Ernest Anderson was an American actor. He became known for his role as an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

paralegal and law student who is falsely accused of manslaughter by a white woman in the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

film ''

In This Our Life ''In This Our Life'' is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland as sisters and rivals in romance and life (the third of six films in which de Havilland and Davis starred together). The film was directed mostly by ...

'' in 1942. For his performance, he received a National Board of Review Award for Best Actor in 1942.

Biography

Anderson attended Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. and later earned a bachelor's degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. Anderson moved to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and took a job with Warner Brothers. His first acting role was in ''

(1942)''.

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

had arranged Anderson's interview for the part of Parry Clay in that film. He served briefly in the Army at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He returned to Warner Bros. after serving in

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1942) - Parry Clay * '' The Peanut Man'' (1947) * ''

The Well The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL or The Well, is a virtual community founded in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annu ...

'' (1952) - Mr. Crawford * '' Band Wagon'' (1953) - Train Porter * ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...

'' (1959) - Porter * '' Whatever Happened to Baby Jane'' (1962) - Ice cream cone seller * '' Tick, Tick, Tick'' (1970) - Homer * ''

Coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

'' (1972) - First Doctor * ''Last of the Good Guys'' (1978) - Uncle Stan * ''The Return'' (1980) - Dr. Mortorff

References

External links

* 20th-century American male actors {{US-film-actor-1910s-stub 20th-century African-American male actors 1915 births 2011 deaths Male actors from Lynn, Massachusetts Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Northwestern University alumni