Biography
Clarence Muse was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer and composer. He appeared in more than 150 films over a career spanning five decades.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Muse studied at Dickinson College and received a degree in international law in 1911. He began performing in New York during the Harlem Renaissance with the Lincoln Players and Lafayette Players before moving to Hollywood. He made his screen debut in Hearts in Dixie (1929), the first all-Black feature film from a major studio, in which he starred.
Muse is known for roles including the Pullman Porter in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Ben in Scarlet Street (1945), Snoe in The Black Stallion (1979) and appearances in Double Indemnity (1944) and Car Wash (1976). He was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973 and was the first African American to direct a Broadway production, Run Little Chillun (1943).
