# DeForest Covan

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**DeForest Covan** (September 9, 1917 – September 8, 2007) was an American actor, dancer, and former black vaudeville performer. Starting with his first film appearance in *[The Singing Kid](/source/The_Singing_Kid)* (1936), his acting career continued into the 1990s. In 1973, he appeared in an episode of *[Sanford and Son](/source/Sanford_and_Son)* as Woodrow Anderson, in that character's first appearance in the series (this was Covan's only appearance in the series, as he was replaced by Raymond Allen for all subsequent Woodrow appearances). From 1974 to 1975, he held a recurring role on the first season of *[That's My Mama](/source/That's_My_Mama)* as a barbershop patron.[1] In 1978, he appeared in two episodes of the television sitcom *[Good Times](/source/Good_Times)*, as Reverend Beasley in the episode "Something Old, Something New", and as Shorty in the episode "Write On, Thelma". His other television appearances included *[Martin](/source/Martin_(TV_series))* (1993) and *[NYPD Blue](/source/NYPD_Blue)* (1993).

## Partial filmography

- *[The Singing Kid](/source/The_Singing_Kid)* (1936) - Dancer (uncredited)
- *[Nancy Steele Is Missing!](/source/Nancy_Steele_Is_Missing!)* (1937) - Little Bill (uncredited)
- *[A Day at the Races](/source/A_Day_at_the_Races_(film))* (1937) - Black Singer (uncredited)
- *[Every Day's a Holiday](/source/Every_Day's_a_Holiday_(1937_film))* (1937) - Dancer (uncredited)
- *[Too Hot to Handle](/source/Too_Hot_to_Handle_(1938_film))* (1938) - South American Fire Dancer (uncredited)
- *[Going Places](/source/Going_Places_(1938_film))* (1938) - Shoe-Shine (uncredited)
- *[Boy Slaves](/source/Boy_Slaves)* (1939) - Pinkie (uncredited)
- *[St. Louis Blues](/source/St._Louis_Blues_(1939_film))* (1939) - Dancer (uncredited)
- *[Pride of the Blue Grass](/source/Pride_of_the_Blue_Grass_(1939_film))* (1939) - Blackie (uncredited)
- *[Chasing Trouble](/source/Chasing_Trouble)* (1940) - Jackson (uncredited)
- *[New Moon](/source/New_Moon_(1940_film))* (1940) - Dancer (uncredited)
- *[South of Suez](/source/South_of_Suez)* (1940) - Bita (uncredited)
- *[Mr. Washington Goes to Town](/source/Mr._Washington_Goes_to_Town)* (1941) - Short Man
- *[Jungle Drums of Africa](/source/Jungle_Drums_of_Africa)* (1953) - Native Tribesman (uncredited)
- *[Carmen Jones](/source/Carmen_Jones_(film))* (1954) - Trainer (uncredited)
- *[Panther Girl of the Kongo](/source/Panther_Girl_of_the_Kongo)* (1955) - Koango (uncredited)
- *[Pork Chop Hill](/source/Pork_Chop_Hill_(film))* (1959) - U.S. Soldier (uncredited)
- *[Black Samson](/source/Black_Samson)* (1974) - Samson's Street People
- *[The Day of the Locust](/source/The_Day_of_the_Locust_(film))* (1975) - Shoe Shine Boy
- *[Rocky](/source/Rocky)* (1976) - Apollo's Corner #1
- *[New York, New York](/source/New_York,_New_York_(1977_film))* (1977) - Porter
- *[The Incredible Melting Man](/source/The_Incredible_Melting_Man)* (1977) - Janitor
- *[Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens](/source/Beneath_the_Valley_of_the_Ultra-Vixens)* (1979) - Zebulon
- *[When a Stranger Calls](/source/When_a_Stranger_Calls_(1979_film))* (1979) - Officer #1
- *[Cheech and Chong's Next Movie](/source/Cheech_and_Chong's_Next_Movie)* (1980) - Pinochle Player
- *[Evilspeak](/source/Evilspeak)* (1981) - Janitor
- *[Body and Soul](/source/Body_and_Soul_(1981_film))* (1981) - Cut Man
- *[Honkytonk Man](/source/Honkytonk_Man)* (1982) - Gravedigger
- *[The Night Before](/source/The_Night_Before_(1988_film))* (1988) - Concierge
- *[To Sleep with Anger](/source/To_Sleep_with_Anger)* (1990) - Fred Jenkins
- *[One Good Cop](/source/One_Good_Cop)* (1991) - Older Man

## References

1. Tripodi, Jim (September 4, 1974). ["ABC Offering 'Sneak' Peek At Premier Week"](https://books.google.com/books?id=BOEtAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22DeForest+Covan%22&pg=PA33&article_id=1300,581042). *[The Beaver County Times](/source/The_Beaver_County_Times)*

## External links

- [DeForest Covan](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0184369/) at IMDb

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [DeForest Covan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeForest_Covan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeForest_Covan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.