Jims plea underscores his belief in peace, freedom, and equality for all: This is Jimmy Stewart reminding you that this is Brotherhood week; a week reminding us all that the world of the future must be built on the recognition of the rights of each individual, whatever his color, creed, or national background. And I went on, and it went around the company: Stewart has never, hes always right up there., The day before the movie finished shooting, the cast was preparing to do the funeral scene. If Michael Munns interview with Woody Strode did take place, its craftily presented, with Munns own words inserted in key places to suggest that Jimmy Stewart was a racist. The Lion Hunters (1951) The evidence proves that Jim was not racist. Aka: Jungle Warriors The answer is no. During the interview, when we are alone, Strode is relaxed and easy to talk with almost as if he had discovered a long lost relative and was eager to reconstruct the past. Hi James, thanks for commenting. Much in the same vein as Phil Dunphy ofModern Family failing to understand what "WTF" stands for, Woody apparently believes "TMI" means "Tell More Information." To promote Brotherhood Week, Jimmy Stewart opened and closed a 3 minute trailer that played before feature films at theaters across the United States. Under coach Les Lear, the young team made it to the Grey Cup, November 27, 1948, set to face the Ottawa Roughriders. Actually, I had been rassling in the off-season anyhow, Strode told the late, great Canadian newspaper columnist Jim Proudfoot. For Jimmy Stewart, Duke Ellington was responsible for the best part of each evening: [Duke] played for us in the dining room at night, until ten, eleven, which was great fun for us.. Strode almost singlehandedly won the 1948 Grey Cup for the team. It changed my outlook on many other things and renewed my faith in mankind, thank you. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Was Vera-Ellen Anorexic in White Christmas? link]. Pete Thodos would score shortly thereafter to seal a 12-7 Calgary win. I am a black American who was heartbroken when I heard this aweful rumor. Apr 1: WWE WrestleMania Producer Julian Blaustein, who produced Jims 1950 film, Jim spoke of his Hollywood career in a series of interviews with. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Tarzans Deadly Silence (1970), Ciakmull Luuomo della vendetta (1970) Its such a demoralizing rumor. Woody Strode was born in California on July 25, 1914. In 1941, he began working as a professional wrestler, and in 1946, he and Washington became the first two African-American football players to play in the NFL, when they signed with the Los Angeles Rams. Stay tuned to theLast Word on Pro Wrestlingfor more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. Required fields are marked *. The filmmaker would ask his Western star: How rich did you get while Jimmy was risking his life?, According to Michael Munns John Wayne The Man Behind The Myth, Strode said that the directors constant ridiculing really p***ed Wayne off, but he would never take it out on Ford., The reason being that the filmmakers movies had made him a Hollywood star and the Pompey actor claimed: He ended up taking it out on me.. As Kanter recalled, Jim didnt like the idea of a black police officer lecturing him on television, and threatened to use his casting approval to get Hal Williams out of the show. Not many sports historians report, No one is more deserving than Frank Manchel, Emeritus Professor of English and Film at the University of Vermont, to be recognized by Film & History as a pioneer in film studies. Freedom, brotherhood, and equality were issues Jimmy Stewart clearly felt strongly about, for he returned to headline American Brotherhood Week the following year. Jims daughter, Kelly Stewart Harcourt, also knew her father was not racist: There were not a lot of black people in Dads life, but he was not a racist.. "I was lucky enough this time to have John Ford as my director. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Interesting to see that there are actually people out there who are hell-bent on believing that Jimmy was racist. Ive updated the section to include more facts specific to the show. Also, his agent Bill Frye, in Jimmy Stewart: A Biography, says that Stewart turned down the role of Atticus Finch in Mockingbird because he was uncomfortable with the liberal racial tone (though without using those words). Woody Strode in Spartacus July 1952 found Barbara still impersonating a human ping pong ball as she bounced back - you guessed it - to the ever unreliable Mr Neal. The Man Who Made The Stars Shine Brighter: An Interview with Woody Strode. Thanks for your kind words, and for reading Damon! Thankfully, the show never subjected Woody - or viewers - to that possibility. According to Strode, John Ford then called the whole cast and crew over, and twisted the comment into something Jimmy Stewart never said. Reviews. (He never forgot Calgary, however, and returned to the city in 1986 to aid fundraising