James Edwards (actor)

James J. Edwards
Edwards in the 1953 film, The Joe Louis Story
Born
James Johnson Edwards

(1918-03-06)March 6, 1918
Muncie, Indiana, U.S.
DiedJanuary 4, 1970(1970-01-04) (aged 51)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Resting placeEvergreen Memorial Park, Hobart, Indiana, U.S.
Years active1947–1969
SpouseEverdinne Wilson Edwards (?-1970, his death)
Children1 Dr. Ghia Edwards(Eugia)

James Johnson Edwards (March 6, 1918 – January 4, 1970) was an American actor in films and television. His most famous role was as Private Peter Moss in the 1949 film Home of the Brave, in which he portrayed a Black soldier experiencing racial prejudice while serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

Early life and career

A native of Muncie, Indiana, Edwards was the eldest of six boys and two girls born to devout Baptist parents.[1]

Hoping to emulate his hero, heavyweight champion Joe Louis, Edwards began boxing at age 11, turning pro seven years later. However, in what would prove a relatively brief career, a particularly decisive and bloody defeat prompted his horrified mother to demand Edwards' immediate retirement from the ring, and a renewed focus on his formal education.[2]

After graduating high school, Edwards attended Indiana University before transferring to Knoxville College in Tennessee, where he majored in psychology, graduating in 1938.[3]

During World War II, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.[4] During that period, he was badly injured in an automobile accident, resulting in severe facial damage requiring extensive reconstructive surgery, especially to his mouth. During his recovery, it was recommended that Edwards attend public speaking courses at nearby Northwestern University. This he did, eventually earning his master's degree in drama. The actor, interviewed following his breakout performance in Home of the Brave, gratefully recalled how pivotal that period had proved.

I did Romeo to at least 20 Juliets. During this period, I also played the prince in Death Takes A Holiday, one of the toughest roles an amateur could undertake. Later, I appeared in Little Foxes, Skin Of Our Teeth and The Petrified Forest, when they were presented at Northwestern. If it hadn't been for the army, I guess I never would have become an actor. [5]

After the war he appeared on the New York stage when he assumed the role of the war hero in the touring play, Deep Are the Roots.

Throughout his early and mid-acting career, Edwards portrayed African American soldiers, playing such characters in Home of the Brave (1949), The Steel Helmet (1951), Bright Victory (1951), Battle Hymn (1957), Men in War (1957), Blood and Steel (1959), and Pork Chop Hill (1959) as well as an uncredited Messman in The Caine Mutiny. (1954).

It was believed he was originally cast in Universal's Red Ball Express but was replaced by Sidney Poitier when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.[6][7][8]

Other notable roles were in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956) and John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

Edwards was prolific on TV in the 1960s, playing character roles in various series such as Peter Gunn, The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone's "The Big Tall Wish", Burke's Law, Dr. Kildare and Mannix, before his death of a heart attack at the age of 51 in 1970.

One of his final roles was as General George S. Patton's longtime personal valet, Sergeant Major William George Meeks, in the film Patton, in which his character consoles Patton for being excluded from command during the Battle of Normandy.

Death

James Edwards died on Sunday, January 4, 1970, in San Diego, CA. He was working on a film script in his wife's family's house in San Diego when he complained of chest pains. He was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he died. The New York Times reported that his age was given as 42.[9] Edwards was in fact 51.

Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ Schrott, Eugene (December 1949). "Uncrowned Champion". Negro Digest. p. 23. Retrieved November 23, 2025.
  2. ^ Schrott, op.cit, pp.23–24.
  3. ^ Schrott, op. cit., pp. 24–25
  4. ^ "James Edwards (1918-1970)". 25 December 2008.
  5. ^ Schrott, op. cit., p. 25
  6. ^ Deane, Pamala S. (2000). James Edwards: African American Hollywood Icon. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7864-4415-1}.
  7. ^ Platt, David (January 1, 1951). "Highlights of the 1950 Motion Picture Parade; A Month-to-Month Survey of Important Film Activities Inside & Outside Hollywood". The Daily Worker. p. 11. ProQuest 1922330036. James Edwards, talented young Negro star of Home of the Brave, revealed that he was recently visited by three FBI men. He said they had come to convince him that it was his duty as a citizen and as an artist to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee to denounce Paul Robeson. They were very polite about it–these three well-dressed and well-poised gentlemen who had 'Harvard-Princeton-Yale written all over them.' They spoke to Edwards 'man-to-man.' Edwards answered 'man-to-man.' His answer was a firm 'No!.'"
  8. ^ The Whip (March 11, 1950). "Heard on the Left". New Leader. p. 8. ProQuest 1308951145. James Edwards, star of Home of the Brave, is being given the rush act by the Commies. He's been taken in by them, by Daily Worker blurbs; the run his photograph, print his every word. Edwards hasn't done much movie-making since the film in which he played wonderfully well as a phychically [sic] stricken Negro soldier. He is an actor of talent who is sure to dribble away if he allows himself to be so exploited by the Stalinists. Let Canada Lee or Max Yergan tell Edwards what it means to become a Stalinist shill.
  9. ^ "James Edwards, Film Actor, Dead". The New York Times. 1970-01-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  10. ^ p. 188 Pitts, Michael R.Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films, 2d edition McFarland 2012

References

  • Deane, Pamala S. (8 December 2009) James Edwards: African American Hollywood Icon, McFarland
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