Trailblazing Black Actors Canada Lee and James Edwards By Raquel Stecher
Canada Lee and James Edwards may not be household names, but they deserve to be honored for being trailblazers. These Black actors defied stereotypes and fought for dignified roles on stage and the big screen. They refused to play servants, opting for better roles than their predecessors had been given. And, they both had significant roles in what film historian Donald Bogle calls the four “problem pictures” of 1949: Lee in LOST BOUNDARIES and Edwards in HOME OF THE BRAVE. Both men were ahead of their time yet tragically died far too soon. Let’s take a look at the lives of these two extraordinary individuals.
From a young age, Canada Lee rebelled against the concept of living a normal humdrum life. He wanted to be someone extraordinary. Lee studied violin and piano as a kid with hopes of becoming a musician. When that didn’t pan out, the restless Lee ran away from home at the tender age of 14 to become a jockey. He abandoned this career when he grew too tall for the sport. His next calling found him in the boxing ring, and by the age of 19, he was a professional fighter. He had a successful career as a lightweight and welterweight boxing champion until a blow to the head detached his retina causing him to lose vision in one eye. It was then that he found his calling at the Federal Theatre Project in Harlem during the late 1930s.
Lee proved to be an excellent actor, and with the guidance of Orson Welles, he was cast in a highly publicized all-Black production of Macbeth. He found success both on and off-Broadway in productions of Anna Lucasta, South Pacific and The Tempest. His breakout performance in Native Son put Lee on the map and Hollywood soon came calling. Lee only appeared in five films, including two films where he could put his boxing skills to good use: KEEP PUNCHING (’39) and BODY AND SOUL (’47). According to the website Black Past, “Canada Lee declared that he would only take roles that educated society about race and enhanced the image of African Americans.”
For Alfred Hitchcock’s LIFEBOAT (’44), he tweaked the dialogue to make his character less of a stereotype. He had a minor role in LOST BOUNDARIES as the understanding cop who guides a young mixed-race man. The film broke ground for tackling the difficult subject of African Americans passing as white. For his last film role, Lee and co-star Sidney Poitier were smuggled into South Africa by director Zoltan Korda for the production of CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (’51) during the early days of Apartheid. Always proud of his West Indian roots, Lee became an outspoken civil rights activist. This made him a target of the House of Un-American Activities Committee investigation. Many believe that his fatal heart attack at 45 years old was the result of his being persecuted for his political beliefs.
Much like Lee, James Edwards transcended stereotypical Black roles on screen. Edwards served as first lieutenant in the Army during WWII. After a particularly bad car accident that damaged his face and vocal cords, Edwards returned to the U.S. and started training in both public speaking and acting. He earned a master’s degree in drama from Northwestern University and became part of the same acting group, the Federal Theatre Project, as Lee. He made a name for himself on Broadway with the principal part in the play Deep Are the Roots.
Edwards then moved to Los Angeles where he started an acting school and got his start in the film industry. His silver screen debut was in Robert Wise’s film noir THE SET-UP (’49). That same year, Edwards landed one of the lead roles in HOME OF THE BRAVE, a WWII film about racism and psychological trauma. It proved to be his breakthrough performance but is also credited for paving the way for other Black actors, like Sidney Poitier, to take more substantial roles in future productions.
About his performance in HOME OF THE BRAVE, Bogle wrote, “his tension, restlessness, sensitivity and admirable attempt to connect to or at least understand a white world that has continually rejected him make this a fascinating movie.” Edwards often played Black soldiers in war films throughout his acting career. He also worked with top directors in big productions like Stanley Kubrick’s THE KILLING (’56), John Frankenheimer’s THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (’62), Vincente Minnelli’s THE SANDPIPER (’65) and Franklin J. Schaffner’s PATTON (’70). When he wasn’t acting or helping fellow actors master their craft, Edwards worked as a freelance screenwriter for film and television and was a published novelist. He suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 51, just as he was preparing for a new role.
Both Lee and Edwards were able to rise above stereotypes to portray more authentic characters on screen. While Lee had a short film career and Edwards was often relegated to minor characters in his movies, they both proved to be pioneers that fought against the limitations Hollywood imposed on them. Their fight paved the way for Black actors to receive quality roles in film.
