The Resume

(June 3, 1914-March 12, 1971)
Born in Pittsburg, Kansas
Best known for portraying Sidney Poitier's father, Mr. Prentice, in Stanley Kramer's 'Guess Whose Coming to Dinner' (1967)
Also acted in 'Kelly the Second,' 'Dark Manhattan,' 'The Jackie Robinson Story,' 'Carmen Jones,' 'Porgy and Bess,' 'The Great White Hope,' 'Written on the Wind,' 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes,' 'The Sound and the Fury,' and 'A Raisin in the Sun'
Appeared on episodes of 'Dr. Kildare,' 'Julia,' 'Peter Gunn,' 'The Amos 'n Andy Show,' '77 Sunset Strip,' 'Rawhide,' 'The Jack Benny Program,' 'Tarzan,' 'Dragnet 1967,' 'General Electric Theater,' 'Ironside,' and 'The Bill Cosby Show'

Why he might be annoying:

He would have been perfect to play Al Sharpton in a movie about Tawana Brawley.
His best known performance (near the end of his career) is overshadowed by his on-screen wife, Beah Richards.
He played Sidney Poitier's father in 'Guess Who,' even though they were barely ten years apart in real life.
He was an 'Amos N Andy' semi-regular, both in its radio and film incarnations.
He had an adulterous affair with Los Angeles beautician Nancie Greene, in 1959.
He was widely reported to have been the original voice for Tony the Tiger in the early Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes commercials, but the company forever maintained that Thurl Ravenscroft was always the original voice.

Why he might not be annoying:

He started out singing in his Los Angeles church choir, at the age of 4.
He went on to organize his own musical quartet in the late 40s, The Four Shades of Rhythm.
He acted in several Federal Theatre Project plays, including 'Androcles and the Lion' and the acclaimed 'Voodoo Macbeth' production, in 1936.
He also won acclaim doing a Mineola Playhouse/Hollywood Center production of 'The Desperate Hours,' opposite Sammy Davis, Jr. (1958-62).
His mother was shot and fatally wounded while kneeling in prayer at their Eastside Church, in 1957.
He was a frequent guest on The Jack Benny Program, portraying a well-spoken and refined counter to the caricaturish Rochester servant.
He was the first black member to be elected national officer in AFTRA (American Federation of Television & Radio Artists) when the union voted him the post of recording secretary (Aug. 1970).
Roger Ebert called him and Beah Richards 'the most believable characters' in the (otherwise unrealistic) plotline for 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.'
He said: 'I guess I'm kinda lucky; I've never been stereotyped. Oh, I've played my share of Pullman porters, but luckily producers and directors see me as a character actor, playing straight acting parts.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Alfred Hitchcock Presents [A-K]
• Black Heavyweights
• BoyWiththeGreenHair’s Profiles [Series 09]
• I am an Adulterer
• I am an Angelino [Residents of Los Angeles]
• I am from Kansas
• I Died in 1971 (Ranked: 56)
• I Have a Heart Murmur
• I Portrayed a Cannibal
• I Portrayed a Lawyer
• I Portrayed a Magical Negro
• Jack Benny Show
• Look at Me, I'm with Sidney Poitier
• My Parent Was Murdered
• Planet of the Apes [Series]
• Porgy and Bess [1959]
• Profiles 38501-38750 (Ranked: 38725)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 89 Votes: 55.06% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 22 Votes: 86.36% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying