Spencer Bell (actor)

Spencer Bell (September 25, 1887 – August 18, 1935) was an American stage and film actor, best known for playing opposite Larry Semon in many of his silent comedy shorts from the late 1910s to 1928. Bell was one of the first African American comedic actors of the silent film era, and was the first to be signed to film contract.^[1] Over the course of his fifteen-year film career, Bell appeared in more than seventy comedy shorts.

Spencer Bell
Lobby card for Blue Blood (1925)
Born	(1887-09-25)September 25, 1887 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	August 18, 1935(1935-08-18) (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Sawtelle Military Cemetery
Nationality	American
Other names	G. Howe Black
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1919–1934

Career

Bell was born in Lexington, Kentucky. Prior to his Hollywood film career, he worked as a chauffeur and performed in vaudeville and minstrel shows. He enlisted in the United States Army and served in World War I.^[1] Bell made his film debut in Larry Semon's 1919 silent comedy short, Passing the Buck. As was typical for African American actors of the era, Bell was typecast in stereotypical roles. His characters were often depicted as bumbling, lazy buffoons who were prone to comedic accidents.

One of Bell's most notable roles was that of Snowball/Rastus/the Cowardly Lion in Larry Semon's The Wizard of Oz (1925), In that film, Semon credited Bell under the stage name "G. Howe Black" (In a mainly positive review, a Variety critic admonished Semon for crediting Bell with the demeaning name writing that Bell, "deserved [a] better fate").^[2] He was again credited as such in Semon's 1925 silent slapstick film, The Perfect Clown. During the 1930s, Bell regularly appeared in the Mickey McGuire film series starring Mickey Rooney, and briefly ran an acting troupe in Harlem. Bell's final film appearance was in the 1934 comedy short Mickey's Medicine Man.

Death

On August 18, 1935, Bell died at his home in Los Angeles, California of complications from abdominal surgery he underwent in July 1935.^[3] He is buried at Sawtelle Military Cemetery (now known as Los Angeles National Cemetery).^[4]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1922	The Counter Jumper	A Clerk
1923	No Wedding Bells	The Butler
1923	The Gown Shop	Janitor
1923	Lightning Love	Butler
1924	Her Boy Friend	Dock worker
1924	Kid Speed	The Speed Kid's co-driver	Alternative title: The Four Wheel Terror
1925	Wizard of Oz	Cowardly Lion/Rastus/Snowball	Credited as G. Howe Black
1925	Blue Blood	Amos Jeenkins
1925	The Perfect Clown	Snowflake	Credited as G. Howe Black
1926	The Prince of Broadway	Snowball
1927	Oh, What a Man!	Waiter
1928	The Midnight Taxi	Rastus
1929	The Rodeo	Magnolia's Husband
1931	Be Big!	Porter	Uncredited
1931	Smart Money	Suntan	Uncredited
1932	Heavens! My Husband!	Porter	Uncredited
1933	Blue of the Night	Porter	Uncredited

References

1. "Notable Kentucky African Americans Database". University of Kentucky Libraries. nkaa.uky.edu. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
2. Simpson, Paul (2013). A Brief Guide To OZ: 75 Years Going Over The Rainbow. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-472-11036-7. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
3. "Movie Actor Dies After Operation". Pittsburgh Courier. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. August 31, 1935. p. 6.
4. Wilson, Scott; Mank, Gregory William (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3 ed.). McFarland. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-786-47992-4.

External links

• Spencer Bell at IMDb
• Spencer Bell at Find a Grave