1848 (or 1850)-1916
Ground breaking African-American performer Sam Lucas was born on this day (it is thought) as either Samuel Lucas Milady or Samuel Mildmay Lucas in Washington Court House, Ohio to freed black parents (sources also cite Washington D.C. as his birth place). Lucas only appeared (that we know of) in two films in his life time, but his performance career during this particular span of time was almost larger than life. He showed significant musical talent as a young child and started playing at a local job, reportedly a barber shop, in slow business hours. This gained him a quick reputation and he moved on to traveling black minstrel shows. He was one of the first performers to cross the race barrier, largely using comedy and song as a vehicle. To say this was not small task, is a monumental understatement! It meant that, even as a black man, he had to perform in black face. His involvement in Minstrel shows and his penning of several songs that stereotyped black people has been a source of criticism, especially in modern times--though his body of work taken as a whole is far less controversial than others involved in the same line of performance. Nonetheless, he was huge talent of his time and was a multi-talented performer and an excellent singer--he was also wildly popular. He reportedly had committed to memory 100's of black spirituals; more importantly he composed many himself that became extremely popular (many of his works have even been recorded in the classical genre, applied with operatic singing styles). During his lifetime he traveled extensively with minstrel shows, even performing internationally in the Caribbean. Though he branched out at various times into musical and even dramatic stage work, his mainstay up until the 1890's was Minstrelsy . In the 1890's he joined Sam T. Jack's The Creole Show a full on vaudeville/burlesque show. After the turn of the century he garnered the lead in several stage productions, having been a part of the Bob Cole's all black (from the writers to the actors, props artists to director) production in 1898. By this time he was famous across racial lines, especially for his singing. He was also wealthy; and in 1908 he became a member of the extremely influential group The Frogs. In terms of films he is known for sure to have acted in two films, the first of which went unfinished and unreleased until MoMA hosted a restored special screening in 2014, more than 100 years after it's filming. Lime Kiln Club Field Day was filmed in 1913, was about 3/4ths complete; Lucas playing one of several "club members" had just a small role. Footage of the film was first discovered in 1939, MoMA undertook printing some of the footage back in 1976, but it's wasn't given the full restoration treatment until after the turn of the century. It has since been selected for preservation by the National Film Registry. His only film appearance to be released in his lifetime (that we know of) was World Film's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1914. He was one of the first (though not the very first) black actors to play the lead in a film version of the story; but way back in 1878, he was an important first. During that year, he became the very first black actor to play the part in a major stage production of Cabin, so he was a real "get" for Selznick's production house in this regard. Like Lime Kiln, Uncle Tom's Cabin has also been added to the National Film Registry. In addition to being a first rate actor, Lucas was also a first rate songwriter (and writer of other mediums as well). Lucas had been dealing with liver complaints for years, this left him in a weakened state, so when he contracted pneumonia in late 1915, he was unable to fight it off. The condition claimed his life on the 5 of January 1916 in New York City. Because his birth year has variously been listed as 1939, 1840, 1841, 1848 and 1850 (with the last two the most numerous) it is impossible to say with any accuracy what he age was at the time of his death, but he was at least 65 years old. Some sources say that he himself was a freed slave, but that appears not to be the case. His parents however, were. I can find no information on his resting place.
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