Jack Carter (actor)
Jack Carter | |
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Jack Carter in April 1936, photographed by Carl Van Vechten | |
Occupation | Actor |
Jack Carter (c. 1902 – November 9, 1967) was an African American actor. He is known for creating the role of Crown in the original Broadway production of Porgy (1927), and for starring in Orson Welles's stage productions including Macbeth (1936) and Doctor Faustus (1937). He appeared in a few motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Jack Carter created the role of Crown in the original stage production of Porgy.[1]:189 He is perhaps best known for having starred in the Federal Theatre Project's 1936 New York production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth that came to be known as the Voodoo Macbeth. Orson Welles adapted and directed the play, moved its setting from Scotland to a fictional Caribbean island, recruited an entirely African American cast, and earned the nickname for his production from the Haitian vodou that fulfilled the rôle of Scottish witchcraft.[2]:86
Welles later cast Carter as Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus (1937), a Federal Theatre Project 891 production in which Welles played Faust.[3]:335–336
- Jack Carter as Crown in Porgy (1927–30)
- Jack Carter in Macbeth (1936)
- Jack Carter and Edna Thomas in Macbeth
- Jack Carter in Macbeth
Select theatre credits
Date | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
April 20– April 1927 | Goat Alley | Policeman | Princess Theatre, New York[4] |
October 10, 1927–August 1928 | Porgy | Crown | Guild Theatre, New York[5] |
1928–29 | Porgy | Crown | Tour including nine weeks in Chicago, six weeks in London, and performances in Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Washington, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and cities in the northwestern United States and Canada[6] |
September 13–October 1929 | Porgy | Crown | Martin Beck Theatre, New York[7] |
October 14, 1929 – January 1930 | Porgy | Crown | National tour[8][9] |
September 16–October 24, 1931 | Singin' the Blues | Dave Crocker | Liberty Theatre, New York[10] |
April 18–July 1934 | Stevedore | Lonnie Thompson | Civic Repertory Theatre, New York[11] |
October 1–November 1934 | Stevedore | Lonnie Thompson | Civic Repertory Theatre, New York[12] |
April 12, 1936 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, New York A free preview draws 3,000 more people than can be seated[1]:198 |
April 14–June 20, 1936 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Lafayette Theatre, Harlem, New York[3]:333 Sold out for all ten weeks[1]:203[3]:333 |
July 6–15, 1936[3]:333[13] | Macbeth | Macbeth | Adelphi Theatre, New York Carter completes only Act I of the July 15 performance, which is completed by understudy Thomas Anderson[13] Beginning July 16 Maurice Ellis stars as Macbeth in the remainder of the run at the Adelphi Theatre and on the subsequent national tour[14] |
January 8–May 9, 1937 | Doctor Faustus | Mephistopheles | Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York[3]:335–336 |
Select filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1939 | The Devil's Daughter | Philip Ramsay | [15] |
1939 | Straight to Heaven | Stanley Jackson | [16] |
1942 | Take My Life | Sergeant Holmes | [17] |
1945 | Confidential Agent | Singer | [18] |
1947 | Sepia Cinderella | Ralph Williams | [19] |
1948 | Miracle in Harlem | Philip Manley | [20] |
References
- 1 2 3 Houseman, John (1972). Run Through: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21034-3.
- ↑ Kliman, Bernice W. (1992). Macbeth. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719027314.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Welles, Orson; Bogdanovich, Peter; Rosenbaum, Jonathan (1992). This is Orson Welles. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-016616-9.
- ↑ "Goat Alley". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Porgy". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Rose McClendon Scrapbooks". Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
- ↑ "Porgy". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- ↑ "'Porgy' Returns to Fords, Baltimore, After Scoring Triumph in London". Denton Journal. Denton, Maryland. October 12, 1929. p. 4.
- ↑ "Players in 'Porgy', Which Comes to Garrick Monday". The Capital Times. January 5, 1930. p. 6.
- ↑ "Singin' the Blues". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Stevedore". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Stevedore". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
- 1 2 "News of the Stage". The New York Times. July 16, 1936.
- ↑ "News of the Stage". The New York Times. July 17, 1936.
- ↑ "The Devil's Daughter". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Straight to Heaven". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Take My Life". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Confidential Agent". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Sepia Cinderella". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Miracle in Harlem". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
External links
- Jack Carter at the Internet Broadway Database
- Photograph of Jack Carter as Crown in Porgy — New York Public Library