Noble Johnson
Encyclopedia
Noble Johnson was an African American
actor
and film producer
.
(1924).
The old orthochromatic film
stock of the early days was less discriminating about a person's color, as were black and white stocks in general, permitting some African-American actors a break, as their "color" was washed out or less obvious when photographed in black and white. As late as the early 1960s, there were very few African-American members of the Screen Actors Guild
. Since there was a lack of opportunity for them as black performers, they were confined mostly to race films until the 1960s. In all his roles, Johnson lived up to his given name
: his was a noble and dignified presence that exhibited great power and substance.
Noble was great friends with fellow actor Lon Chaney
. They were schoolmates in Colorado.
Johnson was also an entrepreneur. In 1916, he founded his own studio to produce what would be called "race films", movies made for the African-American audience, which was ignored by the "mainstream" film industry. The Lincoln Motion Picture Company
, in existence until 1921, was an all-black company, and the first to produce movies portraying African-Americans as real people instead of as racist caricatures (Johnson was followed into the race film business by Oscar Micheaux
and others). Johnson, who served as president of the company and was its primary asset as a star actor, helped support the studio by acting in other companies' productions such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(1916), and investing his pay from those films in Lincoln.
Lincoln's first picture was The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (1916). For four years Johnson managed to keep Lincoln a going concern, primarily through his extraordinary commitment to African-American filmmaking. However, he reluctantly resigned as president in 1920, as he no longer could continue his double business life, maintaining a demanding career in Hollywood films while trying to run a studio.
In the 1920s Johnson was a very busy character actor, appearing in such top-notch silent film
s as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
(1921) with Rudolph Valentino
, Cecil B. DeMille
's original The Ten Commandments
(1923), The Thief of Bagdad
(1924), and Dante's Inferno
. He made the transition to talkies
, appearing in The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
(1929) as Li Po, in Moby Dick
(1930) as Queequeg to John Barrymore
's Captain Ahab, and in the Boris Karloff
film The Mummy
(1932) as "the Nubian". He was also the Native Chief on Skull Island in the classic King Kong
(1933) (and its sequel The Son of Kong
, 1933) and appeared in Frank Capra
's classic Lost Horizon
(1937) as one of the porters. One of his last films was John Ford
's classic She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
(1949), in which he played Native American Chief Red Shirt. He retired from the movie industry in 1950.
Johnson died of natural causes on January 9, 1978, in Yucaipa, California
. He is buried in the Garden of Peace at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, California.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
.
Biography
Standing 6'2" at 215 pounds, his impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player. In the silent era he assayed a wide variety of characters of different races in a plethora of films, primarily serials, westerns and adventure movies. While Johnson was cast as black in many films, he also played Native American and Latino parts and "exotic" characters such as Arabians or even a devil in hell in Dante's InfernoDante's Inferno (1924 film)
Dante's Inferno is a silent film released by Fox Film Corporation, and adapted from Inferno, part of Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy.-Plot:...
(1924).
The old orthochromatic film
Orthochromatic
- Orthochromatic photography :Orthochromatic photography refers to a photographic emulsion that is sensitive to only blue and green light, and thus can be processed with a red safelight. The increased blue sensitivity causes blue objects to appear lighter and red ones darker...
stock of the early days was less discriminating about a person's color, as were black and white stocks in general, permitting some African-American actors a break, as their "color" was washed out or less obvious when photographed in black and white. As late as the early 1960s, there were very few African-American members of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
. Since there was a lack of opportunity for them as black performers, they were confined mostly to race films until the 1960s. In all his roles, Johnson lived up to his given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
: his was a noble and dignified presence that exhibited great power and substance.
Noble was great friends with fellow actor Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...
. They were schoolmates in Colorado.
Johnson was also an entrepreneur. In 1916, he founded his own studio to produce what would be called "race films", movies made for the African-American audience, which was ignored by the "mainstream" film industry. The Lincoln Motion Picture Company
Lincoln Motion Picture Company
The Lincoln Motion Picture Company was an American film production company founded by the Johnson brothers in 1915 in Omaha, Nebraska; it was incorporated in 1916 in Los Angeles, California. Among the first organized black filmmakers, it became the first producer of so-called "race movies"...
, in existence until 1921, was an all-black company, and the first to produce movies portraying African-Americans as real people instead of as racist caricatures (Johnson was followed into the race film business by Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films...
and others). Johnson, who served as president of the company and was its primary asset as a star actor, helped support the studio by acting in other companies' productions such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1916 silent film directed by Stuart Paton. The film's storyline is based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne, along with other elements used from Verne's The Mysterious Island....
(1916), and investing his pay from those films in Lincoln.
Lincoln's first picture was The Realization of a Negro's Ambition (1916). For four years Johnson managed to keep Lincoln a going concern, primarily through his extraordinary commitment to African-American filmmaking. However, he reluctantly resigned as president in 1920, as he no longer could continue his double business life, maintaining a demanding career in Hollywood films while trying to run a studio.
In the 1920s Johnson was a very busy character actor, appearing in such top-notch silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)
The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a 1962 drama film based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and starred Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer, Lee J. Cobb, Paul Lukas, Yvette Mimieux, Karlheinz Böhm, and Paul Henreid.Released by MGM, the film lost six...
(1921) with Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
, Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's original The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1923 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1923 American epic silent film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses, Charles de Rochefort as Pharaoh Ramesses, Estelle Taylor as Miriam the sister of Moses, and James Neill as Aaron, the brother of Moses...
(1923), The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)
The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American swashbuckler film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Bagdad...
(1924), and Dante's Inferno
Dante's Inferno (1924 film)
Dante's Inferno is a silent film released by Fox Film Corporation, and adapted from Inferno, part of Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy.-Plot:...
. He made the transition to talkies
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
, appearing in The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu is a 1929 film starring Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu. It was the first Fu Manchu film of the talkie era. It was very loosely based on the novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer.-Synopsis:...
(1929) as Li Po, in Moby Dick
Moby Dick (1930 film)
Moby Dick is a 1930 film made by Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring John Barrymore and Joan Bennett. The film is a sound remake of the 1926 silent movie, The Sea Beast, starring Barrymore, which uses exactly the same plot as the 1930 version.- Plot :The film tells of a sea...
(1930) as Queequeg to John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
's Captain Ahab, and in the Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
film The Mummy
The Mummy (1932 film)
The Mummy is a 1932 horror film from Universal Studios directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann, David Manners and Edward Van Sloan...
(1932) as "the Nubian". He was also the Native Chief on Skull Island in the classic King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
(1933) (and its sequel The Son of Kong
The Son of Kong
The Son of Kong is a 1933 American adventure film/monster movie produced by RKO Pictures. Directed by Ernest Schoedsack and featuring special effects by Buzz Gibson and Willis O'Brien, the film starred Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack and Frank Reicher...
, 1933) and appeared in Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
's classic Lost Horizon
Lost Horizon (film)
Lost Horizon is a 1937 American drama-fantasy film directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on the 1933 novel of the same title by James Hilton....
(1937) as one of the porters. One of his last films was John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
's classic She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The film was the second of Ford's trilogy of films focusing on the US Cavalry ; the other two films were Fort Apache and Rio Grande...
(1949), in which he played Native American Chief Red Shirt. He retired from the movie industry in 1950.
Johnson died of natural causes on January 9, 1978, in Yucaipa, California
Yucaipa, California
Yucaipa is a city located east of San Bernardino, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 51,367 at the 2010 census, up from 41,207 at the 2000 census...
. He is buried in the Garden of Peace at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, California.