J. Augustus Smith
J. Augustus Smith, also known as Gus Smith (born January 14, 1891),[1] was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter.[2]
Biography
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)[13][14][15][16]
- Walk Together Chillun (1936)[17][18]
- Just Ten Days (1937)
- The Case of Philip Lawrence (1937), director
- On Whitman Avenue (1946)[19]
Filmography
Actor
- Chloe Love is Calling You (1934)[3]
- Drums O' Voodoo (1934)[8]
- Murder on Lenox Avenue (1941) as Pa Wilkins
- Stolen Paradise (1941)[3]
- Sunday Sinners (1941)[3]
- Hi-De-Ho (1947 film) as Preacher
- Junction 88 as Chinka Lin[4]
- Boarding House Blues (1948) as Norman Norman
- Killer Diller (1948 film) as Stage Hand
Writer
- Drums O' Voodoo (1934)
References
- ^ a b c d "WPA Lafayette All-Negro Staff". The New York Age. 1936-08-22. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ https://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/islandora/object/fsu:168486/datastream/PDF/
- ^ a b c d "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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) - ^ "At the Majestic". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1933-02-19. p. 53. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ ""Louisiana," a play of the South, at Majestic Theatre". Times Union. 1933-02-21. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ a b "Broadway stars prominent in voodoo talkie". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1934-04-28. p. 18. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ "Actor-author will appear at Gibbs High". Tampa Bay Times. 1942-10-11. p. 20. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ Houseman, John (1972). Run-Through: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 209. ISBN 0-671-21034-3.
- ^ "15,000 see Negro folk play on caravan". The New York Age. 1937-08-21. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- ^ 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.
- ^ https://www.sources.com/SSR/Docs/SSRW-Federal_Theatre_Project.htm]
- ^ https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/panel/30/
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200216703/
- ^ https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b11545362?originalUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcatalog.nypl.org%2Frecord%3Db11545362
- ^ https://www.loc.gov/item/musftpplaybills.200222225/
- ^ https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C3605608
- ^ https://www.playbill.com/person/j-augustus-smith-vault-0000018212