Blue Washington
Edgar Hughes "Blue" Washington was an American actor and baseball player who played in the Negro leagues from 1915 to 1920 as a pitcher and first baseman.
Baseball career
Washington started his baseball career as a pitcher with the Chicago American Giants in 1915. He remained with Chicago in 1916. He later played with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1920, appearing in 24 documented major league games.
Acting career
He appeared in 74 films between 1919 and 1957, mostly playing small, uncredited roles as a porter, a bartender, an African native and Tarzan's Magic Fountain, a cook, a chauffeur, a ship's crew member, a Nubian slave, and a doorman. Some of his characters had names such as "Ulambo", "Sambo" and "Hambone". In the 1933 film Haunted Gold, he portrayed Clarence, John Wayne's comic sidekick. He had uncredited appearances in The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind.
Personal
Edgar Hughes Washington was the son of Susie Washington and had three siblings. He became a boxer at age 14 with the stage name of "Kid Blue." His separated from his partner Marian Lenàn when their son Kenny was two years old. He was given the nickname "Blue" by film director Frank Capra when both were kids. Washington's son, Kenny Washington, a standout athlete at UCLA where he was a teammate of Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in the National Football League in 1946.
Filmography
Haunted Spooks as Butler A Virginia Courtship The Blood Ship as Minor RoleBy Whose Hand? as EliThe Haunted Ship as MoseThe Smart Set as Polo Fan Wyoming as MoseRansom as OliverBeggars of Life as Black MoseDo Your Duty as Dude JacksonThe Passion Song as UlamboThe Phantom City as 'Blue'Weary River as Prisoner in Bathtub Black Magic as UnitHallelujah as Church Member Rio Rita as Fremont Bank Robber Welcome Danger as Thorne's Black Henchman Parade of the West as SamboLucky Larkin as HamboneMountain Justice as Mose The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa as Native Golf Champion Desert Vengeance as Train Porter Kiki Guilty Hands as Johnny Haunted Gold as ClarenceKing Kong as Warrior King of the Arena as Sambo Her Bodyguard as Chauffeur One Year Later as Train Porter Goodbye Love as Jail Steward Roman Scandals as Litter Bearer Belle of the Nineties as Doorman at Sensation House Menace as Kenya Manservant The Whole Town's Talking as Bank Doorman The Crusades as One of Saladin's Guards The Virginia Judge as 1st Black Man Annie Oakley as Cook Escape from Devil's Island as Convict The Prisoner of Shark Island as Black Soldier at Prison The Plainsman as Black Man Dropping Box White Hunter as Minor Role Nancy Steele Is Missing! as Convict Souls at Sea as Ship Slave Charlie Chan on Broadway as Doorman at Hottentot Club Ali Baba Goes to Town as Arab Wells Fargo as Sam - Coachman Tarzan's Revenge as Bearer Bringing Olaf Poison Darts Over the Wall as Convict Playing Guitar Too Hot to Handle as Native The Cowboy and the Lady as Dock Worker Kentucky as Bill Charlie Chan in Honolulu as Crewman Twelve Crowded Hours as First Bartender Rose of Washington Square as Prisoner Charlie Chan in Reno as Man in Line-Up Way Down South as Slave Gone with the Wind as Renegade's Companion The Light That Failed as Bit Part The Long Voyage Home as Black Cook on Glencairn A Girl, a Guy and a Gob as Opera House Doorman Sundown as Askari Veteran Lady for a Night as Man Sitting Next to Chloe Law of the Jungle as Native Drums of the Congo as Native Bearer It Happened in Flatbush as Courtroom Spectator Tales of Manhattan as Shantytown Man Road to Morocco as Nubian Slave To the Ends of the Earth as Binda Sha Henchman Tarzan's Magic Fountain as Native Bearer Africa Screams as Native Bomba, the Jungle Boy as Native Bearer Pinky as Minor Role Tarzan and the Slave Girl as Randini Bearer Shot by Arrow I Was a Communist for the FBI as Black Man at Union Meeting Angels in the Outfield as Doorman Golden Girl as Lola's Coachman Stars and Stripes Forever as Crowd Spectator Siren of Bagdad as Palace Servant The Kid from Left Field as Train Station Porter The Wings of Eagles as Bartender at Officer's Club The Hustler as Limping Attendant at Ames Billiards