On July 24, 1914, actor, theatrical director, producer, and activist Frank Alvin Silvera was born in Kingston to a black Jamaican mother, Gertrude, and a white Jewish father, Alfred. At the age of 8, Frank, his brothers, and his mother moved to the United States, where they settled in Boston, Massachusetts. Frank would later attend the Northeastern University Law School for two years but dropped out in 1934 after landing his first role on Broadway.
Throughout the 30’s and 40’s, Silvera was a prolific stage actor. In 1944, the American Negro Theatre in Harlem adopted and produced the successful Broadway play ‘Anna Lucasta’, in which Silvera was a cast member. This role launched him into the big leagues and would help him land many more roles on Broadway and radio before Hollywood beckoned in the early 1950’s.
Silvera was a prolific actor with over 77 acting credits to his name over an illustrious career spanning four decades. His contributions on and off the screen and stage, his agitation and support for African-American actors and playwrights, and his civil rights activism left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.
To commemorate the 110th anniversary of his birth, we have compiled ten amazing fun facts about this accomplished Jamaican-American actor:
1. Broadway Debut
Silvera made his Broadway debut in 1938 in the play “Big White Fog.” This marked the start of a prolific stage career that saw him perform in numerous productions, showcasing his versatility as an actor.
2. World War II Service
During World War II, Frank put his acting career on hold to enlist in the United States Navy. He was stationed at the Camp Robert Smalls Naval Training Camp for black recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Training Centre, Great Lakes, Illinois. There he worked as an emergency services specialist, entertainer, and shore patrol security. He served two years between 1943 and 1945 and was honourably discharged.
3. Arrival in Hollywood
Frank made his television debut as Jamie Goodwin in episode one of ‘The Big Story’ in 1949 and his film debut in the 1952 western ‘The Cimarron Kid’ where he played Stacie Marshall, a Mexican outlaw. Talented at accents and owing to his racial ambiguity, Frank would play a host of other Mexican and/or Latino characters, including Paulino in ‘The Fighter’, Victoriano Huerta in ‘Viva Zapata!’ and Arturo dos Santos in ‘The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima’.
4. First Interracial Kiss on Screen
Silvera’s breakout role came in 1955 when he starred as the main antagonist in ‘Killer’s Kiss’, the second feature film directed by critically acclaimed Hollywood director Stanley Kubrik. Frank plays Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Rapallo, a New York city gangster, nightclub owner, and the jealous, possessive lover of Gloria Price, played by white actress Irene Kane.
The infamous kiss scene is widely regarded as the first interracial kiss on screen, but it went largely unnoticed by moviegoers at the time because Silvera was so light-skinned and the film was shot in black and white.
5. Played Multiple ‘White’ Characters
Silvera was a multilingual, racially ambiguous, light-skinned, loose-textured man of Jamaican and Cuban descent, whose last name hinted at a possible Portuguese Jewish heritage. Frank exploited these attributes to elevate his career during a time where racism and discrimination were rampant.
This was the era of black and white films, which allowed Frank, a.k.a. ‘the man with a thousand faces’ to land significant roles in motion pictures, television, and on Broadway, playing a variety of ethnic characters—Black, Polynesian, Latino, and even White—starring alongside leading actors of the day such as Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Burt Lancaster, and Paul Newman, among others.
6. Television Appearances
Frank’s star powered transcended the screens to television where he appeared in numerous television shows, including popular series like ‘The Twilight Zone’, ‘Perry Mason’, ‘Hawaii Five-O’, ‘The Alfred Hitchcock Hour’ and ‘Bonanza’.
7. Tony Award Nominee
In 1963, Silvera was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Monsieur Duval in Alexandre Dumas’ ‘The Lady of the Camellias‘.
8. Produced James Baldwin’s ‘The Amen Corner’ Play
Frank went broke financing productions from the Theatre of Being in Los Angeles, a black centric, which he co-founded in 1964. The main objective was to advocate for and provide a space for black actors and playwrights to flourish in more meaningful, non-stereotypical roles.
One of the first major productions the theatre brought to Broadway was James Baldwin’s first play, “The Amen Corner,” which Frank co-financed, produced, directed, and acted in. The critically acclaimed play is touted as the first African American production produced, directed, and marketed by African Americans on Broadway.
It opened in Los Angeles, California, on March 4, 1964, and went on to gross $200,000 within a year. The play moved to Broadway in April 1965.
9. Passionate Advocate & Mentor
Frank understood his privilege and used his position to advocate for actors who did not have the kinds of opportunities he was afforded. He became a very outspoken activist who was not afraid to ‘call out’ Hollywood and the entertainment industry for their discrimination and racism.
Frank was passionate about mentoring and had hundreds of students, including famous actor Morgan Freeman. He was very protective of his charges, and so when his student Beah Richards, who starred in ‘The Amen Corner,’ was only able to land roles as a maid after receiving critical acclaim for her acting in the play, an incensed Frank bought a full-page ad in the trade papers that said, “Thank you, Hollywood, for nothing.”
He is quoted as saying, “We show the Negro as being. Trying is not being. Being is. The Negro has been denied being. Denied his image. He’s got to be in the whole picture. What did Genet say—‘You kill us, but you have no corpses?’ ”
Frank understood his privilege and used his position to advocate for actors who did not have the kinds of opportunities he was afforded. He became a very outspoken activist who was not afriad to ‘call out’ Hollywood and the entertainment industry for their discrimination and racism.
10. Frank Silvera’s Legacy
Frank Silvera died at the age of 56 in a freak accident at home on June 11, 1970. In his death, Frank’s legacy of activism and passion for creating safe spaces for black actors to hone and showcase their talents was honoured with the founding of The Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop Foundation in Harlem in 1973.
The award-winning Foundation, co-founded by Morgan Freeman, mentors and sponsors promising African-American actors and playwrights. Fun fact: Angela Bassett is an alum of the Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop. The organisation, which is still going strong, celebrated 50 years in 2023.
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