James Baskett

James Baskett (16th of February, 1904 – 9th of July, 1948) was an African-American actor from the Golden Age of Cinema, who famously portrayed Uncle Remus, and is also well remembered for singing the now-iconic song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", in the now controversial movie, Harve Foster's and Wilfred Jackson's American live-action animated musical drama movie 'Song of the South' (1946), co-starring my favourite actress of the era, Hattie McDaniel, and also co-starring Ruth Warrick, Canadian actress Lucile Watson, Erik Rolf, and child actors Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, and Glenn Leedy. The movie was produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. In recognition of his portrayal of Uncle Remus, he was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1948, making him the very first Black male performer to receive an Oscar for acting. In this photograph, Ingrid Bergman is presenting him with that award. His acting career began in the late 1920's when he moved to New York City and joined up with Bill 'Mr. Bojangles' Robinson. First using the name "Jimmie Baskette", he appeared with Louis Armstrong on Broadway in the 1929 black musical revue 'Hot Chocolates' and in several all-black New York movies, including Irwin Franklyn's American pre-Code crime drama and musical movie, with an all African-American cast, 'Harlem is Heaven' (1932), for which he was critically acclaimed for his role as "Money Johnson". The movie starred Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and in supporting roles, Putney Dandridge, John Mason, and some of the top entertainers of the period, including James Baskett, from Harlem's famous Cotton Club, the performers Anise Boyer, Henri Wessell, and Alma Smith. Eubie Blake and his orchestra perform most of the background music and instrumentals during the movie's onstage song and dance numbers. James Baskett later moved to Los Angeles and had a supporting role in the movie 'Straight to Heaven' (1939), starring the talented and beautiful Nina Mae McKinney, who many referred to as 'The Black Garbo'. He later voiced "Fats Crow" in the animated Disney film 'Dumbo' (1941), and he also had bit parts in several B movies, including that of "Lazarus" in Steve Sekely's horror movie 'Revenge of the Zombies' (1943), starring John Carradine and Gale Storm, a porter in Alexander Hall's romantic comedy 'The Heavenly Body' (1944), also starring William Powell and Hedy Lamarr in the leads, and in supporting roles, Fay Bainter and Spring Byington, and then as native tribal leader "Orbon" in the Universal Pictures movie serial 'Jungle Queen' (1945). From 1944 until 1948, he was part of the cast of the 'Amos 'n' Andy' Show live radio programme as lawyer "Gabby Gibson". In 1945, James Baskett auditioned for a bit part voicing one of the animals in the upcoming Disney feature movie 'Song of the South' (1946), based on the Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris. Walt Disney was impressed with Baskett's talent and hired him on the spot for the lead role of Uncle Remus. Baskett was also given the voice role of Br'er Fox, one of the film's animated antagonists, and also filled in as the main animated protagonist, Br'er Rabbit, in one sequence. Br'er Fox and Br'er Rabbit are popular characters from African-American and Caribbean folklore. This was one of the first Hollywood portrayals of a black actor as a non-comic character in a leading role in a film meant for general audiences. And yet, outrageously, James Baskett was prohibited from attending the film's premiere in Atlanta, Georgia, because Atlanta was racially segregated by law at the time. Since its initial release the movie has attracted controversy, with critics characterizing its portrayal of African Americans and plantation life as racist. As a result of the film's controversial legacy, Disney has not released Song of the South on any home video format in the United States, and the film has never been available on its streaming platform Disney+. Some of the musical and animated sequences have been released through other means, and the full film has seen home video distribution in other countries. The cartoon characters from the film continued to appear in a variety of books, comics, and other Disney media for many decades after the film's release. The theme park ride Splash Mountain, located at Tokyo Disneyland and formerly located at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, is based on the film's animated sequences. Sadly, only two years after the movie's release, James Baskett passed away at the age of 44 on this date, the 9th of July, in 1948, from heart failure and complications from diabetes.