CANADA LEE [ca. 1940-52] Photo archive

Canada Lee. 1940-52. Photos. New York, Los Angeles: Various, [ca. 1940-1952]. Archive of nine, mostly 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm) vintage original black-and-white single and double weight silver gelatin photos. Several photos have clippings, ink date stamps and publicity blurbs on the verso. Used for publication. Near fine.

Boxer-turned-actor Canada Lee got his big break with the 1936 Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth as interpreted and directed by Orson Welles. He also became the lead for Welles’ 1941 Broadway production of Native Son. He was sought for strong roles in films but his civil rights activism, which started with his association with the Federal Theatre, led to his being blacklisted in the industry. The lack of work and health issues led to his early death at 45.

One photo shows Lee with Lionel Hampton and June Richmond at a performance ca. early-1940s. The rest consists of portraits for film and theatre roles for Lifeboat (1944), Body and Soul (1947) and Cry, the Beloved Country (1952). One portrait, date stamped Dec. 1943 and with a newspaper blurb attached, attributes Lee to a play at the Cort Theatre titled South Pacific (this was not the 1949 musical, but a three-act drama with choral music written by Howard Rigsby and Dorothy Heyward and staged by Lee Strasberg).