for the financially-ailing team. I just started to do it full-time in 1951.. In this, the last interview Strode ever gave, he expresses only respect for Jimmy Stewart, calling Jim one of the screens greatest actors.. According to the Munn interview, it took Woody Strode years to realize that it was John Fords cruel maneuverings, not anything Jimmy Stewart actually said, that created the tension Strode felt on the. In 1941, he began working as a professional wrestler, and in 1946, he and Washington became the first two African-American football players to play in the NFL, when they signed with the Los Angeles Rams. Click here to subscribe. He served as a caregiver to Ford in his final years and was at Fords deathbed in 1973. I have watched his films since I was a teenager and hoped that this rumor was untrue. Aug 5: WWE SummerSlam, > Archives But Woody's own behaviors raise plenty of questions about his intentions, including his admission that he's "been playing with dead things since [he] was a toddler.". At MGM there was a separate entrance and lunchroom for the black laborers and maids. As the two actors filmed an exterior shot on a horse-drawn cart, Wayne was close to losing control of the horses. I read that Stewart was a racist a few weeks ago and fell for it hook line and sinker. La mala ordina (1972) Mar 5: AEW Revolution Ive done everything but play an Anglo-Saxon. Michael Munns dangerous habit of mixing truth with exaggeration and fallacy calls his alleged interview with. As they were preparing to shoot, Ford came up to Stewart and asked, What do you think of Woodys costume?. Apr 16: Impact Rebellion Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus (1960)." Played . Strode appeared in several subsequent Ford films, though never in a starring capacity. Tarzan is summoned to protect him and he must face three tests of strength. Blacks usually sat at the back of the bus. In the alleged interview, Woody Strode never uses the word racist to describe Jimmy Stewart. Its such a disheartening rumor, and Im so glad you did your own research and came across my article. And Duke came up to me one day and said, Hows it come that youve gone through this whole thing and youve never been at the bottom of the list? Sundown (1941). Sounds pretty racist to me. The Harder They Fall, the Black Western in theaters now and on Netflix on Nov. 3, owes a tip of the Stetson to Woody Strode, one of the NFLs first Black players (he signed briefly with the Los Angeles Rams in 1946), who later found a niche playing strong, silent types in Westerns. (1969) And he said loudly, We have an actor here who objects to the costume on Woody Strode. He then proceeded to suggest that Stewart was prejudiced Strode, who also has since died, was African-American and added that he just wanted to share Stewarts objection to Strodes costume with the whole cast. Thanks for reading, James. But it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense for him to make his first logical leap either. He served as a caregiver to Ford in his final years and was at Ford's deathbed in 1973. When we won, we all got drunk. Tha Gatling Gun (1973) He had a problem with a black guy doing that. I want to thank you for your research into one of my favorite actors. I almost died inside when I heard he was a racist. Strode, 32 when he signed, never got a chance to prove himself and was released after one season. 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Besides Ford, Strode also worked with storied directors Cecil B. And, as my article highlights, Hal Williams was not in fact fired from The Jimmy Stewart Show, and he does play a police officer in episode 6. Yet it was this famous athleteturned-actor who, with the great running back Kenny Washington, overcame the segregation hurdle in professional football when they signed with the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League in 1946. I was a big James Stewart fan until I read he was racist. Your email address will not be published. Then he asked Stewart to come over. > Music Lust in the Dust (1985) It is known that Stewart made racist remarks about people in Vietnam, and he also strongly campaigned for Barry Goldwater in 1964 after the senator had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I would have lost that role if I hadnt been in shape, and if I hadnt had a lot of experience as a wrestler, Strode told the Pittsburgh Courier in 1961. Speaking of Woody not being the most socially aware person in the world, look no further than his lack of understanding when it comes to chat speak as yet another example of that fact. Once Upon A Time in the West (1968) Jim and Duke upset distributors of the film for a scene in which the two are seated next to each other on a piano bench, jamming at the piano of a bar filled with dancers. Jaguar Lives! Woody Strode was a Black Indian (his grandmother was Black Cherokee and his grandfather was Black Muscogee) and an outstanding athlete. Strode played as an End with the Rams in 1946, playing