Becoming Something: The Story of Canada Lee

The first biography of the great black actor activist athlete--and tragic victim of the blacklist Imagine an actor as familiar to audiences as Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman are today--who is then virtually deleted from public memory. Such is the story of Canada Lee. Among the most respected black actors of the forties and a tireless civil rights advocate Lee was unjustly dishonored his name reduced to a footnote in the history of the McCarthy era his death one of a handful directly attributable to the blacklist. Born in Harlem in 1907 Lee was a Renaissance man. A musical prodigy on violin and piano at eleven by thirteen he had become a successful jockey and by his twenties a champion boxer. After wandering into auditions for the WPA Negro Theater Project Lee took up acting and soon shot to stardom in Orson Welless Broadway production of Native Son later appearing in such classic films as Lifeboat and the original Cry the Beloved Country. But Lees meteoric rise to fame was followed by a devastating fall. Labeled a Communist by the FBI and HUAC as early as 1943 Lee was pilloried during the notorious spy trial of Judith Coplon in 1949 then condemned in longtime friend Ed Sullivans column. He died in 1952 forty-five and penniless a heartbroken casualty of a dangerous and conflicted time. Now after nearly a decade of research Mona Z. Smith revives the legacy of a man who was perhaps the blacklists most tragic victim. Mona Z. Smith is a former reporter for The Miami Herald and an award-winning playwright. She lives in Brooklyn. Imagine an actor as familiar to audiences as Denzel Washington Samuel L. Jackson and Morgan Freeman are todaywho is then virtually deleted from cultural history. Such is the story of Canada Lee. Among the most respected black actors of the 1940s and a passionate civil rights activist Lee was reduced to a footnote in the history of the McCarthy era and his death was one of a handful directly attributed to the blacklist. Born in Harlem in 1907 Lee was a Depression-era Renaissance man reinventing himself numerous times during one of our countrys darkest periods: a musical prodigy on violin and piano he made his concert debut at New Yorks prestigious Aeolian Hall at eleven; by thirteen he had become a successful jockey; in his teens a pro boxer; and in his twenties a leading contender for the national welterweight title until an unlucky blow to the head cost him the sight in one eye and his fighting career. After wandering into auditions for the Federal Theatre Projects Negro Unit Lee took up acting and shot to stardom in Orson Welless Broadway production of Native Son. He later appeared in such films as Alfred Hitchcocks classic Lifeboat and the original Cry the Beloved Country with a young Sidney Poitier. But Lees meteoric rise to fame was followed by a devastating fall from grace. Labeled a Communist by the FBI and the House Un-American Activities Committee as early as 1943 Lee was pilloried during the notorious spy trial of Judith Coplon in 1949 and his career was ultimately destroyed when his longtime friend Ed Sullivan denounced him in his nationally syndicated column. Lee died in 1952 forty-five and penniless a heartbroken victim of a dangerous and conflicted time. Now after nearly a decade of research Mona Z. Smith revives the legacy of a man who was perhaps the blacklists most tragic victim. "Armed with extensive research and huge files hoarded by Lees widow Smith has put together a richly detailed . . . narrative . . . Becoming Something does an important service by making possible much more discussion and reflection on a life that still has lessons to teach us."Clyde Taylor The Washington Post Book World "Mona Z. Smith has used her considerable gifts as a dramatist and storyteller to illuminate the astonishing odyssey of Canada Lee a man who challenged racism in every quarter here and abroad for thirty years and usually prevailed. Here at last is a full-length portrait of this forgotten hero."Daniel Mark Epstein author of Lincoln and Whitman and Nat King Cole "A biography of Canada Lee has been long overdue. The story of his dramatic rise and fall is as important as it is moving and Mona Z. Smith tells it with theatrical flair. This is a first-rate book."Hazel Rowley author of Richard Wright: The Life and Times "Smith a former investigative reporter for the Miami Herald who wrote a play about Lee under the same title completed years of research and interviews to support her premise that Lee was the victim of unjust accusations fueled by the political climate. She makes a convincing case in this groundbreaking biography providing a thought-provoking example of the tragic impact of a nations and an art forms paranoia."Library Journal "Smith deftly depicts New Yorks theater scene showing how Lee became one of the first African-Americans to gain acceptance in white theater and thoroughly documents Lee