Ben Carter (actor)

Ben Carter (February 10, 1910[1]/1907[2] – December 12, 1946[3]) was an American actor and casting agent. He appeared in numerous Hollywood feature films including The Harvey Girls, Dixie Jamboree, and Born to Sing.

Ben Carter
Born	February 10, 1910 Fairfield, Iowa, U.S.
Died	December 12, 1946 (aged 36) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, casting agent
Years active	1934–1946

Early life

Carter was born in Fairfield, Iowa.[1] His father was a barber and his mother was a housemaid.[1] He graduated from high school in Aurora, Illinois.[1]

Career

Carter headed to Los Angeles to work in movies. As a booking agent he focused on African American performers in New York City and Los Angeles.[1] He was one of the first African American performers to land a seven-year contract at 20th Century-Fox.[2] He opened his agency office in 1935.[1]

Carter appeared in Gone With the Wind (1939) as well as casting all the other African American actors and actresses in it,[1] Maryland (1940) and Tin Pan Alley (1940).[2] Carter often performed in comic roles and in scenes which allowed him to display his singing ability such as in The Harvey Girls (1946) and A Day at the Races (1937). Among his most prominent roles were in the Charlie Chan movies The Scarlet Clue (1945) and Dark Alibi (1946). A notable role of his was in the World War II movie Crash Dive (1943) where his character rises above racial stereotypes and is portrayed as an valuable member of a submarine's crew.

Personal life

Carter was a member of the Hollywood Victory Committee[1] and was a civil rights activist.[2]

He resided at 2133 S. Harvard Blvd. in Sugar Hill (now "West Adams"), Los Angeles, California, in 1942.[1]

Carter suffered from diphtheria.[2] He died of the disease on December 12, 1946, in New York City.[3]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1934	Hollywood Party	Elevator Operator	Uncredited
1935	Transient Lady	Barbershop Patron	Uncredited
1935	Kentucky Blue Streak	Waiter / Colored Octette Leader
1936	The Green Pastures	Gambler	Uncredited
1936	Missing Girls	Pokey
1937	A Day at the Races	Black Singer	Uncredited
1937	Adventure's End	Stantul, Black Sailor
1938	Having Wonderful Time	Minor Role	(scenes deleted)
1939	Gone With the Wind		Uncredited
1940	Little Old New York	Noah
1940	Safari	Happy
1940	New Moon	Singer - Member of Jericho Choir	Uncredited
1940	Maryland	Shadrach
1940	Carolina Moon	Wheeler's Butler	Uncredited
1940	South to Karanga	Higgins
1940	Earl of Puddlestone	Homer
1940	Tin Pan Alley	Boy
1940	Chad Hanna	Bell Boy
1941	Sleepers West	Leander Jones - Porter
1941	Ride on Vaquero	Watchman Bullfinch
1941	Dressed to Kill	Sam
1942	Young America	Abraham
1942	Born to Sing	'Eight-Ball'
1942	Reap the Wild Wind	Chinkapin
1942	Her Cardboard Lover	Elevator Operator	Uncredited
1942	Daring Young Man	Pinky
1943	Happy Go Lucky	Joe Brown	Uncredited
1943	Crash Dive	Oliver Cromwell Jones
1943	Redhead from Manhattan	Mark Anthony Brown	Uncredited
1943	Mister Big	Ben Carter - Choir Leader
1944	This Is the Life	Himself
1944	Stars on Parade	Ben Carter Choir Leader
1944	Dixie Jamboree	Sam the Deckhand
1944	Bowery to Broadway	No-More
1945	The Scarlet Clue	Ben Carter
1945	The Great John L.	Thaddeus	Uncredited
1945	Lady on a Train	Maxwell
1945	She Went to the Races	Groom	Uncredited
1946	The Harvey Girls	John Henry
1946	Riverboat Rhythm	Benjamin
1946	Dark Alibi	Benjamin Brown

Notes

1. Bogle, Donald (2009). Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams. Random House.
2. "Carter, Ben (1907-1946)". BlackPast.org. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
3. "Hundreds of Hollywood's Celebs Pay Final Tribute to Ben Carter". The Afro-American. Baltimore. December 28, 1946. p. 7.

External links

• Ben Carter at IMDb