{{Short description|American actor}} '''Nathan Curry''' (January 2, 1897 – December 14, 1964) was an American actor. He was a supporting actor in several films featuring African American casts.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tkoOAQAAMAAJ|title=The Motion Picture Guide|first1=Jay Robert|last1=Nash|first2=Robert|last2=Connelly|first3=Stanley Ralph|last3=Ross|date=October 27, 1985|publisher=Cinebooks|isbn=9780933997004|via=page 651}}</ref> Curry had prominent parts in silent films but was not given screen credit.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Nathan Curry One of Busiest Film Actors |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/201922066 |accessdate=27 October 2020 |work=The Pittsburgh Courier |date=29 March 1930 |page=16 |id={{ProQuest|201922066}} |language=English}}</ref> He was one of the featured players of Black Hollywood.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Low|first1=W. Augustus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_JySyryCdsC|title=Encyclopedia of Black America|last2=Clift|first2=Virgil A.|date=1981-01-01|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-038834-5|language=en|via=page 573}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53hRAQAAIAAJ&q=nathan+curry+actor|title=Film History|date=1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|language=en}}</ref>

Before Los Angeles, he lived in Houston, Texas.<ref name=":0"/> He began acting in movies in 1919<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=Nathan Curry to Undergo Surgery |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/562112175 |accessdate=27 October 2020 |work=Los Angeles Sentinel |date=9 December 1948 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|562112175}} |language=English}}</ref> awith a small part in ''The Leopard Woman''.<ref name=":0"/> He was cast in the film ''South Sea Love'' in 1927.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colored Stars Selected For Ince Production |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/201878258 |accessdate=27 October 2020 |work=The Pittsburgh Courier |date=16 July 1927 |page=A2 |id={{ProQuest|201878258}} |language=English}}</ref> Curry was in charge of 27 actors during the filming of ''The Notorious Lady'' (1927) at the First National Productions' studio.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lewis Stone Gets Excellent Support From Colored Movie Actors |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/226369199 |accessdate=27 October 2020 |work=The New York Amsterdam News |date=29 December 1926 |page=11 |id={{ProQuest|226369199}} |language=English}}</ref> For the 1929 film, ''Four Feathers'', Curry helped cast and was in charge of the 600 Black actors that took part in the film's battle scenes.<ref name=":0"/> In Al Christie's talkie, ''Music Hath Harms'', Curry had a prominent role as Champagne, the bandmaster.<ref name=":0"/> In Ernest B. Shoedsack's film, ''King Kong'', Curry managed 150 actors, including adults and children.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levette |first1=Harry |title=In Hollywood |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/530996863 |accessdate=27 October 2020 |work=Afro-American |date=27 May 1933 |page=11|id={{ProQuest|530996863}} }}</ref>

In 1948, he was an employee of the Los Angeles Housing Authority.<ref name=":1"/>

He was part of the African American community of actors in Hollywood along with Maceo Bruce Sheffield and others.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Govenar|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YNHQlVnpD_sC&q=nathan+curry+actor&pg=PA153|title=Untold Glory: African Americans in Pursuit of Freedom, Opportunity, and Achievement|date=2008-12-10|publisher=Crown|isbn=978-0-307-49241-8|language=en}}</ref>

==Filmography== *''The Leopard Woman'' (1920) *''Tarzan and the Golden Lion''<ref name=":0"/> (1927) *''Topsy and Eva''<ref name=":0"/> (1927) *''West of Zanzibar''<ref name=":0"/> (1928) *''Thunderbolt'' (1929)<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last1=Nesteby |first1=James R. |title=Black Images in American Films, 1896-1954 |date=1982 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=0-8191-2167-3 |pages=52, 127 |url=https://archive.org/details/blackimagesiname0000nest/page/52/mode/2up |accessdate=27 October 2020}}</ref> *''Music Hath Harms'' (1929) as Prof. Aleck Champagne *''Four Feathers'' (1929)<ref name=":0"/> *''Tarzan and His Mate'' (1934) as Saidi<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sYM0DwAAQBAJ&q=nathan+curry+tarzan+and+his+mate&pg=PA28|title=Black Masculinity on Film: Native Sons and White Lies|first=Daniel|last=O'Brien|date=September 6, 2017|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137593238|via=Google Books}}</ref> *''Harlem on the Prairie'' (1937) as Bart<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nathan Curry|url=https://www.videodetective.com/person/nathan-curry-83529|access-date=2020-10-27|website=Video Detective|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bradley|first=Edwin M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E37pDwAAQBAJ&q=nathan+curry+actor&pg=PA122|title=Hollywood Musicals You Missed: Seventy Noteworthy Films from the 1930s|date=2020-06-08|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-7358-5|language=en}}</ref> *''Congo Maisie'' (1940) as Laemba<ref name=":2"/> *''Lucky Ghost'' (1942) as Farmer<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Institute|first1=American Film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRY0QiacQccC&q=nathan+curry+actor&pg=PA1431|title=AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States|last2=Hanson|first2=Patricia King|date=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-21521-4|language=en}}</ref> *''Mr. Washington Goes to Town'' (1942) as Policeman *''Uncle Tom's Cabin''<ref name=":0"/> *''The Missing Link''<ref name=":0"/> *''One in the Air''<ref name=":0"/> *''Diamond Handcuff''<ref name=":0"/> *''Hallelujah''<ref name=":0"/> *''Hearts in Dixie''<ref name=":0"/> (1929) *''Golden Dawn''<ref name=":0"/> *''Isles of Escape''<ref name=":0"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Nathan}} Category:American male silent film actors Category:20th-century American male actors Category:1897 births Category:1964 deaths Category:20th-century African-American male actors