Blue Washington


Edgar "Blue" Washington, was an American actor and played in the Negro Leagues for a few years as a pitcher for the Chicago American Giants and the Los Angeles White Sox, and played first baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs.
He appeared in 74 films between 1919 and 1957, mostly playing small, uncredited roles as a porter, a bartender, an African native and Tarzan's Magic Fountain ), a cook, a chauffeur, a ship's crew member, a Nubian slave, and a doorman. Some of his characters had names such as "Ulambo", "Sambo" and "Hambone". In the 1933 film Haunted Gold, he portrayed Clarence, John Wayne's comic sidekick.
He was given the nickname "Blue" by film director Frank Capra when both were kids. Washington's son, Kenny Washington, a standout athlete at UCLA where he was a teammate of Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in the NFL in 1946.

Selected filmography