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Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
2008 · Movie
as Djinn (archival footage)
Rex Ingram
1895-10-20
•
Cairo, Illinois, USA
Rex Ingram (October 20, 1895 – September 19, 1969) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Ingram graduated from the Northwestern University medical school in 1919 and was the first African-American man to receive a Phi Beta Kappa key from there. He went to Hollywood as a young man where he was literally discovered on a street corner by the casting director for Tarzan of the Apes (1918), starring Elmo Lincoln. He made his (uncredited) screen debut in that film and had many other small roles, usually as a generic black native, such as in the Tarzan films. With the arrival of sound, his presence and powerful voice became an asset and he went on to memorable roles in The Green Pastures (1936), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (the 1939 MGM version), The Thief of Bagdad (1940—perhaps his best-known film appearance—as the genie), The Talk of the Town (1942), and Sahara (1943). From 1929, he also appeared on stage, making his debut on Broadway. He appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions, with his final role coming in Kwamina in 1961. He was in the original cast of Haiti (1938), Cabin in the Sky (1940), and St. Louis Woman (1946). He is one of the few actors to have played both God (in The Green Pastures) and the Devil (in Cabin in the Sky). In 1966 he played Tee-Tot in the movie Your Cheatin' Heart. Ingram was arrested for violating the Mann Act in 1948. Pleading guilty to the charge of transporting a teenage girl to New York for immoral purposes, he was sentenced to eighteen months in jail. He served just ten months of his sentence, but the incident had a serious effect on his career for the next six years. In 1962, he became the first African-American actor to be hired for a contract role on a soap opera, when he appeared on The Brighter Day. He had other work in television in the 1950s and 1960s. Rex Ingram died of a heart attack at the age of 73. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]
Filmography
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
1973 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
The Bill Cosby Show
1969 · TV Show
as George
Journey to Shiloh
1968 · Movie
as Jacob
Hurry Sundown
1967 · Movie
as Prof. Thurlow
Cowboy in Africa
1967 · TV Show
as Nhinga, Dr. Tom Merar
Daktari
1966 · TV Show
as Natoma, Chief Makubu
Branded
1965 · TV Show
as Hannibal - Valet
Your Cheatin' Heart
1964 · Movie
as Teetot
Sam Benedict
1962 · TV Show
as Judge Larkin
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Desire in the Dust
1960 · Movie
as Burt Crane
Elmer Gantry
1960 · Movie
as Preacher of Black Congregation (uncredited)
Watusi
1959 · Movie
as Umbopa
Escort West
1959 · Movie
as Nelson Walker
Black Saddle
1959 · TV Show
as Alex Booth
God's Little Acre
1958 · Movie
as Uncle Felix
Anna Lucasta
1958 · Movie
as Joe Lucasta
The Rifleman
1958 · TV Show
as Thaddeus
The Ten Commandments
1956 · Movie
as Bit Part (uncredited)
Congo Crossing
1956 · Movie
as Dr. Leopold Gorman
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle
1955 · Movie
as Sukulu Chieftain
Gunsmoke
1955 · TV Show
as Juba
Climax!
1954 · TV Show
as Petraca
Moonrise
1948 · Movie
as Mose
Shoe Shine Jasper
1947 · Movie
as (voice)
Kraft Television Theatre
1947 · TV Show
as Lem
John Henry and the Inky-Poo
1946 · Movie
as Narrator / John Henry (voice)
A Thousand and One Nights
1945 · Movie
as Giant
Adventure
1945 · Movie
as Preacher (unconfirmed)
Dark Waters
1944 · Movie
as Pearson Jackson
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Jasper's Paradise
1944 · Movie
as (voice)
Sahara
1943 · Movie
as Sgt. Maj. Tambul
Cabin in the Sky
1943 · Movie
as Lucius / Lucifer Jr.
Fired Wife
1943 · Movie
as Charles
The Talk of the Town
1942 · Movie
as Tilney
The Gay Knighties
1941 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
Hoola Boola
1941 · Movie
as Narrator (voice)
The Thief of Bagdad
1940 · Movie
as Djinn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939 · Movie
as Jim
Let My People Live
1939 · Movie
as Dr. Gordon
The Green Pastures
1936 · Movie
as De Lawd / Adam / Hezdrel
Harlem After Midnight
1934 · Movie
Emperor Jones
1933 · Movie
as Court Crier
The Four Feathers
1929 · Movie
as Fuzzy Wuzzy Native
The King of Kings
1927 · Movie
as (uncredited)
The Ten Commandments
1923 · Movie
as Israelite Slave (uncredited)
Tarzan of the Apes
1918 · Movie
as (uncredited)
