Oscar Micheaux

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Oscar Micheaux

Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (born January 2, 1884 in Metropolis , Illinois , † March 25, 1951 in Charlotte , North Carolina ) was an American writer and film director of African American origin. While there was profound racism in US society , Micheaux was the most important founder of African American cinema with his independent films.

Life

Oscar Micheaux was born near Metropolis as one of eleven children of former slaves. As a boy, he cleaned shoes and worked as a sleeper on the railroad. As a young man he was a very successful farmer in an otherwise white-only area of South Dakota . It was then that he started writing short stories. Given the restrictions that blacks were subject to at the time, Micheaux overcame them by setting up his own publishing house and selling his books from house to house.

He saw the rise of the film industry as an opportunity to tell his stories. He started his own film production company and was the first African American to make a movie in 1919. He wrote, produced, and directed the silent film The Homesteader , which featured African American actress Evelyn Preer . It was based on his novel of the same name. In 1924 he introduced Paul Robeson to moviegoers in his film Body and Soul .

Between 1919 and 1948 Micheaux directed 44 films and wrote seven novels, one of which became a bestseller. Given the circumstances of the time, his successes as a filmmaker and publisher are extraordinary. He was the first African American to make films that were shown in 'white' cinemas. In his films, he broke with the stereotypes about African-Americans that were common in films at the time, and denounced social injustices. In his film Within Our Gates , Micheaux attacked racism in David Wark Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation . The Producers Guild of America named him the most prolific black filmmaker. Perhaps he was even the most successful independent filmmaker in American cinema at a time when the studio system was struggling for independent filmmakers.

Oscar Micheaux died in Charlotte in 1951 on a business trip at the age of 67. His body was transferred to Great Bend, Kansas , where he is buried in Great Bend Cemetery with other members of his family.

In 1986 the Directors Guild of America honored Micheaux with a Golden Jubilee Special Award. Today the Oscar Micheaux Award is presented annually by the Producers Guild. For his services to the film industry, Oscar Micheaux has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : 6721 Hollywood Blvd.

Books

  • Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer - (1913)
  • The Forged Note - (1915)
  • The Homesteader - (1917)
  • The Wind from Nowhere - (1941)
  • The Case of Mrs. Wingate - (1944)
  • The Story of Dorothy Stanfield - (1946)
  • Masquerade, a Historical Novel - (1947)

Movies

  • 1919 The Homesteader
  • 1919 Within Our Gates
  • 1920 The Brute
  • 1920 Symbol of the Unconquered
  • 1922 Gunaslaus Mystery
  • 1922 Deceit
  • 1922 The Dungeon
  • 1922 The Virgin of the Seminole
  • 1922 Son of Satan
  • 1923 Jasper Landry's Will
  • 1924 Body and Soul
  • 1926 The Spider's Web
  • 1927 millionaire
  • 1928 When Men Betray
  • 1928 Easy Street
  • 1929 Wages of Sin
  • 1930 The Exile
  • 1930 Darktown Revue
  • 1932 Veiled Aristocrat
  • 1932 Black Magic
  • 1932 Ten Minutes to Live
  • 1933 The Girl From Chicago
  • 1933 Ten Minutes to Kill
  • 1934 Harlem After Midnight
  • 1935 Lem Hawkin's Confession
  • 1936 Temptation
  • 1936 Underworld
  • 1937 God's Step Children
  • 1938 swing
  • 1939 Birthright
  • 1939 Lying Lips
  • 1940 The Notorious Elinor Lee
  • 1948 Betrayal

Web links