Madge Sinclair: The Lion Queen!

On June 29th, 1988, the romantic comedy Coming to America was released. It was Eddie Murphy’s first film in which he played multiple characters, (the main role of Prince Akeem, along with three other characters: Clarence, Saul, and Randy Watson.) The film also starred Arsenio Hall in four roles, including Semmi, Akeem’s right-hand man. James Earl Jones played Akeem’s father, King Jaffe Joffer, and Madge Sinclar as Akeem’s mother, Queen Aoleon. On March 5th, 2021, Amazon Prime will release the sequel, Coming 2 America with each of these actors reprising their respective roles from the original, along with the rest of the film’s supporting cast, including Shari Headley and John Amos. Madge Sinclair, however, will not appear in the sequel because she sadly is deceased. Today we will explore her career, including her voice work for one of Disney’s most beloved animated movies. 

Madge Sinclair was born in Kingston, Jamaica on April 28th, 1938. She began her career as a teacher after she studied at the Shortwood College for Women. She married a Jamaican police officer, Royston Sinclair, and had two sons with him, Garry and Wayne, but they divorced when she decided to move to New York to pursue acting. She was fortunate enough to find success performing at the New York Shakespearean Festival and she got a job as a model. Her modeling skills ultimately caught the attention of a talent agent who encouraged her to tryout for Joseph Rapp’s Public Theatre. She worked for this theatre company for the next three years, and it wasn’t long before television came knocking at her door.

In 1972, she appeared in the short film The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope and in an episode of the crime drama Madigan (1972-1973). In 1974, she starred in the film Conrack alongside Jon Voight and Paul Winfield, a film known for it’s message of racial unity and understanding. Her role as Mrs. Scott in that film earned her a NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. In 1975, she starred in a television remake of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. In this film, Sinclair was directed by Stanley Kramer, who had also directed the original 1967 theatrical version with Sidney Poitier, Spencer and Katherine Hepburn. In 1977, she appeared as Bell Reynolds, wife of Kunta Kinte, played by John Amos in the miniseries Roots, which co-starred LeVar Burton as the young Kunta Kinte. Sinclair worked with Burton four other times, each time playing his mother, the first of which was the film Almos’ a Man which was released in 1976.

The 1980s earned Sinclair iconic status when she was cast in the CBS medical drama Trapper John M.D. (1979-1986) in the role of Nurse Ernestine Shoop, a role that earned her three Primetime Emmy Nominations. She made an uncredited appearance as the Saratoga Captain in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). During her run of “Trapper John M.D.,” Sinclair was diagnosed with leukemia, but for the time being, managed to pull through. She reunited with John Amos and had her first pairing with James Earl Jones when they were all cast in the original “Coming to America.” Sinclair and Jones reunited when they were both cast on the drama series Gabriel’s Fire (1990-1991), and Sinclair’s role as Empress Josephine finally won her a Primetime Emmy. They teamed up a third time when they were cast as regulars in the action drama series, Pros and Cons (1991-1992), and they appeared in separate episodes of L.A. Law (1986-1994) as well. (Sinclair reunited with LeVar Burton, again playing his mother in the “Interface” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)). 

Soon, Walt Disney Animation Studios gave a green light to The Lion King (1994) and were looking for actors to provide the voices of Mufasa and Sarabi, the King and Queen Lion parents of Simba, the future King. At the time, they had considered the likes of Timothy Dalton and Liam Neeson for Mufasa and Vanessa Redgrave, Virginia McKenna, and Helen Mirren for Sarabi, but finally, they decided to re-team Jones and Sinclair. The voice-over role of Queen Sarabi would be Madge Sinclair’s last film role, because the following year, her leukemia tragically took her life on December 20th, 1995. She was survived by her sons, and her second husband, actor Dean Crompton. That same year, she was awarded the Order of Distinction, Rank of Commander by the Prime Minister of Jamaica.

Madge Sinclair was a talent worthy of more attention by people. She earned fame for playing Ernestine Shoop in “Trapper John,” and for playing LeVar Burton’s mother, but what made her legendary was playing James Earl Jones’s queen twice, in both human and “lion” form. It’s sad that we will not see her in “Coming 2 America,” but had it not been for her wonderful acting talents, “The Lion King,” and the original “Coming to America,” would not have been as special as they were to all of “us fans.”

 

 

 

Tiana and Naveen: We Met Them Down in New Orleans

As we continue the month of February, I thought the next Disney couple we could acknowledge could be Tiana and Naveen from The Princess and the Frog (2009), in honor of the fact that February is also Black History Month. “Princess and the Frog,” was released on December 11th, 2009, to critical acclaim and received three Academy Award Nominations, including Best Animated Feature, and two nominations for Best Original Song “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.” Though in addition to having well-written music, and being an exceptionally well-produced movie, there are several other things that make the movie special. 

