Moss, Carlton

▪ 1998

      American filmmaker who, excluded from a career at the Hollywood motion picture studios because he was African-American, made industrial, training, and educational films; his army documentary The Negro Soldier, filmed in the 1940s and depicting black soldiers' heroism, served as an inspiration both to future black participants in the film industry and to people seeking an end to segregation (b. 1909?—d. Aug. 10, 1997).

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▪ American filmmaker

born 1909?

died August 10, 1997, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

      filmmaker who inspired later African American filmmakers with the industrial, training, and educational films that he made in the era when segregation and discrimination prevented blacks from writing or directing films in Hollywood.

      After growing up in North Carolina and Newark, New Jersey, Moss attended Morgan College (now Morgan State University) in Baltimore, Maryland, where he formed a black student theatre troupe. Moving to New York City, he became immersed in the Harlem Renaissance, wrote for radio, and became John Houseman (Houseman, John)'s chief assistant at the Lafayette Theatre. During World War II, as part of Frank Capra (Capra, Frank)'s U.S. Army documentary unit, Moss wrote, directed, and appeared in The Negro Soldier (1944), a training film aimed at fostering African American patriotism and racial harmony. Its portrayal of the heroism and dignity of its black characters is regarded as a touchstone of African American filmmaking. Moss collaborated on the script for director Elia Kazan (Kazan, Elia)'s film Pinky (1949) but left the project, angered at what he feared would be the film's degrading portrayal of its black characters. Moss went on to make countless industrial films as well as educational films, many of which celebrated the accomplishments of African Americans. He also taught at Fisk University and the University of California, Irvine.

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