{{short description|American actor (1904–1948)}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = James Baskett | image = File:James Baskett.png | caption = Baskett at the 20th Academy Awards, 1948, a few months before his death. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|02|16}} | birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1948|07|09|1904|02|16}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | resting_place = Crown Hill Cemetery (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Arboretum, Section 37, Lot 602 | resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|39.8229468|-86.1762391|type:landmark|display=inline}} | other_names = {{ubl|Jimmie Baskette|Jimmy Baskette|Jim Basquette}} | years_active = 1929–1948 | occupation = {{hlist|Actor|singer}} | relatives = | spouse = Margaret Baskett }} '''James Franklin Baskett''' (February 16, 1904 – July 9, 1948) was an American actor who portrayed Uncle Remus in the 1946 Disney feature film ''Song of the South''. His performance included singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah". In recognition of his portrayal of Remus, he was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1948.<ref name="patrickmurfin"/>
==Career== [[File:James Baskett performing as Money Johnson in Harlem Is Heaven, 1932.jpg|thumb|right|Baskett in ''Harlem Is Heaven'' (1932), in which ''Variety'' described his portrayal of "Money" Johnson as "very impressive"<ref name=Variety>[https://archive.org/stream/variety106-1932-06#page/n19/mode/2up "Harlem Is Heaven"], ''Variety'' (New York, N.Y.), June 7, 1932, page 20. Retrieved January 30, 2018.</ref>]]
Baskett studied pharmacology as a young man but gave it up to pursue an acting career. He first moved to New York City, New York, where he joined up with Bill 'Mr. Bojangles' Robinson. 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 films, including ''Harlem is Heaven'' (1932).<ref name=Variety/>
He later moved to Los Angeles, California, and had a supporting role in the film ''Straight to Heaven'' (1939), starring Nina Mae McKinney. In 1941 he voiced Fats Crow in the animated Disney film ''Dumbo'', and he also had bit parts in several B movies, including that of Lazarus in ''Revenge of the Zombies'' (1943), a porter in ''The Heavenly Body'' (1944), and native tribal leader Orbon in ''Jungle Queen'' (1945).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thelosangelesbeat.com/2020/04/movies-till-dawn-almost-weirder-than-now/|title=Movies till Dawn: Almost Weirder Than Now|date=April 7, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://filesofjerryblake.com/2015/04/15/jungle-queen/|title = Jungle Queen|date = April 16, 2015}}</ref> From 1944 until 1948, he was part of the cast of the ''Amos 'n' Andy Show'' live radio program as lawyer Gabby Gibson.
In 1945, he auditioned for a bit part voicing one of the animals in the new Disney feature film ''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. 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.<ref>As Jim Korkis notes, "Song of the South came out in 1946 and there was no balance of media images... African American performers often portrayed comic roles where their characters were described as lazy, slow-witted, easily scared or flustered, subservient and worse. That image was what the American public was seeing and accepting as the norm for African Americans." Jim Korkis, [https://travel.usatoday.com/alliance/destinations/mouseplanet/post/2011/04/The-Sad-Song-of-the-South/167707/1 "The Sad Song of the South"], ''USA Today'' (accessed 24 August 2013)</ref>
Baskett was prohibited from attending the film's premiere in Atlanta, Georgia, because Atlanta was racially segregated by law.<ref name="Atlanta" /><ref name="Bayor1988" />
Although Baskett was occasionally criticized for accepting such a "demeaning" role (most of his acting credits were that of African-American stereotypes), his acting was almost universally praised, and columnist Hedda Hopper, along with Walt Disney, was one of the many journalists and personalities who declared that he should receive an Academy Award for his work.<ref name="indystar" /><ref name = "Frost1">{{cite journal |last=Frost |first=Frost |date= Winter 2008 |title= Hedda Hopper, Hollywood Gossip, and the Politics of Racial Representation in Film, 1946-1948 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20064255 |journal=The Journal of African American History |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=36–63 |doi=10.1086/JAAHv93n1p36 |jstor=20064255 |s2cid=142114722 |access-date=March 23, 2023|url-access=subscription |hdl=2292/13707 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Baskett defended the film and his character in it, saying, "I believe that certain groups are doing my race more harm in seeking to create dissension, than can ever possibly come out of the ''Song of the South''."<ref name = "Frost1"/>
===Academy Honorary Award=== On March 20, 1948, Baskett received an Academy Honorary Award for his performance as Uncle Remus.<ref name="Cohen2004" />
He was the first African-American male actor to earn an Academy Award. Additionally, Baskett was the last adult actor to receive an Honorary Oscar for a single performance.<ref name="filmexp" />