in 10 games that season. (Episode 6). The season eight episode "Someone's Got A Woody" finds poor Woody being held captive in the morgue, even as he works to help prove his abductor's innocence. Lets go behind the origin of the rumor that Jimmy Stewart was racist, and the evidence that refutes it. Unlike Robinson, however, neither played much. link]. Androcoles and the Lion (1952) Donald Deweys 1997 biography of Jimmy Stewart, journalist James Bawden between 1971 and 1983, Thanks to the passionate insistence of director Otto Preminger. In USA Network's Psych, Coroner Woody Strode is easily the weirdest character, but he also has some of the series' funniest quotes. As already mentioned, Woody has a real hard time knowing when to keep from over sharing. Im delighted to put the rumors about him to rest. The Black Stallion Returns (1983) Jungle Man-Eaters (1954) Woody has appeared in key roles in bothPsych the Movie andPsych 2: Lassie Come Home, but it's one particular moment in the first film that ranks at the top of the list when it comes to his best quotes. Im so glad you searched for the facts and came across my article. As a 70 year old black man who grew up watching and loving Jimmy Stewart i can only hope he wasnt a racist like so many Americans of his era ! Jim replied that he thought the costume made Strode look a bit too much like Uncle Remus.. American actor Woody Strode on the set of Sergeant Rutledge, directed by John Ford. Strode was born in Los Angeles on July 25, 1914, the son . Before becoming one of the first big, black movie stars thanks in large part to legendary director John Fords faith in him Woody Strode was a star on the gridiron. Sharing hotel, meals, and a piano jam session on and off film with Duke Ellington. (After she died in 1980, Strode would marry Tina in 1982, and they were together until his death.). This article looks at Woody Strode, an early African-American and Native American star who left pro wrestling in the early 1960s to become an actor in Hollywood for decades. Period. From Andre the Giant inThe Princess Brideto Roddy Piper inThey Livesto the expanding resumes of Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Dave Bautista to John Cena, pro wrestlers have found a way to transition to cinema. Michael Munns integrity as a biographer has been questioned. Ford proceeded to announce to the entire company that: One of the actors here doesnt like Uncle Remus. Of course, Robinson would go on to break major league baseballs colour barrier in 1947. The Pompey actor assessed: What a miserable film to make.. Hi Yolanda, it is such a disturbing rumor. That never happens in a more hilarious manner than during a conversation with Henry Spencer about his sonwho Woody believes is Gus. I read an article a few weeks ago about him being racist and I couldnt believe it. In director John Fords Sergeant Rutledge (1960), a western where he depicted a soldier on trial for two murders and the rape of a white woman, when Strode bared his chest to a white woman (actress Constance Towers), even the movie audiences gasped. To answer your question: Hal Kanter is the only primary source to say that Jimmy had issue with the casting of Hal Williams. Also Stewart even stayed up late much to director Premingers chagrin during Anatomy Of A Murder to play with Duke Ellington. He made more than sixty movies including his last film, The Quick and The Dead [1995]. However, while on a trip to London, he caught her in bed with a wealthy night club owner named Siegi Sessler and again the relationship almost foundered. Strode also had a brief career as a professional gridiron football player and was among the first African . He died the following year at age 80. Thank you for reading! A footnote in the life of a great man. Youre so right, Jims own words and actions prove that he was not racist. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) The Professionals (1966) > Sporting Connection Released in 1960, when the U.S. was in the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement, the film confronted racial injustice head on. That doesnt sound like a racist! Hal Kanter is our only primary source to say that Jimmy had an issue with the casting of Hal Williams. What is it whats the idea? And I said, I dont know!, And I didnt know, Stewart added. We dont know why Jimmy turned down Mockingbird. Over the past several decades, more and more pro wrestlers are capitalizing on their work in pro wrestling to work in Hollywood as bonafide stars in the movie industry. In the interview, Marvin relates an incident where Jimmy Stewart actively opposed the racist behavior of another actor on set. Afterwards, Lee Marvin remembered seeing both. I almost fell for that rumor , but to just listen to Mr. Stewarts interview i know in my heart that he was not a racist. Williams has never addressed Kanters allegations, nor has he said that Jimmy mistreated him. The Buccaneer (1958) Otherwise, we would have been inMonument ValleyorBrackettvilleand we would have had colour stock.