James Baskett

It takes a certain kind of person to see the cast of a movie and think, “Oh, hey, Mantan Moreland!” Even before acknowledging John Carradine. (It’s me; I’m that kind of person.) And but for one audition, James Baskett would have had even less of a distinctive career than Moreland’s. That’s in part because he died of a diabetes-related heart problem at the age of 44. So even though you picture him as old, he still died younger than I am as I write this. The rules for Attention Must Be Paid tend to be slightly different from the ones for Celebrating the Living even beyond the obvious “you have to be dead/alive” distinction, but still. When I started the latter column, I didn’t cover people four years younger than I was.

Baskett was originally a pharmacology student, but he was—as we’ve seen many times—bitten by the acting bug. His Broadway debut was in something called Hot Chocolates, a musical revue in part by Fats Waller. The cast is alphabetical, so “Jimmie Baskette” was second, behind another cast member making his Broadway debut. Guy by the name of Louis Armstrong. Baskett would work with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson on the stage, not to mention in several “race films.”

The sad fact is that a lot of actors like Baskett had the choice between heavily stereotyped roles and race films that have scanty if any preservation. Baskett did both. He didn’t do that many movies, a mere eleven including shorts, but he did two films with “Harlem” in the title, which is about the strongest indicator the ‘30s had for movies intended for a black audience. One of them, Harlem Is Heaven, actually got some mainstream attention, including a notice in Variety praising Baskett’s performance as the villain, numbers-runner Remus “Money” Johnson.

All right, all right. Yes, his character was really named Remus, and, yes, we have to talk about it. But we have to start with Dumbo, wherein he voiced “Fats Crow.” (Dumbo, for which he was uncredited, isn’t on his IMDb.) It apparently was a decent enough job that he decided to audition for one of the animal roles in Song of the South. And he got one, being cast as Br’er Fox and all, and apparently filling in as Br’er Rabbit in one sequence, but what he will forever be known for is Uncle Remus.

No, it’s not a great role. But Walt actually campaigned for him to be nominated for a competitive Best Actor Oscar, and instead he was the last adult to get an honorary Oscar for a single role. He didn’t go to the premiere, because it was in Atlanta and I think we all understand from there. Baskett apparently really liked Walt and thought Walt treated him well, and it’s possible he would have had more Disney roles in the future. After all, that Armstrong guy did some work for Disney, too.