Clinton Rosemond (November 1, 1882 – March 10, 1966) was an American singer and actor. Born Cresent Clinton Rosemond, he served as a private in the United States Army during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, and he later sang in the Southern Trio with John C. Payne and

Mabel Mercer Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984) was an English-born cabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats in jazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop in Paris, owned ...

in the 1920s. The group was based in England and specialized in

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

. Rosemond went on to act in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. Often uncredited and typecast as a butler or servant due to a lack of film roles for African-American actors, he was frequently relegated to playing demeaning parts, such as a stereotypical "scared Negro". Rosemond died in 1966 from a stroke. He and his wife Corinne had two daughters, Eleanor Alsobrooks, an educator, and Bertha Hope-Booker, a musician, and a son Clinton, a city planner.

Partial filmography

* '' Only the Brave'' (1930) - The Butler (uncredited) * ''

The Mask of Fu Manchu ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code film directed by Charles Brabin. Written by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf and John Willard (playwright), John Willard, it was based on the List of works by Sax Rohmer, 1 ...

'' (1932) - Slave (uncredited) * '' No Man of Her Own'' (1932) - Porter (uncredited) * '' Carolina'' (1934) - Singer, along with Beulah Hall (uncredited) * ''

Hearts in Bondage ''Hearts in Bondage'' is a 1936 American black-and-white war drama film directed by Lew Ayres for Republic Pictures. Set during the American Civil War, the film depicts the Union Navy's deliberate sinking of , the Confederate States Navy's sa ...

'' (1936) - Jordan's Servant (uncredited) * ''

The Green Pastures ''The Green Pastures'' is a play written in 1929 by Marc Connelly adapted from '' Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun'' (1928), a collection of stories written by Roark Bradford. The play was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. It ha ...

'' (1936) - Prophet * ''

Dark Manhattan ''Dark Manhattan'' is a black and white American film produced in 1937 by a partnership of African Americans Ralph Cooper and George Randol. Harry Fraser (director), Harry Fraser directed the film, which was written by Randol who was also the e ...

'' (1937) - Ben Jones (uncredited) * ''

They Won't Forget ''They Won't Forget'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Edward Norris, and Lana Turner, in her feature debut. It was based on a novel by Ward Greene called ''Death in the Deep So ...

'' (1937) - Tump Redwine * ''

Hollywood Hotel The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood landmark, formerly located at 6811 Hollywood Boulevard, on the north side, extending from Highland Avenue to Orchid Avenue, in central Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...

'' (1937) - Colored Man * '' Accidents Will Happen'' (1938) - Man Getting Arm Broken (uncredited) * ''

The Toy Wife ''The Toy Wife'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Luise Rainer and Melvyn Douglas. The period film was produced by Merian C. Cooper and written by Zoë Akins. Plot Set before the American Civil War, ''The To ...

'' (1938) - Pompey * '' Young Dr. Kildare'' (1938) - Conover (uncredited) * '' Stand up and Fight'' (1939) - Enoch * ''

Calling Dr. Kildare ''Calling Dr. Kildare'' is a 1939 film in the Dr. Kildare series. Directed by Harold S. Bucquet, it stars Lew Ayres as the young Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie, his mentor. The second of MGM's series of Kildare films, it intro ...

'' (1939) - Conover * '' Golden Boy'' (1939) - Chocolate Drop's Father (uncredited) * '' Midnight Shadow'' (1939) - Mr. Dan Wilson * ''

Dark Command ''Dark Command'' is a 1940 Crime western film starring Claire Trevor, John Wayne and Walter Pidgeon loosely based on Quantrill's Raiders during the American Civil War. Directed by Raoul Walsh from the novel by W. R. Burnett, ''Dark Command'' ...

'' (1940) - Tom - McClouds' Servant (uncredited) * ''

Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

'' (1940) - Mike * ''

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

'' (1940) - Brother Dickey (uncredited) * ''

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

'' (1940) - Black Man on Train (uncredited) * ''

Blossoms in the Dust ''Blossoms in the Dust'' is a 1941 American biographical drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden and Samuel S. Hinds. It tells the story of Edna Gladney, who help ...

'' (1941) - Zeke * ''

Belle Starr Myra Maybelle Shirley Reed Starr (February 5, 1848 – February 3, 1889), better known as Belle Starr, was an American outlaw who gained national notoriety after her violent death. She associated with the James–Younger Gang and other outlaws. ...