First, a brief synopsis: Tiana is girl who lives in New Orleans with her mother, Eudora, and she wants to follow in her late father James footsteps, and manage her own restaurant. Later, one night at a party, she meets a frog named who claims he used to be a man but was turned into a frog by a which doctor, Dr. Facilier, and Naveen claims that if Tiana will kiss him, he will be a man again. She does so, but wounds up getting turned into a frog herself, and together she and Naveen wound up going on an adventure together in the New Orleans bayou, to figure out how to change themselves back into humans, and they make also some funny new friends along the way.

Tiana is a special leading lady, because in addition to being Disney’s very first African-American leading lady, she is also the very first Disney leading lady to have a career path for herself. Because her life’s ambition being to build and run her own restaurant, she understands, appreciates, and highly values hard work and knows that it takes a great deal of hard work to pursue you want in life and you have to be willing to do it, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes. Sadly, though because of her preoccupation with her career, she doesn’t have much time socialize with her friends, let alone have a love life. Naveen, on the other hand, could be considered a playboy knowing how at the beginning we see he likes to have fun with girls and spend more money than he should spend just because he’s the royal Prince of Maldonia. As a result of that, he was cut off from his royal finances by his parents and is looking to get married, but just for wealth, not for love, which is roughly similar to Tiana’s situation.

When Tiana and Naveen meet and both get turned into frogs, they go on this fun adventure where they both learn to help one another grow up. Tiana helps Naveen mature and to appreciate hard work when she teaches him how to mince mushrooms. Naveen also helps Tiana step outside of her “career zone” and learn to actually enjoy life when he teaches her to dance. He has a great line in the film when he speaks “If I can mince, you can dance.” By the end of the film, Naveen and Tiana have both made extraordinary differences in each other’s lives and Naveen gladly gives up his dream of marrying for financial gain so that Tiana can have her dream of having her own restaurant and they can get married because they’re in love with each other.

Tiana and Naveen are a great couple because their story involves the two of them finding true love when neither was looking for it. They both help each other mature, see other sides of life, and become very close friends. And while they both have their own things they value, as they fall for one another, they are also reminded how to value true love.   

   

 

Charles Boyer: Making Mickey Real

Walt Disney hired many creative people to help make Disneyland a reality by opening day, July 17th, 1955. In addition to the people he hired to build the park attractions, establish the restaurants etc., he also hired many artists to design all that could be seen around the park, as well as what guests could purchase in the souvenir shops. One of those artists, was a man named Charles Boyer, who managed to have a successful career as an artist despite the fact that he suffered from color-blindness.

Charles Boyer (no relation to the actor) first knew that he wanted to be an artist in high school. Growing up in Southern California, he fell in love with the desert landscape in the Imperial Valley, and in his teens, he won first place at the Imperial Valley County Fair. He was also a huge fan of the works of Vincent Van Gogh. 

After high school, he took art classes at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. (He attended the school before Walt and Roy Disney merged Chouinard with the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music to form the California Institute of the Arts or CalArts in 1961.) While attending classes in both cartooning and design, he performed double duty as a janitor for the school, which earned him a “working scholarship.” His classes inspired him to pursue a career in commercial arts rather than fine arts, and he ultimately was employed as an illustrator by the marketing and advertising department at Disneyland.

His job at Disneyland was meant to be temporary, but temporary turned into 39 years. While working there he designed everything from magazine covers, brochures, oil portraits, and almost 50 lithographs. His work was produced in every artistic medium, including pastels, oils, watercolors, gouache, acrylics, pencil, and ink. One of his most beloved pieces was “Partners, a painting of Walt Disney hand-in-hand with Mickey Mouse, painted in 1981. The painting was later designed, though in a different pose for the “Partners,” statue at Disneyland. He also designed a work called “Triple Self-Portrait,” which featured Walt Disney looking in a mirror and painting a portrait of Mickey Mouse, painted in 1978. This work was inspired by a Norman Rockwell painting of the same name.

Boyer was very humble and modest, and when he retired in 1999, he was quoted as saying “I know people can do things they like. I wasn’t very good when I came out of school. I spent 40 years getting this good. I’ve worked with such great people. My wife used to ask me if I was actually getting any work done because I was having so much fun.” Charles Boyer was named a Disney Legend in 2005, and was given a window in Main Street in Disneyland with his name written on it. He passed away yesterday, February 13th, 2021, at the age of 86. 

