyan; Lee earned approving reviews despite the generally negative response to these plays. In 1943, he took a lead role in a production of the race-themed drama South Pacific, which was directed by Lee Strasberg. The following year, he became the first African-American to play Caliban in Margaret Webster’s 1945 Broadway rendition of The Tempest. Lee had admired Shakespeare since his turn in Macbeth; indeed, at the time of his death he was preparing to play Othello on film. The following year he participated in another milestone; George Rylands cast him as Bosola in a Broadway staging of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi: this was one of the first occasions on which a black actor portrayed a white character (Lee wore whiteface). William Saroyan, 1940 William Saroyan (August 31, 1908 - May 18, 1981) was an American author who wrote many plays and short stories about growing up impoverished as the son of Armenian immigrants. ... Lee Strasberg (November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American director, actor, producer, and acting teacher. ... Margaret Webster (1905-1972) was an important United States born theater actress, producer and director. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see The Tempest (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ... George Humphrey Wolferstan Rylands CH CBE (23 October 1902–16 January 1999), known as Dadie Rylands, was an English literary scholar and theatre director. ... John Webster (c. ... The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play, written by the English dramatist John Webster and first performed in 1614 at the Globe Theatre in London, and published for the first time in 1623. ...

After the war, Lee continued to act. In 1946, he played a principal role in On Whitman Avenue, a drama about racial prejudice directed by Margo Jones. Lee produced the play, making him the first African-American producer on Broadway; the play spoke directly to the need for interracial housing following WWII and won the praise of former First-Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote weekly columns encouraging readers to see it. Two years later, he played the part of an obedient slave in Let My People Go, a dramatization of the life of Denmark Vesey. Margo Jones (1911-1955), born Margaret Virginia Jones in Livingstone, Texas was an American stage director. ... Denmark Vesey (originally Telemaque, 1767? — July 2, 1822) was an African American slave, and later a freeman, who planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States had word of the plans not been leaked. ...

Film career

Lee made his screen debut in Keep Punching (1939), a film about boxing. Perhaps his most famous film role was in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), in which he played a sailor. Lee insisted on changing his dialogue, which had been a semi-comical dialect typical of racist films. In 1947, he played a supporting role in Robert Rossen's Body and Soul, another boxing picture. In 1949, he took another supporting role in Lost Boundaries, a drama about passing. Lee's last film role was in Cry, the Beloved Country (1951). Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 â€“ April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... For the 1944 movie, see Lifeboat (film). ... Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 - February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s. ... Body and Soul is a film made in 1947 film noir film which tells the story of a boxer who becomes involved with a corrupt promoter. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1951 drama film directed by Zoltan Korda. ...

Along with his varied and successful stage and screen careers, Lee became the first African-American DJ on a major radio station hosting The Canada Lee Show, and would continue a successful and lengthy radio career as both actor and narrator. His dedication to the groundbreaking series New World A-Commin’ (a radio show dedicated to presenting Negro history and culture to mainstream American audiences), remains an emblematic testament to Canada’s desire for social change.

Civil rights activism

As an actor, Lee came into contact with many of the leading progressive figures in the country. Langston Hughes, for instance, wrote two brief plays for Lee; these were submitted to the Theater Project, but their criticism of racism in America was deemed too controversial, and neither was staged. Lee spoke to schools, sponsored various humanitarian events, and began speaking directly against the existing segregation in America’s Armed Forces, while simultaneously acknowledging the need to win the Second World War. To this latter end, he appeared at numerous USO events; he won an award from the United States Recruiting Office and another from the Treasury Department for his help in selling war bonds. These sentiments would carry on throughout his life, culminating in his early firsthand account of apartheid in South Africa. Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. ...

By the late 1940s, the rising tide of anti-Communism had made many of his earlier contacts politically dangerous. In 1949, the trade journal Variety statedthat under no circumstance was he to be used in American Tobacco’s televised production of a radio play he had recently starred in because he was “too controversial.” Variety is a daily newspaper for the entertainment industry. ...

In the same year, the FBI offered to clear Lee’s name if he would publicly call Paul Robeson a Communist. Lee refused and responded by saying, “All you’re trying to do is split my race.” According to newspaper columnist Walter Winchell, Lee stated that he intended to come out and “publicly blast Paul Robeson.” However, the fact that the friendship between the two actors remained friends until Lee's death suggests that Robeson put no faith in Winchell's claim. Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972), an American newspaper and radio commentator, invented the gossip column at the New York Evening Graphic. ...

At the height of the Hollywood blacklist, Lee managed to find work in 1950 as the star of a British film Cry, The Beloved Country, for which both he and Sidney Poitier were smuggled into South Africa as indentured servants, in order to play their roles as African ministers. The film’s message of universal brotherhood stands as Lee's final work towards this aim; after it, the blacklist prevented him from getting work. Scheduled to appear in Italy to begin production on a filmed version of Othello, he was repeatedly notified that his passport “remained under review.” blacklisting is gay ... Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1951 drama film directed by Zoltan Korda. ... An indentured servant (also called a bonded laborer) is a labourer unde from the employer in exchange for an extension to the period of their indenture, which could thereby continue indefinitely. ...

Death

Lee’s chronic high blood pressure led to kidney failure and he died of an excruciating blood poisoning known as uremia. Following his death, rumors persisted that he did come out and call Robeson a Communist. Unable to defend himself, Lee’s name remained sullied and overlooked as history marched forward into the era of Civil Rights. For other forms of hypertension, see Hypertension (disambiguation). ... Renal failure is when the kidneys fail to function properly. ... Uremia is a toxic condition resulting from renal failure, when kidney function is compromised and urea, a waste product normally excreted in the urine, is retained in the blood. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ...

There is a moving reference to Canada Lee by the Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip in their song "The Dire Wolf," which appears on their album In Violet Light (2002). The Tragically Hip is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie (lead vocals and occasional acoustic guitar), Paul Langlois (guitar), Rob Baker (guitar), Gord Sinclair (bass) and Johnny Fay (drums). ...

Selected Filmography

• Lifeboat (1944)
• Body and Soul (1947)
• Cry, The Beloved Country ((1951)

Lifeboat is a 1944 World War II war film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story written by John Steinbeck. ... // July 20 - Since You Went Away is released. ... Body and Soul is a film made in 1947 film noir film which tells the story of a boxer who becomes involved with a corrupt promoter. ... The year 1947 in film involved some significant events. ... Cry, The Beloved Country is a novel by South African author Alan Paton. ... See also: 1950 in film 1951 1952 in film 1950s in film 1940s in film years in film film Events Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati Top grossing films North America David and Bathsheba Show Boat tie The Great Caruso and An...

External links

• His page Canada Lee's Homepage
• Canada Lee at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography at the African-American Registry
• Website for the documentary 'Blacklist: Recovering the Life of Canada Lee
• Website for Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee by Mona Z. Smith

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

References

• Hill, Erroll. Shakespeare in Sable: A History of Black Shakespearean Actors. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984.
• Leiter, Samuel. Encyclopedic Dictionary of the New York Stage, 1940-1950. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992.
• Smith, Mona Z., Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee, London: Faber and Faber 2004. ISBN 0-571-21142-9
• Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. 2 Volumes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
• Woll, Allen. Dictionary of the Black Theatre: Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Selected Harlem Theatre. New York: Greenwood Press, 1983.