'' (1941) - Black Man on Bench (uncredited) * ''

Badlands of Dakota ''Badlands of Dakota'' is a 1941 American western film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Robert Stack, Ann Rutherford, Richard Dix and Frances Farmer. Its plot follows a marshall and his wife who cross paths with Wild Bill Hickok and ...

'' (1941) - Grayson's Butler (uncredited) * ''

The Vanishing Virginian ''The Vanishing Virginian'' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Frank Morgan and Kathryn Grayson. It is based on the memoirs of Rebecca Yancey Williams and set in Lynchburg, Virginia, from 1913 to 1929. Synopsis B ...

'' (1942) - Black Minister (uncredited) * ''

Syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

'' (1942) - Professor Topeka (uncredited) * ''

Yankee Doodle Dandy ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical drama film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, Geo ...

'' (1942) - White House Butler (uncredited) * '' Are Husbands Necessary?'' (1942) - Enos * '' Cabin in the Sky'' (1943) - Doctor (uncredited) * ''

I Walked with a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for th ...

'' (1943) - Coachman (uncredited) * ''

I Dood It ''I Dood It'' (UK title ''By Hook or by Crook'') is a 1943 American musical comedy film starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay is by Fred Saidy and Sig Herzig ...

'' (1943) - Actor in Play as Uncle Sig (uncredited) * '' Is Everybody Happy?'' (1943) - Doorman (uncredited) * ''

Flesh and Fantasy ''Flesh and Fantasy'' is a 1943 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer, Robert Cummings, and Barbara Stanwyck. The making of this film was inspired by the success of Duvivier's previ ...

'' (1943) - Elderly Man (uncredited) * ''

Heavenly Days ''Heavenly Days'' is a 1944 film starring Fibber McGee and Molly. It was the third and final feature film to feature the popular radio characters; unlike the two previous entries, none of the radio show's supporting cast members appeared in this ...

'' (1944) - Servant (uncredited) * '' Jungle Queen'' (1944, Serial) - Godac * ''

Voice of the Whistler ''Voice of the Whistler'' is a 1945 American mystery film noir directed by William Castle and starring Richard Dix, Lynn Merrick, and Rhys Williams. It was the fourth of Columbia Pictures' eight " Whistler" films produced in the 1940s, all based ...

'' (1945) - Train Porter (uncredited) * ''

Colonel Effingham's Raid ''Colonel Effingham's Raid'' (UK title: ''Man of the Hour'') is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Irving Pichel. It is also known as ''Berry Fleming's Colonel Effingham's Raid'', ''Everything's Peaches Down in Georgia'' and ''Rebel Yell''. ...

'' (1946) - Servant (uncredited) * ''

Three Little Girls in Blue ''Three Little Girls in Blue'' is a 1946 American Technicolor musical comedy film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring June Haver, George Montgomery, Vivian Blaine, Celeste Holm, Vera-Ellen, and Frank Latimore. The 20th Century-Fox f ...

'' (1946) - Ben (uncredited) * ''

The Secret Heart ''The Secret Heart'' is a 1946 American drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon and June Allyson. Plot Lee (Claudette Colbert) is engaged to marry Larry Addams ( Richard Derr), a spendthrift widow ...

'' (1946) - William (uncredited) * ''

The Homestretch ''The Homestretch'' is a 1947 American drama film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and written by Wanda Tuchock. The film stars Cornel Wilde, Maureen O'Hara, Glenn Langan, Helen Walker, James Gleason, Henry Stephenson and Margaret Bannerman. Th ...

'' (1947) - Black Man (uncredited) * '' Sport of Kings'' (1947) - Josiah * '' The Burning Cross'' (1947) - Grandpa West * ''

The Story of Seabiscuit ''The Story of Seabiscuit'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by David Butler and starring Shirley Temple and Barry Fitzgerald in a semi-fictionalized account of racehorse Seabiscuit, the top money winner up to the 1940s. The screenplay wa ...

'' (1949) - Swipe (uncredited) * ''

Tonight We Sing ''Tonight We Sing'' is a 1953 American musical biopic film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring David Wayne, Ezio Pinza, and Roberta Peters. It is based on the life and career of the celebrated impresario Sol Hurok. The film is based on the ...

'' (1953) - Father (uncredited) (final film role) * ''

I Am Not Your Negro ''I Am Not Your Negro'' is a 2016 documentary film and social critique film essay directed by Raoul Peck, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript '' Remember This House''. Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the his ...

'' (2016) - clip of his role as Tump Redwine in "They Won't Forget".

References

External links

*
Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosemond, Clinton 1882 births 1966 deaths Male actors from South Carolina American male film actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century African-American male actors