Lorenzo Tucker

Infobox actor
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name = Lorenzo Tucker


imagesize = 200px
caption = Lorenzo Tucker, star of the early black cinema
birthname = Lorenzo Tucker
birthdate = birth date|1907|6|27|mf=y
location = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
deathdate = death date and age|1986|9|19|1907|6|27
deathplace = Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
othername = The "Black Valentino"
yearsactive = 1927-1947
spouse = Pauline Segura
homepage =
notable role =
academyawards =
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tonyawards =

Lorenzo Tucker (June 27, 1907 – August 19, 1986), 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.

Acting career

Born in Philadelphia, Tucker started acting at Temple University where he was a student.cite web|title=Lorenzo Tucker - Biography|publisher=imdb.com|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0875926/bio] Tucker also appeared early in his career with Bessie Smith on cross-country tours.cite web|title=Lorenzo Tucker Biography|publisher=allmovie.com|url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:72042]

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).cite news|title=Lorenzo Tucker Dies; Stage and Screen Actor|publisher=The New York Times|date=1986-08-30|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE4DC163AF933A0575BC0A960948260] 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 actor was hired to play the role wearing blackface.Fact|date=July 2008 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!"Fact|date=July 2008

Later years

During World War II, 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.cite news|author=Burt A. Folkart|title=Lorenzo Tucker, `Black Valentino,' Dies|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1986-08-21|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58006457.html?dids=58006457:58006457&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Aug+21%2C+1986&author=BURT+A.+FOLKART&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Lorenzo+Tucker%2C+%60Black+Valentino%2C'+Dies&pqatl=google]

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 Show. In the episode, Cosby's TV wife tells her daughter, "Never get in a car with a stranger - not even if he's as suave and handsome as Lorenzo Tucker." [cite news|author=Ron Avery|title=Film Prof Resurrects Black Star|publisher=Philadelphia Daily News|date=1986-10-30|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DN&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI|DN&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB299290DF07066&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM]

References

External links

* Richard Grupen. The Black Valentino: The Stage and Screen Career of Lorenzo Tucker. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988. ISBN 0810820781