It would appear the first black man to play Othello was

[shortylickens]

Yahpet Kotto in 1980.

2nd time was Larry Fishburne in 1995.


The angry liberal in me says thats fuckin bullshit.
The angry conservative wants to know if they paid their full share of taxes.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I don't understand. It makes you mad that black people don't like Shakespeare?

 

[Aldon]

Why don't they?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The "huh" person in me wonders why anyone cares.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yeah, that's just weird.

 

[Perknose]

The angry liberal in me says thats fuckin bullshit.

Only in Fox Fairyland are you a liberal. But you are angry so, here, just for historically ignorant you:

In the initial staging of every single Shakespeare play, men played all the female roles.

 

[Perknose]

The "huh" person in me wonders why anyone cares.

Black actors who, for decades weren't considered qualified enough to play one of the only black Shakespearean protagonists?

No producer thought, "Hey, maybe I'll get Paul Robeson or Sidney Poitier to play Othello?"

Hey, I'm just taking a shot in the dark here.

 

[zinfamous]

I only recall Orson Welles as Othello. (not a black guy)

Lawrence Fishburne...I haven't been a fan of his work since Pee Wee's Playhouse. :\

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I only recall Orson Welles as Othello. (not a black guy)

Lawrence Fishburne...I haven't been a fan of his work since Pee Wee's Playhouse. :\

Blasphemer! Event Horizon is THE PERFECT FILM.

 

[sdifox]

Othello was the first black man to play Othello

 

[JulesMaximus]

Only in Fox Fairyland are you a liberal. But you are angry so, here, just for historically ignorant you:

In the initial staging of every single Shakespeare play, men played all the female roles.

:thumbsup:

 

[bryanl]

Yahpet Kotto in 1980.

2nd time was Larry Fishburne in 1995.

Wikipedia says it was American actor Ira Aldridge, on the London stage in 1833, and American actor Paul Robeson played Othello on the American stage in the 1940s.

 

[shortylickens]

Only in Fox Fairyland are you a liberal. But you are angry so, here, just for historically ignorant you:

In the initial staging of every single Shakespeare play, men played all the female roles.

And again, a wise liberal assumes I know nothing and thinks he has to enlighten me.

Where would we be without you kind sir?

 

[AMCRambler]

Black actors who, for decades weren't considered qualified enough to play one of the only black Shakespearean protagonists?

No producer thought, "Hey, maybe I'll get Paul Robeson or Sidney Poitier to play Othello?"

Hey, I'm just taking a shot in the dark here.

Sydney Poitier was offered the role in 1966. He turned it down.

Poitier began to be criticized for being typecast as over-idealized black characters who were not permitted to have any sexuality or personality faults, such as his character in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. Poitier was aware of this pattern himself, but was conflicted on the matter: he wanted more varied roles, but also felt obliged to set a good example with his characters to defy previous stereotypes, as he was the only major black actor in the American film industry at the time. For instance, in 1966 he turned down an opportunity to play the lead in an NBC production of Othello with that spirit in mind.[21]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier

 

[Perknose]

Sydney Poitier was offered the role in 1966. He turned it down.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Poitier

Yeah, my big mistake was assuming Shorty had his facts right in his OP. Apparently, Paul Robeson played Othello, too. Hey, at least I was on the mark about the two black actors most suited for the role in those times, no?

 

[Raincity]

I seem to remember Fishbourne stating that he did Othello to show range as an actor and stop the drug dealer typecast from previous films.

 

[KeithP]

The angry liberal in me says thats fuckin bullshit.
The angry conservative wants to know if they paid their full share of taxes.

You have two guys in you at once? Isn't that uncomfortable?

-KeithP

 

[Leros]

It's unfortunate that race comes into these things, but it does. When you have a person of a non-traditional race, it becomes a distracting factor. The distracting factor makes the performance a bit lower quality, which makes the performance less profitable.

If you have a Cinderella play with a white girl, it's just another Cinderella play. If you have a Cinderella play with a black girl, its a black Cinderella play. The fact that actress is black becomes a distracting feature and diminishes the quality of the play for a lot of people. It's like how The Princess and the Frog movie was a 'black princess' movie and not just a 'princess' movie.

I went to a ballet once where there was one black dancer. The other ballerinas were white and asian and mostly looked the same from a distance. The black ballerina really stood out. She drew my focus and it threw off how I perceived the performance and made it a lesser experience for me. I hate that I found her race distracting, but I did. She was a great dancer and certainly deserved to be there.

I suspect this sort of distracting factor will go away in a generation or two when it becomes the norm to have a mixed-race group of performers.

 

[bryanl]

If you have a Cinderella play with a white girl, it's just another Cinderella play. If you have a Cinderella play with a black girl, its a black Cinderella play. The fact that actress is black becomes a distracting feature and diminishes the quality of the play for a lot of people.

Then those people have the problem.

 

[darkswordsman17]

You have two guys in you at once? Isn't that uncomfortable?

-KeithP

The liberal in him says that's fabulous!
The conservative in him enjoys the hell out of it but feels guilty and pretends he's not into it and tells everyone that's its wrong.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

It's unfortunate that race comes into these things, but it does. When you have a person of a non-traditional race, it becomes a distracting factor. The distracting factor makes the performance a bit lower quality, which makes the performance less profitable.

If you have a Cinderella play with a white girl, it's just another Cinderella play. If you have a Cinderella play with a black girl, its a black Cinderella play. The fact that actress is black becomes a distracting feature and diminishes the quality of the play for a lot of people. It's like how The Princess and the Frog movie was a 'black princess' movie and not just a 'princess' movie.

I went to a ballet once where there was one black dancer. The other ballerinas were white and asian and mostly looked the same from a distance. The black ballerina really stood out. She drew my focus and it threw off how I perceived the performance and made it a lesser experience for me. I hate that I found her race distracting, but I did. She was a great dancer and certainly deserved to be there.

I suspect this sort of distracting factor will go away in a generation or two when it becomes the norm to have a mixed-race group of performers.

Huh? The character Othello is black - he is a moor.

James Earl Jones played Othello as early as 1955. I actually saw him in the role as a kid in about 1980.

 

[zinfamous]

The liberal in him says that's fabulous!
The conservative in him enjoys the hell out of it but feels guilty and pretends he's not into it and tells everyone that's its wrong.