Spencer Bell (September 25, 1887 – August 18, 1935) was an American stage and film actor, best known for playing opposite

Larry Semon Lawrence Semon (February 9, 1889 – October 8, 1928) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent film era. In his day, Semon was considered a major movie comedian, but he is now remembered mainly for working ...

in many of his silent comedy

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...

from the late 1910s to 1928. Bell was one of the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

comedic actors of the silent film era, and was the first to be signed to film contract. Over the course of his fifteen-year film career, Bell appeared in more than seventy comedy shorts.

Career

Bell was born in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. Prior to his Hollywood film career, he worked as a chauffeur and performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...

s. He enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Bell made his film debut in

's 1919 silent comedy short, ''Passing the Buck''. As was typical for African American actors of the era, Bell was typecast in stereotypical roles. His characters were often depicted as bumbling, lazy buffoons who were prone to comedic accidents. One of Bell's most notable roles was that of Snowball/

Rastus Rastus is a pejorative term traditionally associated with African Americans in the United States. It is considered offensive. History "Rastus" has been used as a stereotypical, often derogatory, name for black men at least since 1880, when Joel ...

/the

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...

in Larry Semon's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1925), In that film, Semon credited Bell under the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

"G. Howe Black" (In a mainly positive review, a ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' critic admonished Semon for crediting Bell with the demeaning name writing that Bell, "deserved better fate"). He was again credited as such in Semon's 1925 silent

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

film, '' The Perfect Clown''. During the 1930s, Bell regularly appeared in the ''Mickey McGuire'' film series starring

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

, and briefly ran an acting troupe in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. Bell's final film appearance was in the 1934 comedy short ''

Mickey's Medicine Man ''Mickey's Medicine Man'' is an American 1934 short film in Larry Darmour's '' Mickey McGuire'' series starring a young Mickey Rooney. Directed by Jesse Duffy, the two-reel short was released to theaters on May 18, 1934 by Post Pictures Corp. I ...

''.

Death

On August 18, 1935, Bell died at his home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

of complications from abdominal surgery he underwent in July 1935. He is buried at Sawtelle Military Cemetery (now known as Los Angeles National Cemetery).

Selected filmography

References

External links

* * 1887 births 1935 deaths 20th-century American male actors Actors from Lexington, Kentucky African-American male actors American male film actors American male silent film actors American male stage actors United States Army personnel of World War I Blackface minstrel performers Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery Male actors from Kentucky Silent film comedians United States Army soldiers Vaudeville performers 20th-century American comedians American male comedy actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers {{US-film-actor-1880s-stub