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J. Augustus Smith

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J. Augustus Smith, also known as Gus Smith (born January 14, 1891),[1] was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter.[2]

Biography

Poster for the Federal Theatre Project production of Turpentine at the Lafayette Theatre (1936)

Smith was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1891.[1] He made his stage debut during childhood, playing in minstrel shows.[1] In 1911, Smith formed his own minstrel company, with which he toured the United States. He went on to have a career in acting and writing for theatre and film.[1]

Smith wrote and appeared in Drums O' Voodoo (1934).[3] The film was based on his play Louisiana,[4][5] which premiered in 1933 on Broadway, starring Smith.[6][7] The stage production featured an all-Black cast, members of the New Negro Repertory Theater Group, founded by Smith. The cast members reprised their roles for the film.[8]

Smith co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in Turpentine, a play about conditions in turpentine camps in the American South,[9] for the Federal Theatre Project. In 1936 he was one of a triumvirate of African-American theatre artists who succeeded John Houseman in leading the Negro Theatre Unit of the Federal Theatre Project.[10]

Smith also wrote Just Ten Days, a folk-comedy that played at parks in the Bronx.[11]

Smith and Oliver Foster had the lead roles in the theatrical production Walk Together Chillun.[12]

Theater

  • Louisiana (1933)
  • Turpentine (1936)
  • Walk Together Chillun (1936)[13][14]
  • Just Ten Days (1937)

Filmography

Actor

Writer

  • Drums O' Voodoo (1934)

References

  1. ^ a b c d "WPA Lafayette All-Negro Staff". The New York Age. 1936-08-22. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  2. ^ https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:168486/datastream/PDF/
  3. ^ a b c d "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com.
  4. ^ a b Staff, America Film Institute; Gevinson, Alan; Institute, American Film; Afi, American Film (May 25, 1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520209640 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Johns, Vere E. (1934-05-19). "In the name of art". The New York Age. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-06-30.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "At the Majestic". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1933-02-19. p. 53. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  7. ^ ""Louisiana," a play of the South, at Majestic Theatre". Times Union. 1933-02-21. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  8. ^ a b "Broadway stars prominent in voodoo talkie". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1934-04-28. p. 18. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  9. ^ "Actor-author will appear at Gibbs High". Tampa Bay Times. 1942-10-11. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  10. ^ Houseman, John (1972). Run-Through: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 209. ISBN 0-671-21034-3.
  11. ^ "15,000 see Negro folk play on caravan". The New York Age. 1937-08-21. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  12. ^ Peterson, Bernard L. (May 25, 1990). Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers: A Biographical Directory and Catalog of Plays, Films, and Broadcasting Scripts. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313266218 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/musftpplaybills.200222225/
  14. ^ https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C3605608
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