--- name: "Rex Ingram" canonical: "https://film.one/person/rex-ingram" roles: ["Actor"] born: "20 October 1895" died: "19 September 1969" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-20T03:38:27.701347+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Rex Ingram Actor. Born 20 October 1895 in Cairo, Illinois, USA. Died 19 September 1969. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 20 October 1895, Cairo, Illinois, USA - **Died:** 19 September 1969 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 other - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 75 (1), 1960s 78 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Ingram_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726459, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002270/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1276503 ## Streaming the US now - **Tubi:** [*The Talk of the Town*](https://film.one/film/the-talk-of-the-town.md) (75) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Biography Rex Ingram (20 October 1895 – 19 September 1969) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was born near Cairo, Illinois, graduated from Northwestern University medical school in 1919 and was the first African-American man to receive a Phi Beta Kappa key from the university. Ingram made his screen debut in Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and went on to appear in films including The Green Pastures (1936), The Thief of Bagdad (1940) as the genie, The Talk of the Town (1942) as Tilney, and Sahara (1943). He also had a substantial stage career, making his Broadway debut in 1929 and appearing in more than a dozen productions, among them the original casts of Haiti (1938), Cabin in the Sky (1940) and St. Louis Woman (1946). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, catalog.afi.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) ### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these - *The Talk of the Town* (1942), Fi1m 75, as Tilney — [page](https://film.one/film/the-talk-of-the-town.md) ### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *Elmer Gantry* (1960), Fi1m 78, as Preacher of Black Congregation (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/elmer-gantry.md) ## Complete filmography (46) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad* (2008), as Djinn (archival footage) - *The Bill Cosby Show* (1969), series, as George - *Journey to Shiloh* (1968), as Jacob - *Cowboy in Africa* (1967), series, as Nhinga, Dr. Tom Merar - *Hurry Sundown* (1967), as Prof. Thurlow - *Daktari* (1966), series, as Natoma, Chief Makubu - *Branded* (1965), series, as Hannibal - Valet - *Your Cheatin' Heart* (1964), as Teetot - *Sam Benedict* (1962), series, as Judge Larkin - *Desire in the Dust* (1960), as Burt Crane - *Elmer Gantry* (1960), as Preacher of Black Congregation (uncredited) — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/elmer-gantry.md) - *Watusi* (1959), as Umbopa - *Escort West* (1959), as Nelson Walker - *Black Saddle* (1959), series, as Alex Booth - *Anna Lucasta* (1958), as Joe Lucasta - *The Rifleman* (1958), series, as Thaddeus - *God's Little Acre* (1958), as Uncle Felix - *The Ten Commandments* (1956), as Bit Part (uncredited) — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/the-ten-commandments.md) - *Congo Crossing* (1956), as Dr. Leopold Gorman - *Gunsmoke* (1955), series, as Juba - *Tarzan's Hidden Jungle* (1955), as Sukulu Chieftain - *Climax!* (1954), series, as Petraca - *Moonrise* (1948), as Mose - *Kraft Television Theatre* (1947), series, as Lem - *Shoe Shine Jasper* (1947), as (voice) - *John Henry and the Inky-Poo* (1946), as Narrator / John Henry (voice) - *Adventure* (1945), as Preacher (unconfirmed) - *A Thousand and One Nights* (1945), as Giant - *Dark Waters* (1944), as Pearson Jackson - *Jasper's Paradise* (1944), as (voice) - *Sahara* (1943), as Sgt. Maj. Tambul - *Fired Wife* (1943), as Charles - *Cabin in the Sky* (1943), as Lucius / Lucifer Jr. - *The Talk of the Town* (1942), as Tilney — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/the-talk-of-the-town.md) - *The Gay Knighties* (1941), as Narrator (voice) - *Hoola Boola* (1941), as Narrator (voice) - *The Thief of Bagdad* (1940), as Djinn - *Let My People Live* (1939), as Dr. Gordon - *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* (1939), as Jim - *The Green Pastures* (1936), as De Lawd / Adam / Hezdrel - *Harlem After Midnight* (1934), Actor - *Emperor Jones* (1933), as Court Crier - *The Four Feathers* (1929), as Fuzzy Wuzzy Native - *The King of Kings* (1927), as (uncredited) - *The Ten Commandments* (1923), as Israelite Slave (uncredited) - *Tarzan of the Apes* (1918), as (uncredited) ## Gallery - ![Rex Ingram](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-97b5cf89b910.jpg) Rex Ingram — Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Rexingram.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Portrait photograph of Rex Ingram as Christophe in the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre (1938)](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-fd263cdeb5a1.jpg) Portrait photograph of Rex Ingram as Christophe in the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre (1938) — Federal Theatre Project, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Haiti-1938-31.jpg/1280px-Haiti-1938-31.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Portrait photograph of Rex Ingram as Christophe in the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre (1938)](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-b05bae360e05.jpg) Portrait photograph of Rex Ingram as Christophe in the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre (1938) — Federal Theatre Project, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Haiti-1938-33.jpg/1280px-Haiti-1938-33.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Portrait photograph of Rex Ingram as Christophe in the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre (1938)](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-bb697cda1c9d.jpg) Portrait photograph of Rex Ingram as Christophe in the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre (1938) — Federal Theatre Project, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Haiti-1938-Ingram-1.jpg/1280px-Haiti-1938-Ingram-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Rex Ingram](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-e748d8f318cd.jpg) Rex Ingram — Image via TMDB - ![Rex Ingram](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-ea9d3c1d704c.jpg) Rex Ingram — Image via TMDB - ![Rex Ingram](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-f94c411e2257.jpg) Rex Ingram — Image via TMDB - ![Photograph of a scene from the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre, starring Rex Ingram (Christophe) (1938)](https://film.one/media/person/1233421/gallery-e5c1f807ad01.jpg) Photograph of a scene from the Federal Theatre Project production of Haiti at the Lafayette Theatre, starring Rex Ingram (Christophe) (1938) — Federal Theatre Project, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Haiti-1938-21.jpg/1280px-Haiti-1938-21.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/rex-ingram