Lorenzo Tucker
Encyclopedia
Lorenzo Tucker known as the "Black Valentino
," was an African-American stage and screen actor who played the romantic lead in the early black films of Oscar Micheaux
.
, Tucker started acting at Temple University
where he was a student. Tucker also appeared early in his career with Bessie Smith
on cross-country tours.
From 1926 to 1946, Tucker appeared in 18 of Micheaux's films, including When Men Betray (1928); Wages of Sin
(1929); Easy Street (1930); Harlem Big Show, Veiled Aristocrats
(1932); Ten Minutes To Live (1932); Harlem After Midnight (1934); Temptation (1935); and Underworld (1937). He became known as the "Black Valentino" because of his good looks and role as the romantic lead in the early black cinema. Tucker noted the irony of the appellation since he believed Rudolph Valentino
had a darker complexion than Tucker. He became a movie star to black America and was often mentioned in the leading black newspapers. One of Micheaux and Tucker's most controversial films was Veiled Aristocrats where Tucker played a black man who passed as white and tried to persuade his sister also to pass for white. He also made an uncredited cameo appearance with Paul Robeson
in 1933's The Emperor Jones
.
Tucker was also a successful stage actor, appearing on Broadway
in The Constant Sinner, Ol' Man Satan, and Humming Sam. His most controversial role came in The Constant Sinner in which he portrayed a pimp, Money Johnson, and in which Mae West
was his prostitute, Babe Gordon. Though miscegenation
was still outlawed in some parts of the south, the play included a scene in which Tucker kissed West. When the play opened in Washington, D.C.
, the press was outraged to see a black man kissing a white woman, and demands were made that the scene be excised from the play. West rejected demands, and the play left Washington. The Shuberts
refused to permit Tucker to play the role, and a Greek-American actor was hired to play the role wearing blackface. Despite the Shuberts' decision, West cast Tucker in a few minor parts, including the role of a Spaniard who walks across the stage. When a woman asks West's character who that is, West responded, "Oh, he's Spanish — he's my Spanish fly
!"
, Tucker was a tail gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war, Tucker appeared in Louis Jordan
's film Reet, Petite and Gone; in the early 1950s, he returned to the stage appearing in a London production of Anna Lucasta.
Tucker later became an autopsy technician for the New York City medical examiner
, where he worked on the bodies of Malcolm X
and Nina Mae McKinney
.
Tucker died of lung cancer at age 79 at his home in Hollywood, California. His funeral took place at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
.
. In the episode, Clair Huxtable tells her daughter, "Never get in a car with a stranger - not even if he's as suave and handsome as Lorenzo Tucker."
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
," was an African-American stage and screen actor who played the romantic lead in the early black films of Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films...
.
Acting career
Born in PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Tucker started acting at Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
where he was a student. Tucker also appeared early in his career with Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
on cross-country tours.
From 1926 to 1946, Tucker appeared in 18 of Micheaux's films, including When Men Betray (1928); Wages of Sin
Wages of Sin (1929 film)
The Wages of Sin was an "all black cast" drama film produced in 1929 by Oscar Micheaux.-Cast:* William A. Clayton Jr.* Bessie Givens* Ione McCarthy* Kathleen Noisette* Alice B. Russell* Ethel Smith* Gertrude Snelson* Lorenzo Tucker...
(1929); Easy Street (1930); Harlem Big Show, Veiled Aristocrats
Veiled Aristocrats
Veiled Aristocrats is a 1932 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux. It dealt with the theme of "passing" by mixed-race African Americans to avoid racial discrimination.-Plot:...
(1932); Ten Minutes To Live (1932); Harlem After Midnight (1934); Temptation (1935); and Underworld (1937). He became known as the "Black Valentino" because of his good looks and role as the romantic lead in the early black cinema. Tucker noted the irony of the appellation since he believed Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
had a darker complexion than Tucker. He became a movie star to black America and was often mentioned in the leading black newspapers. One of Micheaux and Tucker's most controversial films was Veiled Aristocrats where Tucker played a black man who passed as white and tried to persuade his sister also to pass for white. He also made an uncredited cameo appearance with Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
in 1933's The Emperor Jones
The Emperor Jones
The Emperor Jones is a 1920 play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill which tells the tale of Brutus Jones, an African-American man who kills a man, goes to prison, escapes to a Caribbean island, and sets himself up as emperor...
.
Tucker was also a successful stage actor, appearing on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in The Constant Sinner, Ol' Man Satan, and Humming Sam. His most controversial role came in The Constant Sinner in which he portrayed a pimp, Money Johnson, and in which Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
was his prostitute, Babe Gordon. Though miscegenation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
was still outlawed in some parts of the south, the play included a scene in which Tucker kissed West. When the play opened in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the press was outraged to see a black man kissing a white woman, and demands were made that the scene be excised from the play. West rejected demands, and the play left Washington. The Shuberts
Shubert family
The Shubert family of New York City, New York was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theatre industry in the United States...
refused to permit Tucker to play the role, and a Greek-American actor was hired to play the role wearing blackface. Despite the Shuberts' decision, West cast Tucker in a few minor parts, including the role of a Spaniard who walks across the stage. When a woman asks West's character who that is, West responded, "Oh, he's Spanish — he's my Spanish fly
Spanish fly
The Spanish fly is an emerald-green beetle in the family Meloidae, Lytta vesicatoria. Other species of blister beetle used by apothecaries are often called by the same name...
!"
Later years
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Tucker was a tail gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After the war, Tucker appeared in Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
's film Reet, Petite and Gone; in the early 1950s, he returned to the stage appearing in a London production of Anna Lucasta.
Tucker later became an autopsy technician for the New York City medical examiner
Medical examiner
A medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
, where he worked on the bodies of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
and Nina Mae McKinney
Nina Mae McKinney
Nina Mae McKinney was an American actress who worked internationally in theatre, film and television after getting her start on Broadway and in Hollywood...
.
Tucker died of lung cancer at age 79 at his home in Hollywood, California. His funeral took place at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Hollywood
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church is a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles located on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood, California. The church today serves an urban, multiethnic community and is known for, among other things, its gay and lesbian ministry and its many...
.
Honors and awards
In 1974, Tucker was inducted into the Black Film Makers Hall of Fame, and he received the Audelco Recognition Award in 1981. In the 1980s, Tucker was used as a point of reference in an episode of The Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
. In the episode, Clair Huxtable tells her daughter, "Never get in a car with a stranger - not even if he's as suave and handsome as Lorenzo Tucker."