James B. Lowe | |
---|---|
![]() Lowe,
c. 1922 | |
Born | James Buchanan Lowe October 10, 1880
Macon, Georgia, USA |
Died | May 19, 1963 (aged 82)
Los Angeles, California, USA |
Occupation | Actor |
James B. Lowe (1880 - 1963) was an American stage and screen actor who was best known for his role in the 1927 silent film adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin. [1] [2] [3]
James was born in Macon, Georgia, to James B. Lowe Sr. and Rachel Burton. As a young man, among other jobs, he reportedly worked as a gold miner in Alaska. [4]
He first began a career as a stage actor before beginning to appear in movies in the mid-1920s. [5] After a few minor roles, he took the lead in Uncle Tom's Cabin after fellow theatre actor Charles Gilpin dropped out of the picture. Although the film — and Lowe's performance — received favorable reviews among the general public at the time of its release, it has since been cited as contributing to defining the Uncle Tom stereotype. [6] [7]
After the success of Uncle Tom's Cabin, he returned to theatrical work, receiving rave notices for his roles in plays such as The South Before the War in Europe. [8] In 1941, after working in Paris for over a decade, he returned to the United States, settling in Los Angeles and setting up shop as a tailor next to the Dunbar Hotel. He died in 1963. [9]