Jess Lee Brooks (June 9, 1894[1][2] – December 13, 1944), also known as Jesse Brooks, was an American bass-baritone concert artist, and a film and stage actor. He played an African-American church preacher in the motion picture Sullivan's Travels, where he leads his congregation in singing "Go Down Moses".[3]
In March 1936, Brooks received glowing reviews for his portrayal of Haitian monarch Henri Christophe in the WPA production, Black Empire, which debuted at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles.[8][9][10] Two months later, the editorial page of Oklahoma's Black Dispatch featured scholar/activist William Pickens, giving the production and its star an unqualified thumbs up.
Look out, Broadway! Jess Brooks is a-coming. He is playing Christophe, king Henry the first of Haiti [...] The willpower of a black ruler trying to raise the estate of his ex-slave people is impressively portrayed. [...] It is no 'Emperor Jones' role; it is royally acted. Christophe was no fool and anything but a clown or a joker—and Brooks reproduces him.
[11]
Even Variety's Jack Hellman, in his otherwise lukewarm assessment of both play and production, singles out Brook's contribution.
Heavy dramatic fare too reminiscent of "Emperor Jones," but distinguished by a superb characterization by Jess Lee Brooks, one-time concert singer. Around his portrayal of the Black Napoleon the play takes its tempo. Once he's off stage, the piece lags. Opening night audience gave him five curtain calls, and deservedly so.[12]
Exactly two weeks after Pickens' impassioned plug, New York's Amsterdam News reported that RKO Pictures had acquired the rights to ten short subjects scripted by George Randol, the first of which, Samson and Delilah, was to co-star Brooks and Edna Mae Harris, with music provided by William Grant Still and the Hall Johnson Choir.[13] The film, later retitled That Man Samson, would not be released until May 28, 1937,[14] almost two months after Brooks had completed work—cast as "a singing African prince"[15]—on another musical comedy short, Zululand,[16] (later retitled Little Pioneer[17]), for his new employers, Warner Brothers-First National;[15] the latter film reached the theaters about a month after Samson.[18][19]
In the meantime, Brooks had long since made his screen debut portraying the police lieutenant in another George Randol project, the feature film Dark Manhattan, which had its lavish, "Hollywood style" world premiere on January 19, 1937, in the heart of L.A.'s Central Avenue Corridor.[20]
Personal life and death
From August 30, 1924 until at least 1937, Brooks was married to fellow concert artist, Rita Katherine Simpson (née Doran).[21][22][23]
On Tuesday morning, December 13, 1944, Brooks suffered a fatal heart attack while en route to Paramount Studio, where he had a supporting role in The Lost Weekend. Police later found him slumped over the wheel of his parked car, at 326 North Van Ness Boulevard. NPB Hollywood correspondent Lawrence LaMar reported that the actor's widow, Vesterée, claimed that Brooks had had premonitions of his death for more than a week, and thus had made detailed plans, such as those regarding the undertaker to be employed and the manner of burial.[24] His remains are interred at Evergreen Cemetery.[25]
^Cavanagh, Irene (March 18, 1936). "Negro Drama Unfolding at Mayan; The Cast". Los Angeles Daily News. p. 17. Retrieved November 17, 2024. "Federal Theaters have Jess Lee Brooks portraying the commanding figure of Henri Christophe, the "Black Napoleon of Voodoo Haiti. He dominates the action, the other actors throughout. A finished actor, be is a splendid example of Negro artistry at Its best."
^"Get Contracts for Film Work; Still Will Write Music and Randol Will Co-Direct His Screen Shorts". New York Amsterdam News. June 13, 1936. p. 8. ProQuest226199498. They are to be made with the Hall Johnson singers supplying the vocal highlights. First of the shorts will be 'Samson and Delilah,' in which Edna Harris, 'Green Pastures' siren, has been given the role of Delilah and Jess Lee Brooks, star of the federal project play 'Black Empire,' will take the part of Samson.
^Schallert, Edwin (June 7, 1937). "Hepburn to Have 'Wild Time' Managing Baby Leopard in Film; Director-Writer Combine Formed; Menzies Returns; The Pageant of the Film World". The Los Angeles Times. p. 16. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
^Levette, Harry (January 16, 1937). "PLAN WORLD PREMIERE FOR "DARK MANHATTAN": RANDOL-COOPER ALL-NEGRO FILM TO SHOW JAN. 19 LOUISE BEAVERS VISITS NEW PICTURE STUDIO". The Pittsburgh Courier. p. A6. ProQuest202039235. But now comes the first real world premiere of an all-Negro cast film made and released by Negro producers, when on January 19, 'Dark Manhattan,' authored and produced at the new Grand International Studio by Geo. Randol and Ralph Cooper, will be flashed on the screen of the Lincoln Theatre. In true Hollywood style brilliant floodlights will turn night into day in the heart of the colored district on Central Avenue, powerful searchlights will sweep the skies pointing the way to what is expected to be as elaborate a social affair as the famous ones staged at the Hollywood theatres.
^ abLamar, Lawrence (December 23, 1944). "Jesse Brooks, Actor, Dies of Heart Attack; Colorful Movie Career Ends Suddenly as Actor Was Enroute to Film Studio". New York Amsterdam News. p. 25. ProQuest226026856. Brooks at the time of his death was working in a Paramount Studio picture, 'The Lost Weekend,' starring Ray Milland. In the picture, oddly enough, Brooks played the role of a hospital patient.
^"California, Los Angeles, Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery, Deceased Card File Index, 1877-1989", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W86H-NYW2 : Sat Mar 09 14:08:02 UTC 2024), Entry for Jesse Lee Brooks, 18 Dec 1944.
^Chappell, Helen F. (June 22, 1940). "CHATTER And Some NEWS". The Chicago Defender. p. 10. ProQuest492536345. Tuesday night we ran out to one of the Hollywood process laboratories to see a preview of Ralph Cooper's 'Am I Guilty?' [...] The cast and members of the press sat in on the preview, and perhaps Jess Lee Brooks, who has a brief but creditable role, sums it up best in: 'The photography is the best I've seen in this type of picture.'
^"Jess Lee Brooks, Actor, Succumbs". California Eagle. December 14, 1944. p. 1. Retrieved November 27, 2024. "His most recent part was an important bit in the hit picture, 'Wilson.'"
^"Obituaries: Jess Lee Brooks". Variety. December 20, 1944. p. 43. ProQuest1285872620. Jess Lee Brooks, 50, Negro stage and screen player, died Dec. 13 when stricken with a heart attack while driving to Paramount studio where he had a character role in 'The Lost Weekend.' [...] His recent screen appearances were in 'Sullivan's Travels' and 'Wilson.'
^Curioso, Jorge (Apr 16, 2008). "Go Down Moses - Sullivan's Travels (1941)". YouTube. Retrieved November 27, 2024. "Jess Lee Brooks performing the classic spiritual. From the 1941 Preston Sturges movie "Sullivan's Travels", starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake."
^marciamarciamarcie (November 7, 2009). "WlsnE". YouTube. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
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