Editing Rex Ingram (actor) (section)

== Early life and career ==
Ingram was born near [[Cairo, Illinois]], on the [[Mississippi River]]; his father was a steamer fireman on the riverboat ''[[Robert E. Lee (steamboat)|Robert E. Lee]]''. Ingram graduated from the [[Northwestern University]] medical school in 1919 and was the first [[African-American]] man to receive a [[Phi Beta Kappa]] key from [[Northwestern University]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bogle|first=Donald|title=Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2001|edition=4|page=[https://archive.org/details/tomscoonsmulatto0004bogl/page/69 69]|isbn=0-8264-1267-X|url=https://archive.org/details/tomscoonsmulatto0004bogl/page/69}}</ref> He went to Hollywood as a young man where he was literally discovered on a street corner by the casting director for ''[[Tarzan of the Apes (1918 film)|Tarzan of the Apes]]'' (1918), starring [[Elmo Lincoln]]. He made his (uncredited) screen debut in that film and had many other small roles, usually as a generic black native, such as in the ''Tarzan'' films.

With the arrival of sound, his presence and powerful voice became an asset and he went on to memorable roles in ''[[The Green Pastures (film)|The Green Pastures]]'' (1936), ''[[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939 film)|The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' (the 1939 [[MGM]] version, opposite [[Mickey Rooney]]), ''[[The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)|The Thief of Bagdad]]'' (1940—perhaps his best-known film appearance—as the [[genie]]), ''[[The Talk of the Town (1942 film)|The Talk of the Town]]'' (1942), and ''[[Sahara (1943 American film)|Sahara]]'' (1943).<ref name=aar />

From 1929, he also appeared on stage, making his debut on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. He appeared in more than a dozen Broadway productions, with his final role coming in ''[[Kwamina]]'' in 1961. He was in the original cast of ''Haiti'' (1938), ''[[Cabin in the Sky (play)|Cabin in the Sky]]'' (1940), and ''[[St. Louis Woman]]'' (1946). He is one of the few actors to have played both [[God]] (in ''The Green Pastures'') and the [[Devil]] (in ''Cabin in the Sky''). In 1966 he played Tee-Tot in the movie ''[[Your Cheatin' Heart (film)|Your Cheatin' Heart]]''.

Ingram was arrested for violating the [[Mann Act]] in 1948.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rex Ingram is Released for Hearing on Oct. 4th |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/40655895/?terms=%22John%2BMarriott%22 |newspaper=The New York Age |date=September 28, 1948 |page=3 |via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = December 4, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> Pleading guilty to the charge of transporting a teenage girl to New York for immoral purposes, he was sentenced to eighteen months in jail. He served just ten months of his sentence, but the incident had a serious effect on his career for the next six years. In the interim, he invested in the Club Alabam, a famed nightclub located in the [[Dunbar Hotel]] in South Central Los Angeles, with partners Joe Morris and Clarence Moore, reopening it as a jazz club.<ref>Variety, October 25, 1951</ref>
 
In 1962, he became the first African-American actor to be hired for a contract role on a [[soap opera]], when he appeared on ''[[The Brighter Day]]''. He had other minor work in television in the 1960s, appearing in an episode each of ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'' and ''[[The Bill Cosby Show]]'', both of which starred [[Bill Cosby]], who used his influence to land him the roles.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}