His son, Bruce Boyer, said “Dad was the first artist who could make Mickey look real, in the real world. That was the gift my Dad gave to Disney, bringing Mickey to life. That’s what he loved to do; paint realistically. Goofy, Donald, he brought them to life too.” Charles Boyer’s life is an inspiration. He’s a perfect example of never being afraid to pursue what you love to do. Even his color-blind disability didn’t stop him. He surprised himself and continues to inspire others with what they can accomplish.   

 

2021: In Memoriam

Within the last month, we have bid farewell to four legendary actors. Each were unbelievably talented and they performed in nearly every medium of entertainment, from movies and television to live theatre and radio. Among this quartet, there is a total of Two Oscars, Two Golden Globes, 18 Emmy Awards, and Four Tony Awards. Three out of the four of them also appeared in Disney movies. In today’s blog, I thought we could explore the legacies of these fine actors.

Hal Holbrook passed away on January 23rd, 2021 at 95. Holbrook was primarily known for acting in historical dramas throughout most of his career. In 1966, he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance as Mark Twain in Mark Twain Tonight!, a one-man play that he also wrote and played numerous times throughout his career. In 1974, Holbrook received an Emmy Award for his performance as Abraham Lincoln in the mini-series Lincoln (1974-1976), and ironically he later appeared in the role of Francis Preston Blair in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012), which starred Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln. In addition, Holbrook can be recognized for his roles in the “Dirty Harry” film Magnum Force (1973), Fletch Lives (1989) and for his Oscar-nominated performance as Ron Franz in Into the Wild (2007). Fans of Disney Animation will also remember Holbrook as the voice of Amphitryon, Hercules’s adoptive father in Hercules (1997) and Mayday the Firetruck in Planes: Fire and Rescue (2013).

Cloris Leachman died on January 27th, 2021 due to natural causes at the age of 94. Leachman is best-known for her portrayal of quirky characters, including Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977), a role for which she won two Emmys. She later won a Golden Globe for recreating the character of Phyllis Lindstrom in a spin-off series Phyllis (1975-1977), which lasted two seasons. Around the time that she played Phyllis Lindstrom, she also became a member of Mel Brooks’s ensemble cast, appearing in three of Brooks’s movies: Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977) and History of the World: Part I (1981). Leachman won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in The Last Picture Show (1971) and for Disney, she acted in the live-action films The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), and Sky High (2005). She also lent her voice to episodes of Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015) and Elena of Avalor (2016-2020), as well as the English-dub version of the Disney/Studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky (1998). 

Cicely Tyson passed on the very next day, January 28th, 2021, at 96 years of age. One of the trademarks of her career was portraying strong-willed women. She received a Best Actress Oscar Nomination for her performance as Rebecca, the mother in Sounder (1972), and throughout the later years of her career she played women who remained strong despite receiving a great deal of unfortunate discrimination as well as abuse: the title role in the TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), Sipsey in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), and Constantine Jefferson in The Help (2013). She collaborated with Tyler Perry twice, playing the role of Aunt Myrtle in Diary of a Mad Black Woman in 2005 and again in Madea’s Family Reunion in 2006. In 2013, Tyson received a Tony Award for portraying the role of Mrs. Carrie Watts in the revival of the play The Trip to Bountiful which featured an all African-American cast. (The role of Carrie Watts previously won Geraldine Page an Oscar for portraying it in the 1985 movie version.) For Disney, Tyson lent her voice to an episode of the Disney Channel Original Animated Series The Proud Family (2001-2005).

Most recently, Christopher Plummer passed on February 5th, 2021 due to complications from a fall, at age 91. Plummer will forever be remembered for his performance as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965), though his career was much more versatile than that, playing princes, kings, aristocrats and other famous people. He won two Tony Awards: Best Actor in a Musical in 1974 for Cyrano in which he portrayed Cyrano de Bergerac and Best Actor in a Play in 1997 for Barrymore in which he impersonated John Barrymore. In 2012, he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Beginners (2011), becoming the oldest actor to win an Oscar at 82 years of age, surpassing Jessica Tandy who had previously held the record when she won Best Actress at age 76 for Driving Miss Daisy (1989). He received another Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nomination for his performance as J. Paul Getty in All The Money in The World (2017) and that same year he also portrayed Ebeneezer Scrooge in The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017). He also received acclaim for playing journalist Mike Wallace in the 1999 film The Insider. His Disney roles include playing John Adams Gates, grandfather of Benjamin Franklin “Ben” Gates in National Treasure (2004) and voicing the greedy Charles Muntz in Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009).

These four actors all had incredible careers and they were all fortunate enough to live into their 90s. While it is sad that each of their deaths occurred within a few weeks of each other, there is no doubt that fans will continue to enjoy their talents for a long time. Hats of to them all!