Maceo Bruce Sheffield (September 8, 1897 – August 20, 1959) was a police detective and an actor in American films. He worked in Los Angeles as a policeman before acting and assisting in the production of films with African American casts. He was also a stuntman and pilot. He portrayed a swindler in '' Lucky Ghost'' as Dr. Brutus Blake in the sequel to ''

Mr. Washington Goes to Town ''Mr. Washington Goes to Town'' is a 1942 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and Jed Buell, and starring F. E. Miller, Mantan Moreland and Maceo Bruce Sheffield. The film was marketed primarily to black audiences and written and fil ...

''. He was the associate producer of both ''Lucky Ghost'' and ''Mr. Washington Goes to Town''. He was notorious for his work as a police officer with the Black press describing him as someone who beat people up and he and his partner producing a large number of arrests of African Americans. Protests in 1927 resulted from his shooting in the head of a suspect. He later owned a cafe and club. He was critical of the opportunities for African Americans in the film industry and referred to the exploited actors as "stooges". He was involved with the production company behind '' Harlem on the Prairie'', a groundbreaking Western themed musical film featuring Black actors. He is credited with inspiring

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

's song "Every Tub".

Filmography

*'' The Adventures of Tarzan'' (1921) as Waziri Chief *'' Harlem on the Prairie'' (1937) as Wolf Cain *'' Double Deal'' (1939) *''

Reform School A reform school was a Prison, penal institution, generally for teenagers, mainly operating between 1830 and 1900. In the United Kingdom and its colonies, reformatory, reformatories (commonly called reform schools) were set up from 1854 onward f ...

'' (1939) *'' Gang War'' (1939) as Bull Brown *'' Up Jumped the Devil'' (1941) as Bad News Johnson *''

'' (1942) as Brutus Blake *'' Lucky Ghost'' (1942) as Dr. Brutus Blake *'' Professor Creeps'' (1942) as Shylock the Landlord *'' Look-Out Sister'' (1946)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffield, Maceo Bruce 1897 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American male actors American police detectives American film producers