Leigh Whipper

Although a strong presence in the (still extant) Oscar Micheaux drama Symbol of the Unconquered (1920), gaunt-looking African-American performer Leigh Whipper had to wait 23 years for a second screen role truly worthy of his not inconsiderable talents, that of the preacher Sparks in The Ox-Bow Incident. Whipper, who has been credited with being the first black member of Actors Equity and the founder of the Negro Actors Guild, had done much better on Broadway, where he starred in the 1929 revival of Porgy, wrote and starred in the short-lived Yeah Man (1932), and originated the part of Crooks in Of Mice and Men (1937), a role that he re-created in the 1939 screen version. Arguably the finest African-American actor of his generation -- and one of the finest performers in the history of American theater -- Leigh Whipper was awarded the prestigious Oscar Micheaux Award in 1974. In the 1990s, The Philadelphia International Film Festival instituted an award in his honor.

Highest Rated Movies

Rating	Title	Credit	Box Office	Year
No Score Yet	Lost Boundaries	Janitor	—	1949
No Score Yet	Undercurrent	George	—	1946
No Score Yet	The Imposter (Strange Confession)	Toba	—	1944
No Score Yet	Happy Land	Old Ben	—	1943
No Score Yet	Mission to Moscow	Haile Selassie	—	1943
90%	The Ox-Bow Incident	Sparks	—	1943
No Score Yet	White Cargo	Jim Flash	—	1942
No Score Yet	Heart of the Golden West	Rango	—	1942
No Score Yet	King of the Zombies	Momba	—	1941
89%	Road to Zanzibar	Scarface	—	1941
No Score Yet	Robin Hood of the Pecos	Kezeye	—	1941
100%	Of Mice and Men	Crooks	—	1939
No Score Yet	Symbol of the Unconquered	Actor	—	1920

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