==Illness and death== Baskett had been in poor health during the filming of ''Song of the South'' due to chronic heart and kidney disease<ref>Death Certificate #11622, Dated July 12, 1948</ref>, and he suffered a heart attack in December 1946 shortly after its release. His health continued to decline, and he was often unable to attend the ''Amos 'n' Andy'' radio show he was on, missing almost half of the 1947–1948 season. On July 9, 1948, during the show's summer hiatus,<ref>[https://www.old-time.com/archivedbbs/mainbbs/497.htm Old-time.com]</ref> James Baskett died at his home of heart failure at age 44.<ref>[http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24973 AFI]</ref><ref name="Auchmutey2006-11-12" /> He was survived by his wife Margaret and his mother Elizabeth. He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.<ref name="Bodenhamer1994" /> thumb|Dedication tombstone for James Baskett at Crown Hill Cemetery thumb|Tombstone for James Baskett and John Baskett at Crown Hill Cemetery
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1932 | ''Harlem Is Heaven'' | Money Johnson | Film debut; credited as Jimmy Baskette |- | 1933 | ''20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang'' | Vocalist | Uncredited |- | rowspan="2" | 1938 | ''Gone Harlem'' | rowspan="2" |unknown | rowspan="2" | Credited as Jimmie Baskette |- | ''Policy Man'' |- | 1939 | ''Straight to Heaven'' | First Detective | |- | 1940 | ''Comes Midnight'' |unknown | |- | 1941 | ''Dumbo'' | Fats Crow (voice) | Uncredited |- | 1943 | ''Revenge of the Zombies'' | Lazarus | Alternative title: ''The Corpse Vanished'' |- | 1944 | ''The Heavenly Body'' | Porter | Uncredited |- | 1945 |''Jungle Queen'' | Orbon | Credited as Jim Basquette |- | 1946 | ''Song of the South'' | {{ubl|Uncle Remus |Br'er Fox (voice)|Br'er Rabbit ("Laughing Place" segment) (voice)}} | Last film roles |}
==See also== * List of African-American firsts
==References== {{Reflist | refs =
<ref name="Atlanta">In a 15 October 1946 article in the ''Atlanta Constitution'', columnist Harold Martin noted that to bring Baskett to Atlanta, where he would not have been allowed to participate in any of the festivities, "would cause him many embarrassments, for his feelings are the same as any man's." The modern claim that no Atlanta hotel would give Baskett accommodation is false: there were several black-owned hotels in Atlanta at the time, including the Savoy and the McKay. [http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PressReleases1999_2nd/June99_AtlantaNABHA.html Atlanta's Black-Owned Hotels: A History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110092525/http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PressReleases1999_2nd/June99_AtlantaNABHA.html |date=January 10, 2009 }}.</ref> <ref name="Auchmutey2006-11-12"> {{cite web|url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/arts/content/arts/stories/2006/11/08/1112ARRemusside.html |title=Finding Uncle Remus |last=Auchmutey |first=Jim |date=2006-11-12 |publisher=accessatlanta.com |access-date=2008-11-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214003200/http://www.accessatlanta.com/arts/content/arts/stories/2006/11/08/1112ARRemusside.html |archive-date=February 14, 2012 }}</ref> <ref name="Bayor1988">{{cite journal | first = Ronald H. | last = Bayor | title = Roads to Racial Segregation: Atlanta in the Twentieth Century | journal = Journal of Urban History | volume = 15 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–21 | year = 1988 | doi = 10.1177/009614428801500101 | s2cid = 144988189 }}</ref> <ref name="Cohen2004"> {{cite book | last = Cohen | first = Karl F. | title = Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America | publisher = McFarland | year = 2004 | page = 61 | isbn = 978-0-7864-2032-2 }} </ref> <ref name="Bodenhamer1994"> {{cite book | editor-last1 = Bodenhamer | editor-first1 = David J. | editor-last2 = Barrows | editor-first2 = Robert Graham | editor-last3 = Vanderstel | editor-first3 = David Gordon | title = The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis | publisher = Indiana University Press | year = 1994 | page = 485 | isbn = 978-0-253-31222-8 }} </ref> <ref name="indystar">{{cite news | url = https://eu.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2019/02/22/oscars-james-baskett-indianapolis-actor-groundbreaking-academy-award-recipient-retroindy/2927638002/ | title = Indianapolis actor famous for 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah' was groundbreaking Oscars recipient | work = The Indianapolis Star | date = February 22, 2019 | last = Mitchell | first = Dawn | access-date = 2019-12-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191204124713/https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2019/02/22/oscars-james-baskett-indianapolis-actor-groundbreaking-academy-award-recipient-retroindy/2927638002/ | archive-date = 2019-12-04 }}</ref> <ref name="filmexp">{{cite web | url = http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2015/2/11/black-history-month-song-of-the-souths-forgotten-oscar.html | title = Black History Month: Song of the South's Forgotten Oscar | work = The Film Experience | date = February 11, 2015 | last = Brayton | first = Tim | access-date = 2020-06-26 }}</ref> <ref name="patrickmurfin">{{cite web | url = https://patrickmurfin.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-oscar-for-uncle-remus.html | title = An Oscar for Uncle Remus | work = Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout | date = March 21, 2013 | last = Murfin | first = Patrick | access-date = 2020-06-26 }}</ref> }}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0059934}} * {{IBDB name|31226}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}} {{Amos 'n' Andy}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baskett, James}} Category:1904 births Category:1948 deaths Category:Male actors from Indianapolis Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:American male film actors Category:American male radio actors Category:American male stage actors Category:American male voice actors Category:Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American vaudeville performers Category:20th-century African-American male actors