Leigh Whipper
Known for ActingBorn 1876-10-29 — died 1975-07-26Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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Leigh Rollin Whipper (October 29, 1876 – July 26, 1975) was an American actor on the stage and in motion pictures. He was the first African American to join the Actors' Equity Association, and one of the founders of the Negro Actors Guild of America. He is best known for creating the role of Crooks in the original Broadway production of Of Mice and Men, which he reprised in the 1939 film version.
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Educated at Howard University Law School, he left in 1895 and never practiced as a lawyer. Without any dramatic training, he made his first Broadway appearance in Georgia Minstrels. His first film role was in the 1920 silent film The Symbol of the Unconquered.
During the Second World War, Whipper was a member of the steering committee of Negro Division the Hollywood Victory Committee.
Known for
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943 · as Sparks (uncredited)
Undercurrent
1946 · as George
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
2026 · as Self (archival footage)
Of Mice and Men
1939 · as Crooks
King of the Zombies
1941 · as Momba
White Cargo
1942 · as Jim Fish
Happy Land
1943 · as Old Ben (uncredited)
Road to Zanzibar
1941 · as Scarface
Bahama Passage
1941 · as Morales
Mission to Moscow
1943 · as Haile Selassie (uncredited)
Young Widow
1946 · as Nate (Uncredited)
Within Our Gates
1920
The Vanishing Virginian
1942 · as Uncle Josh
Virginia
1941 · as Ezechial
Dark Waters
1944 · as Office Custodian (uncredited)
The Hidden Eye
1945 · as Alistair
The Shrike
1955 · as Mr. Carlisle
Robin Hood of the Pecos
1941 · as Kezeye