Harlem Detective | |
---|---|
Genre | Police drama |
Created by | Lawrence Menkin. [1] |
Written by | William Attaway |
Directed by | Bob Eberle |
Starring | William Hairston, William Marshall |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Production | |
Producer | Lawrence Menkin [1] |
Release | |
Original release | October 14, 1953 – January 13, 1954 |
Harlem Detective is a short-lived TV series that aired on WOR in 1953 and 1954. It is the first television crime program with an interracial pair of detectives, and the first program with an interracial cast. [2] The show was created by Lawrence Menkin [1] and starred William Hairston and William Marshall, among others. [3]
Although debuting to high ratings [4] despite a low budget, [3] the show was quickly cancelled. The producers stated the cancellation was because Marshall was being released to "fulfill movie commitments," however Marshall claimed it was actually because of his political beliefs [5] — he was accused of being a communist [2] and placed on the Hollywood Blacklist. [6] [7]
Several episodes were written by African American script editor William Attaway [8]
Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and singer. She was the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in Carmen Jones (1954). Dandridge also performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. During her early career, she performed as a part of The Wonder Children, later The Dandridge Sisters, and appeared in a succession of films, usually in uncredited roles.
Samuel George Davis Jr. was an American singer, actor, comedian and dancer.
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Richard Arnold Roundtree was an American actor and model, who was best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft and four of its sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), its 2000 sequel and its 2019 sequel, as well the eponymous television series (1973-1974). He was also known for his features in several TV series, including Roots, Generations, and Desperate Housewives.
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Lillian Randolph was an American actress and singer, a veteran of radio, film, and television. She worked in entertainment from the 1930s until shortly before her death. She appeared in hundreds of radio shows, motion pictures, short subjects, and television shows.
Phyllis Coates was an American actress, with a career spanning over fifty years. She was best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman.
Vernee Christell Johnson is an American actress, author, and acting coach. Watson-Johnson is best known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and as Viola "Vy" Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996), playing the mother of Will Smith's character. She is often featured in guest or recurring roles as a nurse. She is currently playing Gloria Tyler on Bob Hearts Abishola.
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William Alexander Attaway was an African-American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter.
Cotton Comes to Harlem is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the blaxploitation genre, is based on Chester Himes' novel of the same name. The opening theme, "Ain't Now But It's Gonna Be," was written by Ossie Davis and performed by Melba Moore. The film was one of the many black films that appeared in the 1970s and became an overnight hit. It was followed two years later by the sequel Come Back, Charleston Blue.
The Kagnew Battalions were a number of military units from the Imperial Ethiopian Army which fought as part of United Nations Command in the Korean War (1950–53). The battalions rotated yearly, with the First Kagnew Battalion arriving at the front in 1951. The Third Kagnew Battalion which arrived in 1953, stayed through the signing of the armistice into 1954. Over the next two years more Ethiopians guarded the stalemate in Korea as part of the Fourth Kagnew Battalion and the Fifth Kagnew Company. Even though some publications indicate Ethiopians remained in Korea until 1965, in fact they remained a part of the United Nations Command until 1975. Members of Kagnew Battalion were, with few exceptions, drawn from the Ethiopian Imperial Bodyguard Division.
Horace Winfred "Nick" Stewart also billed as Nick O'Demus was an American television and film actor. Stewart was known for his role as Lightnin' on TV's The Amos 'n' Andy Show.
Man Against Crime starring Ralph Bellamy, one of the first television programs about private eyes, ran on CBS, the DuMont Television Network and NBC from October 7, 1949, to June 27, 1954, and was briefly revived, starring Frank Lovejoy, during 1956. The show was created by Lawrence Klee and was broadcast live until 1952. The series was one of the few television programs ever to have been simulcast on more than one network: the program aired on both NBC and DuMont during the 1953–54 television season.
Jay Bennett was an American author and two-time winner of the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Bennett won the Edgar for Best Juvenile novel in 1974 and 1975, for The Long Black Coat and The Dangling Witness, respectively. He was the first author to win an Edgar in consecutive years. A third book, The Skeleton Man, was nominated in 1987. Bennett is best known among English teachers and young adults for these and other juvenile mysteries, like Deathman, Do Not Follow Me (Scholastic).
Hulan Edwin Jack was a prominent Saint Lucian-born New York politician who in 1954 became the highest ranking Caribbean American municipal official up until that time, when he was elected Borough President of Manhattan.
Ruth Attaway was an American film and stage actress. Among the films she appeared in are Raintree County (1957), Porgy and Bess (1959) and Being There (1979).
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